Month: January 2020

Pepper and I drove up to Canada yesterday, and although we remembered our passports, I completely forgot my camera. Ugh. I had to use a cell phone to take some shots of the majestic mountains. Criminal.

Anyway, here’s the southern fringe of Glacier, taken somewhere near Essex:

And here’s the northeastern edge of Waterton, taken from somewhere in Alberta:

Where were these books when my kids were younger?

(yes, they’re real)

Last week as I was shoveling the driveway (technically just the twenty feet of pavement adjoining the garage, not the half-mile gravel switchbacks to the road) I found some paw prints.

Looks like mountain lion tracks to me…

They went right along our garage and up the steps toward our front door. Ahh, life in the forest!

Zaque loves hot sauce. Valentine’s Day is coming up. And I found the perfect gift for him: dynamite hot sauce!

It includes five sauces of varying degrees of hotness, including ghost peppers. Zaque should enjoy it. Knowing him, he’ll pour it on his cereal in the morning…

I’ve been skiing for twenty-five years now. Never had a lesson, and never wore a helmet. Nope, back in 1995 I bought an amazing stocking cap that I absolutely love, and I’ve worn it every time I’ve gone to the mountain.

Back in those days, no one wore helmets. It just wasn’t cool.

But these days, it seems like I’m the only guy on the slopes without one. Not only are helmets more in vogue, they’re much more comfortable and useful.

So I went helmet-shopping. I’ll probably end up with a Smith Camber, which seems like a good compromise between the fifty-dollar ones that might protect my noggin in a crash, and the three-hundred-dollar ones that are probably meant for skydiving without a parachute.

When I go skiing in a couple weeks, I guess I’ll heave a sigh because I’ll look like the rest of the masses. But, as Pepper reminded me, $170 for a helmet sure beats the cost of skull surgery if I get clocked too hard. RIP, stocking cap.

I love French bread. It goes well with so many meals, especially pasta and meats. So these days, when we go “to town” to get groceries, I grab a couple loaves and stash them in the freezer, where they keep quite well for a few weeks.

But I don’t get the expensive French bread. That stuff costs a dollar.

Nor do I get the stuff that’s 40% off. A man could go broke spending that kind of coin.

Nope, I wait until it’s 64% off, and I can get a loaf for thirty-six cents.

I saw this on the back of a car the other day. I like it.

For most of the day, there was a really cool fog hanging over the forest.

I would’ve loved to take some time along the shore of the lake, photographing the docks that seemed to extend out into a blank landscape of grey. But we were on the way somewhere and I didn’t have my camera…

My good friend Dirk is starting his campaign. And it’s a good thing too.

Just kidding. I took a screenshot of him during our online Dominion game, and decided he looked presidential.

Pepper really enjoys our fireplace, and I find her sitting directly in front of it quite often. Today she’s reading a book.

It looks terribly uncomfortable to me, but she says the warmth is totally worth it. (And no, our house isn’t cold at all.)