Delight, Pure Delight

I attended the most delightful play by local playwright, Clarence P. Socwell last night. After asking family and friends to join me, and everyone choosing to do other things, I kept remembering the title of a recent book written by a Utah author, The Pleasure of my own Company. Joe and I attended a showcase of this author at the Kings English book store a couple of weeks ago. Well, the author's book review kept ringing in my mind, "Don't stay home just because no one will go with you." So I ventured to Ogden  with the rain being swished off my windshield, and wow, what a grand time.
The six actor play was performed in a quaint tiny theater (little is good for me) in the basement of the Eccles Community Art Center at 2580 Jefferson Avenue. Monastery music greeted me (not my favorite) but the atmosphere was full of smiling faces of all ages. I sat on the top of a three tier high rise directly in front of the floor level stage. There were like high rises to my left and to my right, with a little corner filled with white wicker furniture for more comfort.
The title of the play, MONTSERRAT MORNING was funny, serious all wrapped into one, even had some poetry which is how I know Clarence. We were in the Utah State Poetry Society together for years.
My heart and hat goes off to him and the actors. It is a joy I will remember for a lifetime.

Deer Hunt with Dandelion Girl

The silver helmets are in hibernation, but just have to tell about our five days of deer hunting in the mountains:

A lowering full moon lead the way while a glowing sunrise covered our backs as we hiked past ditches, over beaver dam-logs, through leafless willows to a spot high on the mountainside to take our stand. We passed a lot of deer, elk, coyote, and rabbit tracks. At one point in the snow it looked as though the coyote was chasing the rabbit. I wonder who won?
We hiked with our thermals and six layers of clothes covered by orange on top of crusted snow, boot deep powdered snow or just left plain boot prints in the snow.
Cold wind blew over the pines, naked aspen trees and through stumbles of brown and gold weeds. The morning sun was a welcome sight.
Golly gee, low and behold, out from beneath the snow popped a dandelion. Dandelion Girl is thrilled!

Our hard side popup was a joy, we had power all five days and nights. What a joy. No more tenting it for us!

Our alarm clock battery let us down, so we didn't get in a very good Sunday morning hunt, but we soon learned how to set the alarms on our trusty cell phones.
All in all, beautiful crisp fall days of hunting.
Bonnie's Haiku

From sun's warm patches
snow smothered autumn leaves twirl
with wind's bellowing whips

Joe's Haiku (his words put into place by Bonnie)

Campfire's companion
consists of moon sillouetted
amidst stalwart conifers

Mud and more Mud

The sun came out, we loaded our silver helmets, Ruffus our ATV, packed a lunch and headed for the fall foliage up Mirror Lake Byway.
With the government shutdown, there wasn't anyone at the pay booth, so we filled out an envelope, put in our $6 and found the mountains.
We rode though the musty smell of dying leaves and the moist smell of a recent snowfall over very muddy, muddy trails. Fallen leaves were polka dots on the snowbanks.What delight, and dandelion girl found her flower!
Now Ruffus will get a bath and go into hibernation til next spring. Silver Helmets over and out.

Fall aspen and winter

can you see the tiny yellow dandelion in the foreground?

summer aspen and winter

Mud and more mud, not fun to drive through the puddles today

Lunch by a beautiful 'widow maker'

A side-trail note

Due to another stormy weekend, we won't be ATVing, but wanted you to follow an exciting dream come true path we me. My novel, SALLEE'S SECRET is being published by traditional publishers, Safkhet, and will be ready for distribution during the summer of 2014. Man oh man, what a ride this is.  Come along with me.     www.safkhetpublishing.com/authors/bonnie_glee.htm and see my author page.

Where Are The Dandelions?

Great Friday evening set up beside a trickling stream where we BBQ'd traditional cheese burgers (but no cheesy fries in the mountains) and slept in our RV Summer Home with ease. Not a drop of forecast rain fell.

We awoke to NO POWER, again, and we only used one inside light, one outside light, and the water pump last night; go figure. So after morning brews, Joe, my Silver Helmet hubby, unloaded our portable generator and set it up. 

It ran while we fixed our lunch of ham, cheese, crackers, cokes, and fig newtons and packed up Ruffus for a ride. So many beautiful flowers on the hills. Had to have some for our 'coke-vase'.

 On the trail up Iron Mine Dugway the thunder brought us back off the high peaks. Then the sun returned, so we rode to scout out some future campsites and just had to explore this one . . . of course I was in the driver's seat and didn't react fast enough to get us through this sinkhole.

Then appeared three angels, one on his brand new red ATV that had a wench. He tried it out for US. What a dear threesome.

This was the camp trip to crown our RV with her name, BJ. What joy. Her namesake is our first BJ, our sailboat that we enjoyed for many years on the Great Salt Lake.

Time for the exciting day to come to a close without sight of a single dandelion. I wrote some Haiku and Joe sat by the fire . . .

Melodious hoot
of gray horned owl was lost in
neighbor's pop music

A church bench does not
necessarily determine
a man's character

The little Bird House

Wonderful ATV ride where the dirt-brown-gray trail turned to 1960s shag rug rust. The trail was lined with white,pink and yellow wild flowers. Of course they had to be picked for our coke bottle vase back at the RV.
Upon return from riding 084to 174 toward Wolf Creek and taking a 50" trail trying to find it, which we never did, we returned to our campsite for steak and salad. As I walked out our door I caught sight of a little bird house that someone had built, painted (the pink and blue paint very faded) and nailed to a tree that shaded us.

Our morning ride took us through big puddles where we could raise our feet and squeal "wee, wee', and as we rounded a bend toward camp, my favorite, a border of dandelions.

Cool Calf

Are you frustrated with the ATV exhaust burning your calf? So were we; so we designed a COOL CALF, check it out and let us make one for you ($12). It really helps. One size fits all. Just wrap around your calf and Velcro it tight. So cool, really!

Let the rides begin

Silver helmet, dandelion girl, and hubby are off for first ride of the 2013 season. We have a new guest following us---our RV called BJ II. She is a dandy cozy, hard-side pop up that hauls Ruffus, our ATV, with great elegance.

This maiden voyage takes us into the Wasatch National Forest along the Mirror Lake Byway toward Soapstone Basin. The beauty of spring is spellbinding.
Now, to set up BJ II and make sure we remember how everything works, wow running HOT water. Unload Ruffus, sip a coke and give each other a high-five for success. Yellow wildflowers wave for me to pluck them and  put them in the empty coke-bottle-vase to adorn our table.

We leave our new summer home,surrounded by glorious patches of dandelions, put on our silver helmets and ride Lambert Hollow, trail #304, scouting out new campsites for future outings. Snow lines the shady parts of the trail and we wear our shabby long sleeve plaid shirts to shut out the cool air.
What amazed my poet-thoughts the most was the white aspen beyond the meadow of flowers among the evergreens...

 Haiku

Winter white aspen
nestle naked beside bright evergreens
waiting dress of spring.