December 19, 2007

Sweater Party

Ugly holiday sweater party was tonight. Posting pictures before we leave for Oregon. See pictures for description of why this may sound incoherent.









We are leaving for the bus to the airport at 5 am. Good night everyone and have a safe and happy holiday!

December 10, 2007

Snow!

This weekend, Boulder got its first big snow storm of the year. It "hucked chunks" from Friday until Saturday night. This led to some good accumulation on our back deck (ignore the chairs that fell over in the windstorm last week that I haven't bothered to pick-up yet).



This storm provided some much needed snow for the local ski areas and I headed up to Eldora with Keith and Melanie on Saturday to practice our Tele skills. On Sunday, I went for a hike on the trails behind our house. The mixture of snow fall with no wind (a rarity around here) created some pretty looking trees.











They are predicting more snow tonight and tomorrow. Looks like winter is finally here.

December 08, 2007

Slippery When Wet

I'm back out in BFC, and it's been raining most of the time I've been back. The rain itself does not present a problem, but when it comes in contact with primitive, clayey roads, the roads become impossible to travel on. The consequence of this is that I cannot work. If I was back home, this would be a good thing, but out here it means sitting around with nothing to do but read for days on end. Don't get me wrong, I like reading, but I'd rather get this job done so I can go back to Oregon for Christmas and never have to come back out here.

Since today was the second day in a row with nothing to do, the guy I'm training (Ryan) and I drove to Ouray, which is about 1.5 hours away. We didn't have to gain much elevation before the rain turned to snow, and everything turned white except the deer. In Ouray, we checked out the ice scene (Ouray is famous for it's ice climbing and the annual Ice Climbing Festival held there every January), which is slow to develop this year due to warmer than average temperatures (hooray global warming). We also went on a few short hikes including Box Canyon, which I'd been to in the summer but not in the winter while it was snowing. The white snow cascading down through the black slot canyon was a beautiful sight that reminded me of an Ansel Adams print brought to life.



Of course, it was quite scenic outside of the canyon as well.

December 04, 2007

Oh Christmas Tree

Due to rain and snow making the job site inaccessible, I was able to come home for a few days (I go back to BFC tomorrow). Since I arrived home on Saturday night, I had one weekend day left to play with my roommates. I suggested we go skiing, but they reminded me that my foot is broken, they had all gone skiing the day before, and they already had tentative plans to go Christmas Tree hunting. So Christmas Tree hunting it was.

We cannot disclose the location of our hunting grounds, nor claim that said hunting was undertaken legally. After searching for only 10 minutes, we stumbled upon this beauty.


Possible poaching in action

From all we'd seen in our 10 minute stumble through the forest, we knew we'd find no other tree more suitable for our house. The stealth saw was revealed, and only moments later the harvest was complete.

Keith carried the tree single handedly most of the way back to the truck, through the perilous forest. A mere 100 yards from the vehicle, thinking we were home free, the forest struck back in defense of their fallen soldier. Keith was nearly blinded by the blow dealt by a particularly ornery branch hanging at eye level.


Keith transporting the harvest, prior to the attack

Luckily, I was right behind him and managed to finish transporting the tree in classic Monty Pyton fashion, "Run away, run away!" With Ashley and Melanie as lookouts, the tree was hidden safely into the back of the truck. Oh yea, Keith recovered quickly from the attack and was in good spirits again for the drive home.

The lighting and decorating process survived both of Keith's attempts to knock the tree over. There is now an ordinance in effect prohibiting Keith from coming within 3 feet of the tree.