A Replacement Post

Do you ever have one of those moments where you look at what you are working on - whether it be a hand written document, a computer file, a creative project and you just say "I can't do this"?  Tonight I had one of those moments, as I had written an entirely different blog entry about one of current favorite songs.  I just decided I couldn't do it tonight.  Instead of throwing it away and destroying it, I kept it and maybe someday I will publish it, but not tonight.

The intense heat of these last several days has caused me to burrow underground!  Normally I work from the kitchen table so that I can be involved in the day-to-day happenings in the house.  In the morning it allows me to be at the kitchen table while Zack eats his breakfast and gets ready to go to camp (or school during the school year).  During the middle of the day it is the only way I can interact with Nancy as I am sitting there as she walks by to go out on the back deck and smoke.  Then of course when Zack comes home from camp/school, I can sit there while he does his homework or plays.  Zack has a lot of home work to do this summer in preparation for his seventh grade school year.  He is going into 2 advance classes that will have him working at a ninth grade level.  As a result, he has a lot of preparation to do over the summer.

But given the heat of the last several days I have escaped to my office in the basement.  I know I have described my office on this blog before so I won't go into the details, but nonetheless I love my office and I really like it when I have the opportunity to work from there on a consistent basis.  Given how warm it has been I have left the air conditioning at a higher temperature (78 degrees) and then gone downstairs to work where it is much cooler.  That keeps Nancy happy as I don't freeze her out and I don't end up sweating the day away!

It is hard to believe that the Fourth of July weekend is almost upon us.  Where has 2011 gone?  Next Tuesday will mark the half way point of the year.  That is very scary to think that another year is already starting to wane!  Zack and I don't have any tremendously large plans for the 4th.  This week's camp for Zack will end at 3:30PM on Friday.  I plan to pick him up right on time and head home as quickly as we can.  From there we will load the dogs in the car (I hope to have everything else already packed and loaded) and head to the mountains.  We will be taking our bikes with us so we are planning to do some serious riding at least one day of the weekend.  The biking plan for the weekend is to go as far around Lake Dillon without having to get on Swan Mountain Road. (Swan Mountain Road is a very steep and winding road that has literally no shoulder and it just feels dangerous to ride.  So we will stick to the bike paths!)

Our other plan for the weekend is to make a attempt to scale Buffalo Mountain.  Though this mountain is only 12,749 feet it is a very tough climb as the trails are very steep and there is a significant amount of talus and scree to be negotiated to reach the top.  For more details on Buffalo Mountain see the following link on Summitpost.org.  http://www.summitpost.org/buffalo-mountain/153075

 (Buffalo Mountain in the Fall - Courtesy of SummitPost.Org)

Above is a picture of Buffalo Mountain by which you can tell how it got it's name.  The distinctive "hump" of the mountain's summit looks like the hump on the back of a buffalo.  Our condo is built on the lower reaches of the mountain in the Wildernest Subdivision.  (If you look very closely, you can see some houses/condo complexes on the very far left of this picture.)  What is surprising is the fact that I have never summitted Buffalo Mountain even though I have had a second home on it for the last 9 years!  On several occasions I have climbed to the pass between Buffalo Mountain and Red Peak to the north, but I have never reached the summit of either mountain.

I plan to use this weekend's hike as a tune up.  Now that we have finally had some significant snow melt off the tops of the highest peaks, Zack and I will be attempting several 14er's in the coming weeks.  I will follow trail reports posted to various websites to give me an idea of exactly when it is safe to attempt some of these 14er's but we are planning to attempt Mt. Elbert, Mt, Princeton and Mt. Antero this summer.  With any luck we will make our first attempt the weekend of July 8 - 10.  And I do say attempt as I tend to use a lot of caution when climbing with Zack.  If we are starting to see any clouds that are turning gray or hearing any thunder at all - I will beat a swift retreat off the mountain.  I tend to push things a little bit more towards the dangerous side when it is just me, but if Zack is involved - that isn't going to happen!

On the 4th of July we will have some friends join us in the Mountains for the day.  That should be a lot of fun to be able to share the day with some one besides Zack!

Oh well - not a whole lot more to say for the night.  Well - I will add one more point.  I have discovered yet another good wine to enjoy!  This is a French wine called a Minervois.  It is delightful!  It is at times like this that I really like the wine club I belong to as I would never try a wine like this if they didn't send it to me.

I hope everyone is having a great week and is looking forward (to those of us in the United States) to the long weekend ahead!

Thanks and peace to all! ~J.