Camping near Chambers Lake

After dire (and, as it turned out, incorrect) predictions for rain in the Crested Butte area, Joker and I called an audible and changed our weekend plans.  It was just about the only weekend remaining in the summer when Mima and Boppie were free to camp with us - and after the fun we had at Long Draw two summers ago, we didn't want to let another year slip away.

Since we were making last minute plans and weren't able to reserve a campsite, we decided to meet at the no-reservations Tunnel Campground, about six miles north of Chambers Lake.  While the campground wasn't empty, there were plenty of trees and enough space for us to be comfortable.  Plus, we had access to nearby beaver ponds, and the girls enjoyed hiking and spotting wildflowers in the adjoining paths.

Chambers Lake

Mima and Boppie brought their canoe so we were able to hit Chambers Lake each day for boating and fishing.  Other than that, the agenda included a leisurely bike ride with Joker, and a whole lot o' nothing else.  It was super relaxing - great to just hang out and be outside together.  And the real highlights were the other wildlife we saw!!

We saw this handsome fella several times!

On a short hike around the nearby beaver ponds the first evening, the Bug spotted a male moose in the brush just yards from us!  Sunday we saw a mother moose, and we saw *where* her baby was, though none of us actually laid eyes on it.  We got to see a bald eagle swoop down over the lake and snag a fish.  Twice.  And a giant nest just off the road housed another (presumably) juvenile eagle.
 

Look closely at the brown thing in the middle.  It's mama moose.

What a great time, just hanging out together and enjoying Colorado!

Kickin' wildflowers, butterflies and a hummingbird's nest

With the success of our hike last week at Three Sisters, and with the incredible thundershowers that have been hitting us every single afternoon, we decided to take the girls out for a hike this morning.  We picked another destination we'd not yet visited: O'Fallon Park, which is part of the Denver Mountain Parks system.  Located less than a mile east of Kittredge, it's easy access from Evergreen.

Purple flowers along Picnic Loop trail

While the trails are very well maintained, we (along with the other hikers we encountered) didn't find them to be well marked.  There are also no trail maps at the trailheads.  Next time, I'll print out a map at home before we take off.  

We parked in the third lot, and started off heading uphill on Picnic Loop trail.  From there we caught the lower side of West Ridge Loop, and took another left onto Meadow View Loop to bring us back to the parking lot.  The hike clocked in at 3.1 miles, and both the Bug and the Bunny handled it with ease.  We lucked out by it not being a hot day, and the trails have abundant shade.

As for the highlights.... this is the easy part.  The entire park is currently a giant wild flower garden.  Everywhere you look there are pinks and purples and yellows and whites, flowers of all shapes and sizes.  Some we see all over the mountains; others were new to us.  We saw butterflies galore; from the big yellow swallowtails to the small orange, white and yellow ones, they were everywhere.  They flew between us as we hiked, nearly brushing the girls' cheeks as they passed.  We saw a couple of deer up a hill from us, one with small velvety antlers.

Thistles in a meadow

But the real highlight?  We saw a female hummingbird flitting around a tree right off the trail.  Then we saw her land in a nest.  I've never, ever seen a hummingbird's nest before - it was incredible!  And, as if she knew how cool it was, she sat back in the nest and posed for me.

Hiking with the kids in Alderfer/Three Sisters

I've spent a lot of time in Elk Meadow, the Jefferson County Open Space park nearest our house.  But we somehow missed out on Alderfer/Three Sisters, though, until Frankie and Pop-pop were here last week.

Rock formation along the Ponderosa Trail

This park, located just west of Evergreen, has over 15 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails, including the well-known summit of Evergreen Mountain.  Trails are well maintained and well marked, and there are maps at the trailheads.  We chose a fairly easy path for the kids - a 2.7 mile loop that passed the landmark Three Sisters rock formation. 

We parked in the west lot and took the Sisters Trail until it looped around and met up with the Ponderosa Trail.  There were a few steep spots, but the kids did great.  This park boasts a ton of cool rock formations - magnets for kids who want to climb.  Our pace certainly would have been faster without the numerous climbing detours, but it would have been a far less fun hike.  At the Three Sisters, Joker, Frankie and the Bug even called down to the Bunny and me from some vertigo-inducing heights!

Also fun: there are a ton of geocaches hidden along these trails, if you're into that sort of thing.  We found three, dropping a TravelBug into one and getting little kiddie prizes in the others.  There were several along these trails that we passed up - so next time, still new things to discover.

What a fantastic place for Frankie's very first hike!  Great views of the mountains and of Evergreen.  Fun rocks to climb on.  Plenty of shade (and spots to stop for snacks).  A few tough uphills that result in nice easy downhill payoffs.  What more could you ask for?

This is where milk comes from, kiddos!

While Frankie and Pop-pop were here, we took them to Mima and Boppie's farm for a little tour.  Standard stops include a paddle across the lake pond overgrown mud puddle, driving the tractor and the loader and a ride in the bed of the pick-up.  This time, though, we got a special treat - something that even my parents and I hadn't seen for years.  We got a tour of a dairy farm.


