In the hospital for Christmas

It was an experience I have never had before and hope I never have again. On Christmas Eve after breakfast, I felt weak and had a temperature. I lay down. It didn't help. After going to the Emergency Room, I found I had pneumonia. That led to immediate intravenous antibiotics and oxygen, and at times a mask over my nose to breathe something else into my lungs. I did get better and was released from the hospital. It was a bad experience, but in every experience, there are really good people, as the pictures indicate.

The doctor listening to my lungs.









After I felt a little better, Don brought my computer and I was able to send a few messages.

Devastated

The recent shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary was especially terrible, coming as it did on the heels of far too many others. I am hoping that we as human beings can do something so that this sort of thing will happen seldom. I am firmly convinced that banning assault rifles, rifles with big magazines that can fire many rounds rapidly, would be an important first step. In recent times, however, after a terrible incident, NRA and the gun lobby work hard to stop any changes. In a world where so many people live together in so many ways, we have to set up restrictions on ourselves.
Many people tell me how important it is that they carry a gun to "protect themselves." In many ways, I think it makes us much less as people. I do not like to think of living in a world where every carries a gun to protect him/herself. I ask the question, "Who are we afraid of?" Are we afraid of the guy across the street? We seem afraid of some nebulous someone who might do us harm. That makes it seem we are afraid of ourselves. I remember Pogo's admonition that "we have met the enemy and he is us."
Maybe there is somehow violence within us as humans. If so, how do we deal with it? I think we must somehow deal with it as human beings.

Chelsea and David

    We had just gotten back from the trip when I was reminded that Chelsea Carr and David Poorman were going to have a wedding in Crested Butte, with festivities beginning on Friday.

Cutting and eating the wedding cake.......

And dancing........ Or maybe just holding each other......





















 David's mother and father were proud attendants of the affair......











I didn't get a picture of Chelsea's mother and father together, but at the left is Chris with his Uncle Keith, and at the right, Kelly is holding little Dawson, nephew of Chelsea and David. Some day we will have to show him that he attended his aunt's wedding.



And, oh yes, there was dancing..... Below, the bride is doing her steps with her sister and sister in law.

Yes, was there a lot of dancing and a lot of music. After all, when two people marry, it is a big celebration.

Bryce Canyon

     Hatch, Utah is a nice place to stay while visiting Bryce Canyon. Of course, it would be even better to camp at one of the many camp sites. But we didn't have camping gear and besides, we are getting too old to sleep well on the ground.
     All the stopping points in Bryce Canyon are on the east side of the road, making it much better to drive to the south end and then to stop at various points on the way back. We first took the shuttle which did just that. Then we drove our car to some of the points near the entrance.
     As I looked at the map, I thought how much more interesting it would be if we could hike some of the large number of trails in the park. That would be the way to really see the beautiful features. But, as the following pictures show, one can see wonderful things along the road.When we visit places like this, I often think how great it would have been, had we done this long ago when we were younger.










As the picture to the right shows, you see an immense country. The park is a long plateau of some 18 miles, from about 8,000 feet altitude on the north end to about 9,000 feet on the south end. In good weather you can see far off to the Kaibab plateau.


























Can you imagine what happened here over eons of time, to make this magic landscape?

The hoodoos are always fascinating. Note the white hoodoo to the left. That is Queen Victoria. To the right of her and much lower and about in the middle of the picture, you see King George. Over time, winds and water may change the shapes and perhaps people will come up with new names.












This is called a bridge. Some say it might better be called an arch, since a bridge is usually formed when water flows beneath.

At the right, at Bryce Point, the edge just beyond us drops off 800 feet.

Heading back......

     We watched them get onto the bus and leave. Then we drove on, down through Bakersfield, then east.

 As you head into the hills, you can tell that the wind blows here. The hills are covered with windmills making a lot of electricity. We crossed a lot of the Mojave desert and stopped at Boron, California for the night. There is really not much there, but if you have ever use 20 mule team borax, it came from mines just to the north. Also, Edwards Air Force Base is just to the south. Next day, we headed on east. We went through Las Vegas as fast as possible because I have a particular dislike of the glitz which supports gambling. We went on to St. George, Utah. Several miles north of St. George, highway 9 takes off to the right. We passed through Zion National Park. We didn't go
 down into the main part of the park, but it is beautiful just to drive through.

Our destination for the night was Hatch, Utah. There is a very nice motel there, and at the restaurant, you can get some particularly good food.

The bus to take them home

Everything comes to an end, and Don, Ricardo and Adelina had to catch a bus to take them back to Guadalajara. We drove to the bus station in Fresno.

Ricardo in the Tufesa office.....













The big Tufesa bus......



And below, finally it is time to get on the bus to leave.

Royleen

    Royleen Blosser, Arleta's cousin, has been an especially important friend. She helped us with renting our house before we moved to Colorado. She went on Audubon trips with us to Arizona. She helped put wallpaper on the cabin. She and Arleta refinished a chest of drawers from my great uncle, and made it into a beautiful piece of furniture. She moved to California several years back to be closer to her sons. We stopped by her house and had a short but really great visit. At the right, she and Arleta are looking over some old photos. Below, Don is talking with her. In the picture below that, we are all visiting.

Back in Santa Rosa

After our nice trip down the Oregon Coast, we arrived again at Scott Campbell's house in Santa Rosa. Scott has to be the best nephew anyone could ever have. This is the second time on this trip that he has opened his house to us. Not only that, but he cooked a very special pork roast in his new Green Egg.

Don and Scott show off the Green Egg. It makes a delicious smoked pork roast



Meklit and Meron are sisters. Meron hopes to bring people together with her writing and Meklit with her music. We've known them since they were small children. The whole family has been important friends for many years.


























In the picture below, we are at one of Scott's favorite restaurants.