We were driving through the desert to get to Lincoln National Forest on Sunday, when we saw three huge cows walking along the road. Their bellies swished back and forth like overfilled water balloons.
It was pastureland, and cows were all along the road. The first three were the only ones that seemed to be eating well. The rest were all ribs and hipbones. We couldn't help but wonder (out loud in the parking lot) why there were so many cows on the side of the road. A man in a fluorescent orange windbreaker, who was hiking with his daughter (?) had the answer. There are oil pipelines all along the road and water flows by the pipe lines. The cows go to the water, and there are plants there too, so that's where the cows like to graze. Then the cows poop and fertilize the soil, and so even more plants grow until the cows just spend all their time on the side of the highway.
At least they don't jump out in front of the car like deer.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Calvin's walking!
Over the weekend Calvin started walking all over the place. He's a late walker, and has been cruising and holding on to things for months. We went down to Carlsbad to see family, and as soon as he was surrounded by his grandma, Papa Bob (or Bob Bob as he calls him) and his uncles he started walking between us.
He's pretty pleased with himself.
He's pretty pleased with himself.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
I am a total moron
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I can't believe how bad I am with small electronic devices. I put my cell phone through the wash and now I can't get a hold of my babysitter, and every time I go to Minnesota I lose a digital camera.
The first time was over fourth of July when we went pontooning on Leech Lake with Dad. I left my camera in the car at the Albuquerque Sunport where it got fried in our car in the parking lot. I bought a new one, which I lost when I was visiting Dad when he had cancer. We had just taken a great picture with him holding Calvin, and all of his brothers were there and we were eating pizza at a restaurant and having a good time. Then I lost it. Dumb. Dumb dumb dumb.
I wish I would have gotten a new one right away. There are so many things to take pictures of. I should have taken a million pictures of Dad while I was in MN last month. But I just didn't. I don't even think I can express my true feelings of anxiety over this. Luckily other people took good pictures. But time goes by fast.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Tent Rocks
We took a Mother's Day hike at the Tent Rocks in Cochiti Pueblo on Sunday. This is one of the most amazing hikes I've been on. All those weird pointed rocks with layers of sediment that looked just like Dr. Seuss art. If God was a potter, this would be his stash of experiments. There were toadstool rocks halfway up the canyon wall. The canyon was so narrow that we could only see a sliver of the blue sky. Grooves in the wall; a racetrack for the wind. The rosy glow of the sun off the rocks and Quinn trying to explain how awesome everything looked through the lenses of his new sunglasses.
Calvin wouldn't wear a hat, even though it was 95 degrees outside and there was nothing between us and the sun. I slathered sunscreen on him so his hair stuck up like a crazy professor.
Toward the top the tent rocks looked like a gnomish village. We reached the top and could see every mountain within 100 miles (which is a lot). Calvin showed his appreciation by making a chorus of farting noises and saying "down", as if we'd just let him crawl off the edge of the cliff...I was a little tense, because of the sun I guess. My worry over Calvin's skin.
We headed down. There was one spot where there was a three foot drop that would be unsafe to do with the baby backpack. Quinn took off the pack, with Calvin inside, and I held it while Quinn got down. Then He just put the backpack on again when he was on the lower level.
We saw a man on the path who had a mustache, glasses and gray hair. Yeah, he looked like my dad, but he was a little less macho. Calvin saw him and said his famous, "JJJAck!" I don't know how I'm going to get used to this. I told the man that he looks like my dad and that's why the baby is calling him Jack. Quinn though the might be bothered by having a young lady tell him he looked like her dad. Tough shit, I say. I can't help it if (if) he is self conscious about his age. At least I didn't tell him he looked like someone who just died. I think that would give him a strange feeling all day.
When we got back to the canyon, in the shade and with the sandy bottom, we fed Calvin some carrots and ran out of water. Then we let him walk until he got fussy, and strapped him into the backpack so we could get going. It was getting late and there weren't any more hikers with us on the path. That seems like a bad sign. Even though Calvin was getting tired we calmed him down by singing "Are you sleeping?" and "Row, Row, Row your boat."
Calvin wouldn't wear a hat, even though it was 95 degrees outside and there was nothing between us and the sun. I slathered sunscreen on him so his hair stuck up like a crazy professor.
Toward the top the tent rocks looked like a gnomish village. We reached the top and could see every mountain within 100 miles (which is a lot). Calvin showed his appreciation by making a chorus of farting noises and saying "down", as if we'd just let him crawl off the edge of the cliff...I was a little tense, because of the sun I guess. My worry over Calvin's skin.
We headed down. There was one spot where there was a three foot drop that would be unsafe to do with the baby backpack. Quinn took off the pack, with Calvin inside, and I held it while Quinn got down. Then He just put the backpack on again when he was on the lower level.
We saw a man on the path who had a mustache, glasses and gray hair. Yeah, he looked like my dad, but he was a little less macho. Calvin saw him and said his famous, "JJJAck!" I don't know how I'm going to get used to this. I told the man that he looks like my dad and that's why the baby is calling him Jack. Quinn though the might be bothered by having a young lady tell him he looked like her dad. Tough shit, I say. I can't help it if (if) he is self conscious about his age. At least I didn't tell him he looked like someone who just died. I think that would give him a strange feeling all day.
