There is a reason why I am wearing a red wig and am standing next to my new blue friend. I went out to the Boulder Reservoir on New Year’s Day in support of finding a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease. Why blue? Many who turned out for this cause on a sunny, but cold winter day turned blue, including me!
I was one of the crazy people at Boulder’s Polar Plunge! Continue reading
Filed under Humor, Life, Photography, Sports
Happy New Year Wild Riders! 2013 promises to be the Wildest ever. There will be all kinds of new adventures like taking the plunge, ice dancing, skiing in the Rocky Mountains, and Roxy’s new ghetto mittens.
My son Kelly will be one of 10 DJs who will spin outside on the 16th Street Mall for the City of Denver tonight. Watch the Mountain Time countdown and you may see him!
I am hosting another Use Me and Abuse Me Day on Friday, January 4th. Be ready to mingle and hit the dance floor. Roxy may even join in the fun!
Doesn’t she look excited?
This fun virtual party will rock during the first week of the New Year! Bring your favorite post from 2012 and share the link in the comment section. Chat up the guests and maybe you’ll “pick up” some hot new subscribers. Tell them Susie sent you!
The fun starts on Friday morning. Wear your long undies. We are going outside to enjoy Colorado’s winter.
Speaking of Colorado’s winter, tune in on Wednesday for my first Wild Adventure of the year!
Happy New Year!
Be safe out there~
What kind of adventures are you planning in 2013?
Filed under Humor, Life, Photography
This was the sunrise on the auspicious morning of The End of Days. Did you hear that? Never mind. It was just my stomach rumbling.
Was it a surprise to you that the Mayans got it wrong? Hey. Look at the bright side. All of those dehydrated food packages you bought won’t go bad.
Doomsayers have been predicting the end of the world since it was in its infant stage. Every time a volcano erupted or the Earth shook they ran for cover. Isn’t that what Henny Penny squawked about? “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!”
She should be wearing a pith helmet.
Why would anyone relish the idea of the world coming to an end?
#1. They can’t take another season of Dancing with the Stars.
I am not a fan either, but really, you could just turn off the TV.
From Wikimedia Commons
#2. They won’t have to finish their Christmas shopping.
The real doomsday will come when you have nothing for your wife on Christmas morning.
#3. They can relate to this cat.
#4. They have taken Walking Dead a little too seriously and want to star in their own reality TV show.
#5. The idea of taking down all of those Christmas lights is overwhelming.
#6. They believe that the number 13 is unlucky and their compulsive nature won’t allow them to write 2013 on their checks.
Jeez! Who writes checks?
#7. Not having to worry about hair and makeup would be a welcome relief.
A Wild Hair day on the Wild Ride.
#8. They want to try out all of the Zombie Survival Gear they bought on Amazon.
#9. They have to be right all of the time and can’t wait to say, “I told you so.”
Come on. Where is the satisfaction in gloating if we all die?
#10. They have climbed Everest, won the Iron Man competition, and want to compete in the ultimate challenge.
Now you can face the challenge of surviving my blog in 2013!
Filed under Humor, Life, Photography
The cards have been sent with 20 cents extra postage, the stockings are hanging perilously close to our gas fireplace, and I ate a dozen of the cookies I baked for the last exchange of the season. Tonight I am basking in the twinkling light emanating from all of the decorations inside my house while the electric meter is whirring outside in the bitter cold.
On the 6th night before Christmas, there are presents to be wrapped, but I can finally take a deep breath and relax. As I sip my first cup of tea, a memory of a Christmas from long ago swirls back from the past.
Kelly was five-weeks-old. Danny and I lived in a Boulder apartment on the third floor with outdoor steps. It had snowed and kept snowing. It was three days before Christmas and we would fly back to Madison, Wisconsin to celebrate the holidays with our families. Our flight would take off at 4:00 PM. Continue reading
Filed under Humor, Life, Photography
Like most children, ours asked how we met. Over the years, the story came out in bits and pieces. There was a reason for that.
It all started years ago, back in Wisconsin, I had my wisdom teeth pulled. While high on Tylenol 3’s, I watched the Oprah Winfrey Show for the first time. She interviewed several contestants competing to take over the job of Dear Abby; an advice columnist.
Every time someone asked a question, they came up with varying answers, until a young woman phoned in. She asked what she should do with a boyfriend who wouldn’t commit to marriage after 2 years of dating. Every panelist said, “Give him the ultimatum,” and then they cut to a commercial. Continue reading
As spring slides into summer, my thoughts turn to jellyfish; don’t yours? I find these undulating sea creatures so fascinating with long tendrils trailing behind their gelatinous bodies. They are the ballerinas of the deep while dancing through the ocean current. Skeletonless, they are original shapeshifters. When confronting an enemy, the dance transforms into a rager as if a DJ has dropped a track. Continue reading
Trygve holding a photo of Grandpa Bredo Morstol
With Sunday afternoon all to myself, I decided to attend an unusual festival commemorating a man in Boulder County. He is not celebrated for how he lived or even for how he died. He is extraordinary because of his last wishes. You see, Bredo Morstol has been kept on ice in a Tuff Shed in Nederland, Colorado while being cryogenically preserved since 1989. He would like to be revived someday in the future. In 2001, the town began celebrating Frozen Dead Guy Days in his honor. Continue reading
The cabin door blew open sending a stack of papers flying along with a flurry of wet snowflakes. Jacob stood in snowshoes. “We need you now!”
