The Ugly Stick

In order to finish the facia repair at 420 Grand, I decided that I should reduce the size of one of the intersecting shrubs.  I don't know exactly what it is.  Because it has awl-shaped leaves, it must be a juniper, but I doubt that it is native:  Probably a landscape planting by a former owner that has done well in its sheltered location.  It hasn't necessarily bothered me very much, but I can't reach the facia behind it.

I thought that I could use the chainsaw to convert the sprawling shrub to a box.  In other words, I could flatten the front, pushing it back towards the house, and cut off the top, bringing it down to a manageable five feet tall.  As I worked, I began to realize that my preferred dimensions would remove all the leaves, preserving only the lower trunk.  Is it ugly?  No, not ugly.  A bonsai.

Down by the River

At the Homestead, the long dry spell has continued.  We had one decent (wetting) snowfall in mid- to late-January, but that was the only one.  At 420 Grand, things have been better.  The big snow storm last week was packed with moisture—heavy wet snow.  Then we had rain on the snow.  Today, when the hot, spring-like sun came out, the big melt accelerated.  I wondered whether it would cause flooding.  So, after work, I went to the levee—was it about to break?  Um.  No.  The Susan River is flowing, but not flooding.

Unbroken

We went out skiing again today.  And this is what we found (above).  I was very irritated.  We broke this trail just a few days ago.  And look at it now?  We had to break it again!  Are you kidding me?  EDO was busy with a friend, so I had to do it by myself.  Well, OK, I wasn't by myself.  I was with VSO.  She is a good skier and she enjoys my trail breaking (below).  So, I guess I've had my reward.

Bouldering

I guess we've been out a lot this weekend!  Today, we drove to Boulder, Utah (above), where VSO was scheduled to begin an art exhibition at the state museum (below).  Fortunately, while she worked to pay our bills, the rest of us had time to do some scrambling.

With EDO, I drove the Burr Trail down to the first turn-off.  We worked our way up a small canyon to a ridge above the road and then took a risk on a slippery slither down the far side.  The picture (below) features EDO on the last few moves of the down-climb.  After that, we quickly returned to the museum to meet VSO for the drive back to the west side.

The Conditions

We got a little snow overnight and EDO suggested we try the skis.  I was a bit dubious; it just didn't seem like we had the conditions.  In the event, EDO was correct and the conditions were had.  She broke a lot of trail on the way up (though I took a couple of pulls), and then we all enjoyed—to appropriate Hemingway—the run home together.