Another Day Off

On my day off this week, I decided to stay on the ranch (gas prices are incredibly high nowadays). I did some exploring, and found a pond just 400 ft. from my front door!

 It was way too cold to even think of swimming or diving, especially not skinny-dipping! But look, do you see the "beach"? Oh, how I miss the beaches in California... especially Laguna Beach.

As I was walking along the shore, I heard a loud splash, and realized that there are fish in the pond! Can you see the fish in the above picture? The water in the pond is all melted snow from the mountains behind my cabin... so the water is very clear... so nice!

My cold, cold toes!

So once I finished exploring... it started to snow. The snow made lovely ripples in the water... doesn't it look like a Monet painting? It was actually nice, because the snow just brushed right off of me and I stayed dry... if it was rain, I'd be soaked with water.

Reflection of the sky. Such lovely clouds. Oh, yes, it stopped snowing. The weather here is erratic... first it snows, then it doesn't, then it snows again overnight... but by the time lunch is over, the snow has all melted and the sun is shining. Today, it was cloudy and gloomy in the morning, and now the sun is shining, and the wind is so strong that it blew my back door open. Kinda spooky, yet exciting... ya never know what you're gonna get!

I'm so glad to have this place to spend some quiet time. Even though I have no TV, having wireless Internet is just as bad. And even though I'm far away from my old life and its distractions... the awesome people here and the busy job fill my thoughts and hours. It's amazing that I continue to be distracted from God, even living in the middle of nowhere, with less than 40 staff members to interact with! 

After about an hour, frozen stiff, I went back home for a nice hot shower. Home, sweet home!

 

That night we had some girls over for storytime in our fortress! Chelsea and Kellie made it out of sheets we took from housekeeping :) Shhh!

Kellie (wrangler), Lindsey (head cabin girl) and Lauren (kitchen girl) enjoy tea, popcorn, and Lauren reading to us a Sherlock Holmes story - "The Red-Headed League".

Oh, Chelsea, always trying to be tough... I guess having both parents in the police force toughens you up... but she's really a sweetie-pie with the biggest heart I know.

 Even Kita decided to listen in and enjoy the shelter of our awesome fortress!

As the story progressed, more and more heads bobbed and one by one, we sprawled onto the floor. Kellie ended up falling asleep, the dear :) What a great way to end the night... having a bedtime story read to us! I wonder if Kellie will ever find out what happened to the Red-Headed League...

Me Time!

When you only get one day off a week, you try to make it count. I needed to get off the ranch or I'd go nuts, I guess it's the LA in me... I needed to drive on a freeway somewhere. I decided to do some touring around the area, starting with a hike in the Garden of the Gods.

Deer at the freeway exit. Don't the cars scare them? I guess not...

View of Pike's Peak from the Garden of the Gods Visitor's Center. This mountain is visible everywhere around the area... you can even see it from the ranch when you climb to one of our little mountains that border our valley.

Old Town Colorado Springs. Found a store that totally made me think of my beloved church, Epic, since we support the same causes. "Yobel Market is committed to empowering and promoting the value of exploited, displaced, and impoverished people groups of the world through the provision of sustainable economic opportunities by marketing beautiful, handcrafted products utilizing micro-financing and fair trade principles. Our hope is that through awareness and equitable trade, marginalized people of the world may be offered the hope of freedom and abundant life." Yobel is the Hebrew word for "jubilee", which means freedom, release from captivity, cancellation of debts, the turning of tables, stabilization and restoration of land, redemption for the poor, and celebration. This is SOOO Epic!

PEZ dispensers!

Cute honey cottage. I just love the store front colors... it's so cheery!

Guy at the park setting up chess games. I was tempted to play a game with him, but didn't.

Garden of the Gods is really... accessible. Look, a huge paved walking lane for those that can't hike trails. My mother would love this :P It's really nice, though, for those that must use wheelchairs to get around, since most other places in nature aren't wheelchair accessible :P

I wandered off the "beaten path" into a aspen grove. Did you know that aspen groves are all one organism? The roots of all the "trees" are connected as one tree. They say the largest living organism on the planet is an aspen grove in Utah called Pando.

I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know what happened to this leaf. My guess is bugs? As a biologist... I should know better. Biologist fail, haha. But the type of aspen that grow in the Rockies are "Quaking Aspen", so named because their leaves "quake" when the wind blows through them. It's funny to think of trees shivering, eh?

A western scrub jay in a juniper tree! So blue! So pretty!

See the two girls hiking to the top? I want to do that before I leave!

Hiking trail... one person at a time.

Juniper berries... smell so good! Good food for the furry animals around here.

Another hiking trail, quite dusty.

The Balanced Rock on the way out of the garden and towards downtown Manitou Springs!

