Straight Shooting

Here is why I am not a good blogger right now.  Every time I have a few minutes to spatter something out, I run into things that make it take much too long.  As in, I just tried to copy and paste an essay I wrote on an airplane in a word document into this format and I want to throw my computer at the wall because it turns into characters and minions on the actual blog post.  I am not a troubleshooter.  I'm a straight shooter.  

Now I'm mad.  So here.  Here's my post.  It is not the originally intended one but it's something.  

A picture of the pretty sky - look pretty sky!  I might try to go back to troubleshoot the minions now.  Maybe.  If you're lucky.  

It's There

There's this certain way he greets the neighborhood dog.  It's like he tells Lefty in every word just how happy he is to see him and that he appreciates getting to spend minutes of this precious life together.  

It gets me every time.  If it's not written down somewhere, it should be.  Judge a man by the way he treats a dog.

Between Christmas and New Year's we were out clearing snow together, me on the shovel and him on the snow-blower.  The cold air cut through my lungs and I kept looking around - at the mountains, the little trees we so carefully care for all summer long, the lit up wreaths on the garage lights, the front porch, and the man greeting Lefty in that certain way as he came bounding through the white fluff.  And then I had one of those moments, you know the kind I'm sure.  The kind where you actually feel like the world is aligned and you are right where you are supposed to be.  

Inside my fleece lined leather mitten, I felt on my left hand the ring.  The ring that was given to me the day after Christmas.  The ring that was given to me in the most special way and that tells me we get to be right where we belong for the rest our lives.  Because right where we belong is right with each other.  

Folding Hunting Tents and Deer Off

I just found this in my drafts folder and I don't want it to disappear so even though it's now January 4th, 2016 and I wrote this on a night in November of 2015, here it is.  It's like the Christmas card that gets sent in April, or something like that.  Without further ado, a piece of my mind and shots from my viewfinder...from October, but in January.  

My view right now is white hotel bedding and a remote that quite possibly holds more germs than anything I can currently muster up in my mind.  I try not to think about it, the funk of how many folks from different strokes have touched the hotel remotes.  But, hotel nights are my nights to catch up on emails while watching HGTV or the latest Real Housewives of Somewhere and that trumps the dirty remotes.  

On Halloween evening, we folded hunting tents because that seemed like a normal thing to do.  The view that night was just a little bit better than white hotel bedding.  I kept saying things like, "Love a duck the sky is doing some good things right now.  Hey are you looking?!  Look.  I mean really, that yellow tree is killing it over there.  The clouds!  I love the way the white tips look against the fall colors.  Are you looking?!"

The reaction I get to most of those spurts of sentiments over pretty that happen more often than I care to admit is the face of yes, yes Amy it's pretty.  But then it's followed by another look - a quick little glimmer of I love that you love that.

After we finished folding, I reminded Kiel that last year we folded the hunting tents together too.  We were fresh then, new in our finding out who we were and are together.  A quick little chuckle escaped as I then reminded him of what he said to me when we finished.

"Okay.  So you're capable."

I guess he didn't know he had found a girl who could do things like fold hunting tents since all we had really done up that point was go to Bison football game weekends together.  

Lucky him.  I guess folding hunting tents was a test and I passed.  

Little did he know at that time I would also be capable of a great many things as we progressed through the year.  Really, really important things like rearranging the kitchen counters and Roundup-ing weeds in landscaping rocks and Miracle Grow-ing the shit out of those baby growing trees.  

When spring rolled around, I secretly thought Kiel was potentially a little over the top in his care for the rows and rows of little evergreen trees that surround the yard.  He talked to them for Pete's sake and said things like, "That one was a good one.  He grew really well last year and now look at him.  He just couldn't make it through the winter."  

It's most likely no shock I found this mildly over the top.  

But now!

Now I've spent time caring for those trees.  Much time.  

So when a big buck deer decided it was in his rights as an antlered being to RUB all over the trees and go right ahead and take off branch after branch after branch and break the little trunks into these poor pitiful broken stalks...

I felt like it was just not acceptable.  Do you know how many years that little tree had to work to get that big?  Now I've joined the crazy team.  The team who is trying to grow trees in Montana which is apparently much harder than one would think.  I mean don't tell anyone I said this, but North Dakota might even be better at it.  And don't even get me started on the internet situation in the 406.  I used all the internet in one day.  How is that even possible?  But I digress.  

I hate to think that this tree right here is probably broken off right now, on the ground.  Just lying there because it couldn't fight against the big buck. 

I also hate to think about the Deer Off that we sprayed on Sunday in the 50+ mile an hour wind because we simply had to get it done before we left for travel working for weeks.  Deer Off smells like hell.  Like actual hell, or at least what I can imagine it might smell like in a place you are not wanting to be EVER and when it gets in your eyes, your eyes will burn and tingle for days.  

BUT the trees that buck hadn't gotten to already?!  They will survive dammit.  

Because I am capable. 

Plus this is pretty.  

Another Fall in the Books

I'm not going to lie.  I'm sitting next to a Christmas tree right this second, one that I put up over the weekend.  It has sparkly lights and it's making my heart happy and I don't feel bad that I jumped the gun on the twinkle this year.  I can blame a great many things on this early red and green.  The blame list follows, in no particular order. 

1.  I moved.  Moving creates this insane feeling of must have everything organized and must try to find some calm.  And apparently, in my case, must throw the chaos of pine needles and lights that don't work in the mix.

2.  Carla (Kiel's mom) gave me boxes of Christmas hand me downs.  This doesn't mean the same as getting hand me downs from most, because Carla is the queen of red and green.  She put up 23 trees this year.  Yes, there are 23 full size trees already up in her house and it's the beginning of November.  

3.  Tomorrow I start traveling and won't be home until much into December.  Selfishly, I didn't want decorating to be on the return list.  Rather, I wanted to walk in the front door and say ahhhhhhh and where's the hot cocoa with Peppermint Schnapps?  

4.  My family is celebrating Christmas on Saturday of Thanksgiving week this year.  For weeks, I've been preparing my gift for the exchange so I feel it must be December.  No?  Oh.  

5.  I received the always cute invite to the annual Cookie Exchange brunch at Danae's earlier this past week.  There's nothing like planning what you will make ten dozen of to get you in the holiday spirit.  I found the cutest treat bags to put my goody in this year too; they make me say yes!  Because they are tiny and festive and it just doesn't get better than that combination. 

6.  This is a mountain house in Montana.  It screams and begs to have wreaths hanging on the front porch and wooden Santas riding reindeer, bears, and ducks on the mantel.  It just does,  you would understand if you were here. 

There you have it, the list of blame. 

Christmas is up and I'm saying goodbye to another fabulous fall season that included this hike to the second highest waterfall in Oregon - Salt Creek Falls.  I am saying goodbye to fall but that doesn't mean I want icy roads for travel, okay roads?  Work with me.