To start somewhere: Ezra loves Sesame Street. We watch it occasionally, and for the most part have no problem if the TV is on, tuning into Sesame Street. During a show this morning, they had an Oscar The Grouch bit about him being unwilling to help others….and it got me to thinking. I wonder if there has ever been a study/paper/research project done on the correlation between a generation growing up watching Oscar and his friends (dirty, grumpy, selfish, mean….homeless) and the adult stereotypes about the homeless population – being afraid of the ‘dirt’, ‘grumpiness’, ‘selfishness’, or ‘meanness’. Perhaps the creators of Sesame Street caught on to this by pointing out that “Oscar the Grouch is not homeless.” (?!) They also have phased out his role in the show to a rare appearance. But I remain curious about the impact on the adult psyche of that aforementioned generation (us).

First off, we made it home yesterday safe and sound. The drive took about 1.5 hours in each direction, but the roads were not too bad – given the conditions. It turns out that the storm was a lot weaker than they predicted it would be, and only dropped a foot on Castle Rock.

In the post yesterday, I mentioned that the bags – unlike us – made the plane. To make a long story short, when we go to Mexico on Sunday, it will be the second trip out of the country for the bags in three days. American Airlines actually sent the bags all of the way to Mexico without us on either plane. Besides being a major inconvenience for us, I image it to be a major safety violation for them. Bags without the corresponding passenger? Jeez.

Yesterday morning at the ticket counter, we were told that if we missed the flight the bags would stay in Denver. Then after we missed the flight, we were told by the baggage office that they would stop the bags in Dallas. Then on the phone, they said that they didn’t know where the bags were, but they probably got sent all of the way to Mexico. #$%&! So after a slightly really angry phone call this morning to the central baggage tracing department, it appears that they found the bags in Cancun this morning, and have shipped them back to Denver…with an expected arrival tonight. We’ll see. If in fact they come in, we are going to go and get them tomorrow afternoon – just to make sure that they are ours, before returning to the airport on Sunday.

Before I start, a full disclosure is needed: I love winter. I love snow. I love cold. I really dislike any temperature above 75, and for the most part, the Summer season is the equivalent to eating your vegetables on the way to winter. June 21 is a celebration because every day after that is shorter, and therefore one step closer to winter. Nuff said? Okay.

This winter in Colorado has been extremely mild, and very dry. We have had 70 degree days in every month except January and today’s high is supposed to be in the upper-70’s and pushing the record temperature set just a few years ago (we are supposed to get a cold-front push through and drop the temperatures for the next couple of days). And perhaps the most aggravating part for a snow-bug? Those warm days in the middle of winter were everyone else says “Isn’t this weather great?”

My first point (yes, it’s childish): its not fair. In the middle of February we are getting a 72 degree day. Yet in the middle of August we don’t get 30 degree days. I suppose that if there was a trade possibility for a warm winter day to get a cold summer day, it would make things easier and I would certainly have to consider it.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the occasional break from the long pants and gloves, and like the ability to throw on some shorts and go for a walk with Ezra without worrying about skin exposure and windchill. However, I enjoy the crispness, the calm of the snow, and the ride down the hill on some skis. So, if someone could arrange those days in July, I would be more tolerant of the warm January days.

Now to the reality of all of this warmth: there are consequences. I just heard in training the other day that the US Forrest Service fuel models (measuring the moisture content in the trees, plants, etc) are worse/drier than they were during the summer of the Hayman Fire (a 150,000 acre fire just west of Castle Rock). We are 22% below average moisture levels as of the first part of last week – and we haven’t received any accumulation since then. Azalea’s are starting to bud. Birds are starting to return, and the snow pack is melting fast. None of these are good things. The fire season is predicted to be a bad one this year, and water use restrictions are back in force.

So this summer when your house is threatened by a fast-moving wildfire, or your yard looks like crap because you can’t water, or your water bill skyrockets because we are having to import water, or it’s hot and dry for the 40th straight day….I don’t want to hear a lick of complaining. On the other hand, if you just complain about the weather year-round like me (too hot, not cold enough, not enough snow, too hot, etc), then you have the right to keep on complaining. But till then, let’s welcome the cold and the wet. Or move to Phoenix.

Seems like those are more and more rare. I don’t know if it is due to the new schedule or some other cosmic twist, but Sunday sure felt like it hadn’t happened in a long time. The three of us hit the grocery store in the mid-morning, and then in the afternoon we headed out to Castlewood Canyon State Park…about 7 miles from our house…for a nice hike.

It’s been abnormally warm this past week (and will continue this upcoming week, along with being really dry), and since I don’t know how much you understand about the problems with the environment, we’ll keep this short and simple: It aint supposed to be like that. That said, we will not sit indoors and mope about it….the hike was really nice, and we enjoyed using the backpack  (which we weren’t able to use last summer).

One of our closest friends works at an incredibly unique restaraunt….named SAME Cafe. Mary started working there a few months ago, but it was her good friends (from teaching) that started the place. SAME stands for So All May Eat, and it’s a place with a fabulous philosophy. So fabulous in fact, that NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams featured the SAME Cafe on last night’s program. Watch and visit when you are in Denver.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#29604041

Ever wonder what the recipie is for a burnt hot dog odor (sans the hot dog itself)? Well in case you were wondering it is really simple, here it is:

3 cups water. Bring water to boil in a Pampered Chef sauce pan. Intend on sterilizing pacifiers for your child, but don’t put them in the water. Go on hour+ walk with stove still on. Return to house and you will have desired odor. 

Yea, almost had a fire department related problem. Luckily, we returned to the house in time and possibly saved the pan. We’ll have to see about that one. The odor has permeated every room….so even though it’s 15 outside, the front door is open, two windows are open, and three ceiling fans are on. It’s starting to go away, so hopefully we won’t freeze tonight.