“I’ll be right out.”
Phillip buttoned his gray wool overcoat, pulled on a red knit cap and calfskin mittens. He stooped and laced his leather ski boots. Then he snatched a jar, slipped it into his backpack and stepped out into the blizzard.
Strapping on his wooden skis, he gripped his poles, pushed off and slid past Jacob down the narrow mountain path. Nature had unleashed its fury and soon his cheeks felt raw from the icy cold. He sped through the forest and then descended onto the Sally Barber Mine trail, arriving at the quaint homestead.
He took off his skis, knocked and then entered.
“Dr. Collins, Thank you for coming. Lilly’s fever hasn’t broken.”
“Don’t worry Mrs. Driscoll, I brought the leeches.”
~~~
What do you think of using leeches for weight loss or therapy?
Would you ever use them?
~~
Photo from the US Forest Service – Click on it for link
For more flash fiction, check out Madison Wood’s blog
Filed under Fiction
He awoke with a start from a deep sleep. Blinking his eyes, he looked around the cramped chamber to regain his bearings. The early morning light cast shadows across the dirt floor and a damp earthy smell filled his nose. He stretched out to revive his somewhat paralyzed body caused from slumbering so long. As he craned himself forward to loosen up his bones, he detected a sound from above. It sent shivers down his loosening spine. He extricated himself from the bed he had made, and went out to explore.
The sun shone brightly and stung his eyes with its intensity. He stared at the moving clouds and the red tailed hawk gliding above. Again he heard its warning call, but he forged ahead. The pangs in his stomach outweighed the fear of his enemy.
He scanned the horizon with the drive of hunger urging him forward into the open. The warmth of the sun limbered up his tight body and raised his spirits. He headed towards the viburnum bushes on the edge of the lawn. This location had provided for him before. He silently stalked the hiding places that had once revealed his prey. He stopped and listened so intensely he felt he could have detected a heartbeat. He dove into the dead leaves and twigs searching for unsuspecting life but he came up empty. His stomach grumbled in complaint.
On his way to the next familiar haunt, a dog’s bark startled him. It came from behind and sent him ducking for cover. Where could he hide? The rapid pace of his heart matched the explosion of power which triggered every muscle. The need to escape thrust him forward into the thicket of shrubs and winter creeper. He vaguely remembered an old rabbit burrow under the dense branches of the juniper. It was right where he remembered. Narrowly escaping, he slipped down inside and found himself in a vacant warren filled with fur and leaves. Above him, the dog snuffled with his nose, but found her body too big to dive in after him. The dog dug at the hole for several minutes, desperate to follow him inside, but a human voice called her away. The smell of kits and recent rancid droppings filled him with craving and hope. He continued down the dark passageway, driven by curiosity and starvation.
After twisting and turning through the tunnel, the pungent and gamey scent of another familiar quarry caused saliva to pour into his mouth. A mouse family had taken up residence in the recently vacated rabbit hole. He turned a corner and muted light from above replaced the profound darkness that had surrounded him. He crept silently towards the sound of mewings emanating from the pink mouselets. He gazed through the shadows at the four babies which had been temporarily abandoned. The blind pups cried out for their mother who would nurse them when she returned. Three of them stayed close together providing warmth in their combined body heat. The fourth had tumbled from the group and struggled back on feeble legs.
He slithered towards the isolated mouse. Raising his head, he wound his body into a tight coil and slowly unhinged his jaw. He couldn’t keep himself from flicking out his tongue to savor the aroma and assess his victim before striking. He retracted his tongue and inserted it into his Jacobson’s organ, located inside his mouth. The evaluation sent his stomach aching with the expectation of dinner. Although he tried to still himself, his heart felt as though it would leap out of his body. Just as the baby attempted to crawl back to his nest, he lunged headlong and snapped!
Snakes have noses as well as the Jacobson’s organ which helps them smell and define their prey. The reptile records information by flicking its tongue out of its mouth to collect particles in the air expelled by its prey. This organ is activated when the snake retracts its filled tongue and inserts it into two pits inside the roof of its mouth to analyze the data. This is why snakes have forked tongues. Most reptiles have this capability. Turtles use it to smell under water.
In mammals such as dogs, goats, deer, primates, mice, rats, elephants, cattle, and pigs, the Jacobson’s organ is used to identify pheromones during mating season, aggression in other animals, and to detect other particles in the air. Elephants trigger it by using their trunk like a finger to apply pressure to the sensitive tissue located on the roof of their mouths.
The cat family and hooved mammals wrinkle their noses to activate this heightened olfactory sense. They are known to lift their heads and aren’t able to breath while they take in the moisture laden particles. Horses have the same ability, but don’t have to wrinkle their noses.
There is a belief that when women are pregnant, the Jacobson’s organ is activated causing a intensified sense of smell. Scientists are still working to prove this theory.
Filed under Fiction, Photography, Uncategorized