The farm is run by J.R. Pennington, a good family friend (and Boppie's golf buddy) with whom I went to high school.  They have a few hundred cows - small compared to the newer commercial operations, but big enough to make it a 24/7 constantly moooo-ving (sorry!) milk factory.

First stop was technically, I suppose, a glimpse into where the magic begins.  One of the cows was in the chute, ready for her insemination.  The Penningtons used to keep bulls, but there are a couple of major drawbacks.  For one, small bull selections can lead to inbreeding.  That's bad, even for bovines.  Secondly, they are a gigantic pain in the ass.  They're unpredictable, they can be very dangerous and, if I recall correctly from my childhood, they stink.  So now dairy farmers peruse the latest Holstein Magazine, select their donors based on beefcake (sorry again!) photos and stats and keep tubes on dry ice until ready to use. I thought the kids would be freaked by the demo, but the Bunny and the Bug actually scooted around to our fair friend's caboose for a better viewing angle.

The Bunny and the Bug (oddly enough) really want to see this action.

I was struck while walking through the corrals by just how friendly these girls are.  They weren't frightened of any of us, and we were able to pet their fat flanks as we passed.  They followed me while I was taking their glamor shots, and I'm pretty sure they would have nose-print-kissed my camera if I'd let 'em!

"Now get my close-up, honey"

Next we went into the milking building, where the ladies line up three times a day to have their udders emptied.  Each cow's tag tells the milker what to expect - where she is in the cycle, how much she's been delivering daily, and if there appears to be a problem that needs review.

From there we saw the feed.  The kids jumped between the huge hay bales.  Boppie felt sugar beet mash for the first time in years.  But that's not the highlight.  How exciting can feed be, really?

The highlight: the calves.  These sweet little things start off around 80 or 90 lbs. and grow from there.  One was just hours old.  Like the cows, the calves were super friendly - we scratched their sides and they sucked on our hands, and the Bunny wanted to pet every single one.  Especially the white-faced ones.  

This was the Bunny's especial favorite!

Thanks for the tour, J.R.!

Bonus photo: Frankie behind the wheel!

Big cousin, big visit

While it's hard to complain about our Colorado life, we dearly miss the family and friends who are still in NY and CT. 

So for our oldest nephew's tenth birthday, we brought him out to see us.

Frankie and Pop-pop arrived in DIA last Monday, and stayed with us for a very, very action-packed week.  He saw his first elk and deer (including plenty of new babies), hummingbirds and mountains.  He drove his first tractor, went on his first hike and ousted Joker and me as the Bug's partner-of-choice for the roller coaster. 

Perhaps most importantly, the girls got to really know their big cousin, probably better than they had before we moved here.  The three of them played together incredibly well - they shared, they didn't argue and the girls now know that boys (even big boys) can be really cool.  I played Monopoly with Frankie and the Bug, we all watched a movie or two together, Joker and Frankie played catch.  The kids splashed in creeks, unearthed fossils, ate watermelon, jumped in the pool.  Together.  Great memories for us all.

As I Lay Dying

William Faulkner's Nobel Prize-winning novel As I Lay Dying handily solidified the author's leading position among all authors (alongside Dostoevsky and Tolstoy), in this blogger's humble opinion.  It is a fantastic story with memorable characters and an impeccable writing style.  Faulkner was known to refer to it as his "tour de force," a label with which I cannot disagree.

The book's premise is simple enough; the execution is anything but.  Addie Bundren, matriarch of a poor, tragically flawed family in Yoknapatawpha County, is dying.  By the time her husband, Anse Bundren, sends for the doctor, it's too late for him to do anything.  With her passing, Anse is determined to fulfill his promise to her: to bury her in Jackson alongside her own family.  Difficult in even the best of times, this is made nearly impossible by the storm that just passed, washing out the various bridges within wagon-driving distance.

The book is told through the perspectives of the Bundrens (Anse, Addie and their children Cash, Darl, Jewel, Dewey Dell and Vardaman), as well as their friends and neighbors and members of the larger community.  Each chapter continues (or fills in) the story, and in doing so, fleshes out the narrator's and other characters' stories.  Herein lies Faulkner's gift.  Through stream of consciousness storytelling and the use of internal monologues (that of one narrator, in particular, being clearly more intellectual than the character himself could be), the reader understands the motivations and challenges of each character.  Woven together, it's a far more complex family - with far greater problems and historical baggage - than you'd imagine.

Reading none of the characters presents the difficulty of interpretation found in the brilliant The Sound and the Fury, making this book much more accessible.  It would be a wonderful introduction to Faulkner's complexity - and to his writing style - and to Southern Gothic literature at large.  I'd recommend it without reservations to anyone.

Next up: The behemoth The Count of Monet-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.  A fellow Doestoevsky fan says it's her favorite book of all time.  How can I resist?