When we got back to the canyon, in the shade and with the sandy bottom, we fed Calvin some carrots and ran out of water. Then we let him walk until he got fussy, and strapped him into the backpack so we could get going. It was getting late and there weren't any more hikers with us on the path. That seems like a bad sign. Even though Calvin was getting tired we calmed him down by singing "Are you sleeping?" and "Row, Row, Row your boat."
Monday, May 4, 2009
Wolves in the Valles Caldera National Preserve
Every time we hike in the Valles Caldera National Preserve we see some critter that's at least as high as we are on the food chain. Yesterday we strapped Calvin, who was sound asleep, to the backpack and followed the trail that Quinn took last week to where there was an elk carcass.
We could see the white bones jutting out of the grass, but we could also see a wolf tip-toeing around the edge of the clearing. "Cool carcass," I said, "Let's get out of here."
If there was one wolf, there was sure to be more. I was there a couple of months ago with his parents and saw five of them. We turned around and headed back for another trail that would take us to the river.
Last fall we saw a baby cub in a tree near this trail, and thought we heard it's mother, and so we hurried out. We agreed, though, that the scariest thing to see in the woods would be a mountain lion, because that's the only animal that has actually attacked people in town (that we've heard of). We've heard stories of a mountain lion jumping on the back of a biker, or picking of a toddler who strayed behind. So hopefully we won't see one of them.
We could see the white bones jutting out of the grass, but we could also see a wolf tip-toeing around the edge of the clearing. "Cool carcass," I said, "Let's get out of here."
If there was one wolf, there was sure to be more. I was there a couple of months ago with his parents and saw five of them. We turned around and headed back for another trail that would take us to the river.
Last fall we saw a baby cub in a tree near this trail, and thought we heard it's mother, and so we hurried out. We agreed, though, that the scariest thing to see in the woods would be a mountain lion, because that's the only animal that has actually attacked people in town (that we've heard of). We've heard stories of a mountain lion jumping on the back of a biker, or picking of a toddler who strayed behind. So hopefully we won't see one of them.
Monday, April 20, 2009
False alarm in Chipewa National Forest
Quinn flew up to Minnesota for the weekend to visit us for the weekend and he brought the baby backpack. After spending the whole first day visiting Dad in the nursing home and cleaning his house, the second day I knew we needed to do something fun. We pulled off the highway where it said we were entering Chippewa National Forest and swtarted our hike.
The trail was blanketed in rotting leaves and circled a small lake. We followed the little wooden bridges over the swampy parts. It was so full of life, it was like a Northern Brazos Bend. I was kicking myself because every time I come to Minnesota I lose my camera, and this was no exception. I would love to take a picture of the beaver lodge on the edge of the lake, covered in ice that was turning grey and melting on the edges. There in the water under a bridge was a branch with teeth marks made by a beaver. I love beavers!
We gazed across the lake, enjoying ourselves, when we saw a truck pull into the parking lot alongside our car...it was a tow truck!
We didn't notice any signs saying that we needed a permit or needed to pay to be there. They couldn't just tow our car and leave us in the middle of the freaking forest, could they? Quinn unbuckled the backpack and handed Calvin to me and sprinted back to the car as fast as he could. I followed, much slower.
Luckily the tow truck drivers had just pulled in to look at a map and it had nothing to do with us at all. I wonder whether people react to tow truck drivers like that all the time.
The trail was blanketed in rotting leaves and circled a small lake. We followed the little wooden bridges over the swampy parts. It was so full of life, it was like a Northern Brazos Bend. I was kicking myself because every time I come to Minnesota I lose my camera, and this was no exception. I would love to take a picture of the beaver lodge on the edge of the lake, covered in ice that was turning grey and melting on the edges. There in the water under a bridge was a branch with teeth marks made by a beaver. I love beavers!
We gazed across the lake, enjoying ourselves, when we saw a truck pull into the parking lot alongside our car...it was a tow truck!
We didn't notice any signs saying that we needed a permit or needed to pay to be there. They couldn't just tow our car and leave us in the middle of the freaking forest, could they? Quinn unbuckled the backpack and handed Calvin to me and sprinted back to the car as fast as he could. I followed, much slower.
Luckily the tow truck drivers had just pulled in to look at a map and it had nothing to do with us at all. I wonder whether people react to tow truck drivers like that all the time.
The beauty of hiking without a baby
After hiking all the time carrying a 25 pound baby, it can be incredibly refreshing to get out by mysef. It was especially true a few weeks ago when I went to my running club one last time before going on a trip to Minnesota to see my dad.
The club is made up of four of five stay at home parents who get together to take turns taking care of the kids so that we can run.
When it was my turn I ran along a trail that went through the canyon along North Mesa. It was so good to just enjoy the feel of my arms swinging free and my legs pounding along the dirt trail, and running up the cliff without worying about another person.
I had enough on my mind. I was seeing my dad because he has terminal lung cancer. I wasn't sure what to expect or when I would come home. My emotions had been wound up as tight, and the run at least loosened things up.
The club is made up of four of five stay at home parents who get together to take turns taking care of the kids so that we can run.
When it was my turn I ran along a trail that went through the canyon along North Mesa. It was so good to just enjoy the feel of my arms swinging free and my legs pounding along the dirt trail, and running up the cliff without worying about another person.
I had enough on my mind. I was seeing my dad because he has terminal lung cancer. I wasn't sure what to expect or when I would come home. My emotions had been wound up as tight, and the run at least loosened things up.
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