I don't vandalize walls, but what happy vandals roam the streets of Manitou Springs... spreading joy! Stopped in here for a cup of wintermint tea... so good!

What a pretty mosaic tile!

At a Glassblower's Shop.

Saki, haha.

Books and wine... sounds like such a great combo... if only I wasn't allergic to alcohol...

Reading nooks! I LOVE places like this... if it didn't take 1.5 hours to get here, I'd come every day!

Speaking of reading, I've been reading like a maniac here (there's nothing else to do)... and I've done something I usually don't... I'm in the middle of 5 books, reading them all a bit at a time. They're not stories, so I'm not compelled to find out how it ends. They're more like conversations that I can pick up when I like, and continue later when I've had enough for the moment. Sort of like this blog :) Speaking of continuing later...

Supermoon

From what the guests tell me, and internet news sites confirm, the moon is the closest it's been to the earth in 18 years. Supermoon, is what they call it (kinda cheesy). This is a shot I got on my way back from square dance last night, which was really cloudy and windy. The light on the left is my porch light :) Home! I love it when I see a house illuminated by the lights within... it looks so inviting and gives me such a homey, cozy feeling. Not to mention the satisfaction of curiosity when I can see into people's homes and admire their decor... or see what's on TV at the moment... :P

Thank God, it's Sunday! Most of the working world thank God for Fridays, when their work week is over and they can have a break. For us in the hospitality industry, we thank God for Sunday nights, because we work the whole weekend... and man, did I work! We had over 60 people over, which is almost summer-time numbers... with an off-season staff. We added a seat to each table, so I had 9 instead of 8 guests' drinks and orders to memorize (we 4 diamond staff don't write things down, ugh!). My poor brain! My aching feet (darn cowboy boots)! My arms and back and legs and... everything!

Us waitrii are so tired, we've gotten a bit loopy. We had a manic giggle-fest this morning at breakfast, which scared most of the other staff, just thinking about all we've been through and how we still had breakfast and lunch to go through. Courteney kept desperately repeating, "It's fine. This is fine. We are fine." Breakfast Saturday morning was terrible, the kitchen was backed up, and guests were complaining about the 20-minute wait, which I completely understand, because they had to be ready for their rides. It was like putting out little fires all over the place. How do you keep guests busy and happy when the kitchen is backed up? We offer fruit bowls, refill coffee and juice a million times, stand there and chat until you run out of things to say and it gets super awkward... then abruptly say, "I'll go check on your order!"... repeat with your other table until you are about to go crazy and are desperate... but you keep smiling, you try your best to avoid "hovering" in the kitchen and putting even more pressure on the cooks... and you get through it. We got through it. Hallelujah!

But enough of the complaining. It was good to see the ranch come alive with guests and to really test how well I can serve them. And us waitrii weren't the only ones working hard... the wranglers, so far, have been taking out groups with less than 10 people, with two wranglers each... this weekend, they were taking out groups of 10 or more, with only one wrangler to keep the guests and horses together. In the off-season, we only have about 80 horses... and it was difficult to match the riding ability of the guest to the personality of the horse with so few to choose from. Another issue we had was that some guests would tell the wranglers that they're very comfortable with horses, and signed up to go with the progressive beginner or intermediate groups... only to reveal mid-ride that they've never ridden a horse before. What a drag on the other guests who want to lope (ride really, really fast) but can't because the "hero" can't stay on his horse! There's a lesson for you, don't be a hero.

Care package of the week from a Girl Scout family! YESSSS!!!!! Thin mints are my FAVORITE! And Samoas are my roomies' favorite! I love it when everybody wins!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things... (lunch)

- the kitchen crew has awesome music blasting when you come in
- watching, through the windows, all the rides come in during set up
- salads and sandwiches are plated and ready, just grab and go!
- hearing the exciting and funny stories guests tell about their morning rides
- the smell of brewing sweet tea... the sweetness mixed with the fragrance of tea is so calming an aroma
- dessert fits in one basket... no individual plates to set or clear... yes!
- a 3 hour break before dinner set up... oooh-aaah!

Gelding a Yearling (beware, gross stuff ahead)

It's ironic that I've just finished reading a book called "Wild at Heart", a call for men these days to stand up and be real men... and then witness the gelding of our yearlings at the ranch. For those that know me, I love blood and guts, so I was able to film the whole procedure for Cody, short for Dakota.

First the vet checks Cody's vitals. Everything seems to be good.

Then Charlie administers an antibiotic and a sedative with painkillers. I'm not sure what they used, but it was only enough to get the horses to lie down and be compliant. The horses were able to get up within 15 minutes of the procedure. Tony, the ranch manager and the most authentic cowboy on the ranch, is helping to keep the horse calm and still.

Disinfecting solution for the instruments. The bottle is to squeeze the solution onto the surgical area, and the sponge is used to rub it well into the tissues. Judging by the color, I'm guessing that it's iodine.