AOK top 25, 2013 edition

The other day, Joker reminded me that I needed to publish my updated top 25.  I was shocked to see it's been over three years - and oh, so many books - since I'd done it last!  The top 10 remains mostly the same, but major shifts in the next 15. 

1. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky's masterpiece, and my favorite book of all time. It's why I love the Russians, and Dostoevsky first among them. Murder, love, dysfunctional families, the devil... Dostoevsky knows how to tell a compelling tale.  Full review here.

2. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. The Devil comes to Moscow and all hell breaks loose. Full review.

3. Beloved by Toni Morrison. Powerful, horrifying and beautiful story of slavery and its aftermath. Full review.

4. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. A poetic portrait of English aristocracy, a highly personal examination of the Catholic church, and an insightful dive into personal relationships. Full review.

5. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Epic story of the Bolkonsky and Rostov families during the Napoleonic Wars. Full review.

6. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. The most difficult book on my list, hands down. Faulkner is a difficult read under the best of circumstances; throw in one narrator with severe mental retardation and others who are unreliable and you're up for a challenge. In this case, though, it is worth the effort. This story of a tragic Southern family showcases the extraordinary talent one of the country's greatest writers.

7. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Ambitious and captivating, Murakami blends dreams and reality in this story about a Tokyo house-husband's search for his missing cat. Full review.

8. Emma by Jane Austen. Flawed and self-delusional but charming and witty, Emma takes Harriet Smith, a sweet girl from a lesser societal rank, under her wing and commences matchmaking. Full review.

9. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Another doorstop of a book at over 1100 pages, Infinite Jest is certainly a commitment. Alternating between a halfway house and an exclusive tennis school, Wallace weaves together numerous sub-plots, zany characters and political satire in the near-future Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment (calendar years now having corporate sponsors). Also notable for its prodigious use of acronyms and end notes.

10. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The book follows the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov after he commits a gruesome crime. Can murder ever be justified? Is true punishment that which is handed out by the authorities, or the self-flagellation of regret?

11. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The best one hit wonder of American literature, this high school required reading gave birth to some of literature's greatest characters: Atticus Finch, Scout and Boo Radley. The book is funny and warm, even while examining the serious issues of rape and racial inequality.

12. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I don't buy into this being one of the best love stories ever written, but this story of Humbert Humbert's obsession with a prepubescent girl is shocking and disturbing and wonderfully written.

13. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. In the deranged world of Mark Renton and his so-called friends, heroin addiction is the prevailing force. It is a tale of greed, crime, Scottish identity, sexual morality and betrayal. The movie is excellent and bit disturbing; the book is really excellent and really disturbing.

14. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner. (2010 ranking #16) Textbook Faulkner: the epic decline and fall of a Southern family. Brilliantly written, memorable characters and the longest sentence ever published in a novel.

15. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. (2010 ranking #17) Randle P. McMurphy enters an insane asylum to finish out a prison term as the "bull goose loony." He torments old Nurse Ratched and urges his fellow patients to assert themselves.

16. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. (2010 ranking #18) Frodo Baggins saves Middle Earth; saga provides inspiration for generations of fantasy/sci-fi geeks.

17. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clark.  (Not ranked in 2010)  The pseudo-historical history of English magic.  Something of a grown-up Harry Potter, but mixed with elements of Jane Austen, David Foster Wallace and Mikhail Buglokov (all of whom, if you didn't notice, appear on this list, too).  One of the best contemporary novels out there.  Full review.

18.  The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood.  (Not ranked in 2010)  Brilliantly written, complex tapestry of a novel about two sisters, one of whom commits suicide before the present-day events.  Includes a novel-within-a-novel, in a totally non-contrived way.  Full review.

19.  Persuasion by Jane Austen.  (Not ranked in 2010)  Perhaps Austen's tightest narrative, tells the story of Anne Elliot, still single at the ripe old age of 27 with - could it be? - two potential suitors.  Witty and clever, it's classic Austen at her best.  Full review. 

20. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. (2010 ranking #15) Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March grow up amid love and laughter. It was the first book I truly adored. I still cry more when Jo finds out that Amy married Laurie than I do when Beth dies. Full review.

21. A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh.  (Not ranked in 2010)  A biting satire of the British landed class, the book tells the story of the complete unraveling of a family.  Hysterically funny until it becomes wickedly macabre.  Full review. 

22. Sula by Toni Morrison. (2010 ranking #19) Short but complex, Sula explores relationships, sex, love, guilt and the difference between good and evil. Morrison captures the difficulty of post-emancipation life in the midwest, and breaks your heart several times while she does it. Full review.

23. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. (2010 ranking #20) "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Surprisingly modern, gossipy and easy to read.

24. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. (2010 ranking #21) The glamor of the Roaring '20s thinly disguises a society riddled with materialism and a lack of morality.

25. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. (2010 ranking #22) Fat, lazy Ignatius J. Reilly on a quest to find a job in New Orleans' French Quarter. Hilarius.