For those with weak stomachs, you may not want to watch this.

Note the sickening "crunch" at around 42 seconds :)

Nate, Jonathan, Anne and Anna. Don't you love the expression on their faces? Note Anna's apron is still on... the girls had rushed over from the kitchen to watch.

Cody, what a trooper! Back on his legs in 10 minutes! The sweet and patient Chelsea is guiding Cody back to his stall for some well deserved down time. Her words to me just before this picture was taken were, "Some days are just really tough."

If you see in the background, some of our guests are observing the event. I think it's really great that the guests are allowed to observe all the workings of the ranch and get involved. Some of the guests were helping to hold the horses still during the procedure and walking them to their stable afterwards. We have an awesome family with 5 kids staying with us until Sunday, whose boys love waking up early, before breakfast, to shovel manure and saddle the horses with the wranglers. It's experiences like these that really teach the kids about enjoying hard work and the facts of life, which I hope to pass on to my kids one day :)

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things... (breakfast)

- how peaceful, dark and quiet it is when you're the first one in the dining room
- watching the sunlight creep down the east-facing mountain from the dining room windows
- the smell of freshly ground coffee beans
- swirling whipped cream on top of hot chocolate
- giving an extra perky, "Good Morning!!!", to wake-up sleepy guests when they walk in
- asking guests what they're planning for the rest of the day... living vicariously through them

Vista Verde Staff Retreat Day 3

On the third day of retreat, I decided not to go cross-country skiing again and opted for the horsemanship clinic. Here's a picture of Flicka, the owner's wife's horse. Ain't she a beauty?

Vista Verde's head wrangler, Joanna, or Jo, is an awesome gal from Indiana. She was super helpful and very down to earth. I really appreciate that in an instructor.

BJ and me! He was an awesome horse! I learned how to convince him to back up, turn left or right, trot, and lope. We even had to go through a course with traffic cones to test our maneuverability, and we got through! One thing I have to work on, is not "driving" the horse when we're turning, and learning to shift my weight in the opposite direction of where I want the horse to go. Since they are trained to move away from pressure, I also have to nudge my heel that is opposite to the direction I want to go. It's very... opposite, and will take some getting used to.

On our last evening, we sat down to a formal dinner. It basically means, we order from a menu, and the waitresses serve us the courses instead of going through a buffet. Ever since I've become a waitress, I've been more aware of the differences in how other restaurants arrange their place settings and serve their courses. It bothers me, now, to see a waitress serve from the left, using her right hand. A guest should never see the back of your hand when you are serving. I probably make that mistake every now and then, but it's something I try really hard to avoid doing nowadays. Anyway, enough of my ranting... :)

For the last evening, we have a surprise show held by Dace (manager), Terry (horsemanship instructor), Reid (... I don't know what his position is), and Ben (manager). They're all former Lost Valley Staff, and they've tried to make Vista Verde more like Lost Valley, even though they're very different ranches. One of the ways they've tried to make Vista Verde more homey, is by providing entertainment in the form of song.

It was a great experience to be a guest and seeing things from the other side. Sometimes, when you're providing the entertainment and singing cheesy songs, you wonder if the guests even want to listen. But having these guys play for us was so entertaining, as they joked around and strummed their instruments so enthusiastically... I really appreciated it. It reminded me of the medieval bards that used to wander from village to village, telling stories of heroes and heroines, singing of honor, glory, and brave adventures, and how it might have felt to be a villager and have one's worries and burdens fade to the background, for a while, in the enjoyment of the story.

We all had communion afterwards, but in a way I've never done it before. We all sat in a huge oval around a low table which sat in front of the fireplace. Our speaker, Matt, had talked to us about forgiveness, and how the most judgmental people have never experienced forgiveness or grace. Also, the more you engage with your desperation, the more forgiveness you feel and the more you can forgive. On a piece of paper, each one of us wrote down what sins and struggles we've been facing lately. And he broke several loaves of bread, poured grape juice into several cups, and invited us to take a bit of each, and serve it to someone else, saying, "I'll trade you. Taste Grace." Then, taking their paper, we cast it into the fire for them. What an experience! To serve another, and have another serve you... to watch your paper burn and watch the smoke and flames rise to heaven... I had come to Colorado to grieve, even do penance for troubles in the past, but I remembered that I am forgiven, that God is the great Redeemer and Healer, and there is no need for me to physically do anything to atone for the past. It is like a wave of cleansing water, washing the irritating dirt from my eyes, and I can see clearly again. Oh, how easily my vision is clouded!

It is one year ago, today, March 14th, that I shared my testimony at Epic, my church in Fullerton, California. Have I forgotten, already, the grace I felt so sure of back then? How has my life changed? In a new place, where no one knows my story, am I living a life full of grace?