A capitol adventure

Alternately titled: The Longest Drive for reasons I will elaborate on in the near future.

If offered a chance to journey to your state's capitol building for a sculpture unveiling featuring your Da's work, and a chance to meet your Governor, would you take it? I did.

 Ooh but how it began! I vaguely remember being prodded awake at the crack of dawn by what I took to be at the time a pestering hen. It turned out to be my mother, who insists it was only seven o'clock. What she fails to understand is that time is relative -- and waking a ghastly experience for we owls of the night.
 Crumpets aside, we set out on the East Bound road, through true prairie that reminded me why I love my state.

 There is nothing out there but blue sky, waving grass, and sometimes a herd of cattle. And that is beautiful to me. The openness, the expansiveness, the freedom of it all. You look out at the green-soon-to-be-gold velvet speeding by, and it is not hard to imagine buffalo instead of cows, or even nomadic indians on their painted ponies.... Plenty of fodder for a story-teller like me.

 After several hours drive, through 'towns' along the way with populations ranging from 3 to 26, dodging suicidal pheasants, and surviving an outburst of Shenandoah from Mum as we crossed the Missouri river, we made it at last to the capitol building just in time for the ceremony to begin.

 The place was packed with dignitaries and people that didn't know we were family of one of the artists so we had to take the lift and watch from the balcony, which turned out to be better because the place, built in 1910, has no air conditioning. But it does have cool old radiators.

 The ceremony itself was all pomp and splendor, I suppose. Though after my Da finished his little speech, I confess I did abandon my post of Interested Observer to go and be an Explorer of the upper level, even sneaking a look 'round the Legislators' lounge.
 The Governor spoke too, though it seems that no one had told him the statues' bios would be given as each one was unveiled, so we got to hear everything interesting that ever happened to those men twice. Just incase we didn't get our notes down the first time.

 Afterwards it was tea on the terrace at the Governor's mansion. Well, coffee and lemonade anyway. And sweets. LB kept running back to the catering to snag us a few more lemon-raspberry cheesecake bars. And lemonade. The lemonade was wonderfully delicious. Very cold and very fresh, and it came in the cutest little glasses.
 My family eventually decided that cheesecake bars did not constitute a good lunch, so we packed up and drove around until we found a place to satisfy LB's craving for fried chicken and mine for mashed potatoes & peppery gravy.

By then it was getting time for Mum, LB, and I to hit the trail home so we could make it back in time before dark to feed the animals. We left Da behind to do further sculptural things and headed out, taking a brief rabbit trail to drive over Owahe Reservoir/Dam and about dying of laughter at the top, coming up with all sorts of hilarity {see Percy Jackson and the Olympians book 3}. Then we really pushed off....
  I kid you not: Not thirty minutes into the drive {about the time we pass the sign Last Gas 150miles} I was seriously regretting all that delicious lemonade in the adorable cups -- if you know what I mean.
 This is the main reason I don't like road trips, because where I live to get Anywhere you have to go through a million miles of Nowhere with, you guessed it, no rest stops.
 About an hour later Mum got tired enough to let me drive. I was all like, Okay, Mommy, don't worry about a thing, I'll get us home safely! until she sacked out in the backseat, then I was like LB, fasten your safety belt and zip your lips; we're getting home now!! 'cause there was no way in Hot-place I was pulling over to the side of the road. Because even though there were probably only five other cars on that highway, I can guarantee they would all pass by just then like a little parade for yours truly.
So, yeah. I chose the alternative.
 I won't go into details, but I will say I shaved a half-hour off our travel time. Aaand we arrived in one piece, which is always a plus when I'm driving. In fact, considering the circumstances of that day, it's a miracle.

-Gwyn

I visit George, Tom, Teddy, and Abe

I have announced summer to be officially over. It seems quite premature, but doesn't it always? I imagine our cold, wet spring accounts for the feeling of not-yet-begunness summer had its entire stay. Still, this morning for church I wore jeans and blouse with three-quarter length sleeves because, as I went out to throw hay to the horses earlier, the scent and chill of autumn was definitely on the air. How can I tell? Each season has a very distinct smell to it; Spring is sharp and fresh, summer is lazy and warm, autumn mellow and woody, winter of course is biting and crystal clear.
 But scent isn't the only thing that determines this new season in my life: We started school last Tuesday, which is really what I'm here to blog about, because it was not your average first day of school, oh no. I just happen to be home schooled -- or home educated, if you prefer -- so the word average doesn't even enter into the equation.
 On the first day of school, I got to go to Mount Rushmore: the shrine of democracy, and had a few other stops on the side. Read it and weep.

The road trip began as all others do -- with the road. How exciting. There's really nothing to do while 'tripping except take pictures of the landscape and... yourself. I refuse to publish any of the latter since most of them involve Little Brother and I on a caffeine high.

Speaking of that caffeine high, all I can say is thank goodness for awesome little coffee shops, shaken iced teas, Amariconos, and iPods. Shaken iced teas are the bestest things since sliced bread. You get your regular ice tea but with a 'shake' of Fruit Tea Blast flavoring. Sweeeetness! And they even taste great when they've been sitting in the car for an hour and a half! moving on....

Our first stop: A little Keystone taffy & candy shop. It's pretty much world famous. I think they even say that on the packages.

the taffy makin' process.

They have a million different flavors for their taffy {made in a little glass room in a corner of the shop - see photos}. Anything for jalapeno to the native buffalo berry that grows right there in the Hills.

The lady was nice and let us sample before we walked out with two pounds of the stuff in every flavor. Mum says we're going to send some to friends "of course", but I'm not so certain they'll be full bags.... om nom nom....

LB and I would have like to take this truck up on its offer -- Mt. Rushmore helicopter rides -- but besides being $49 short, Mum said they have at least one crash a year. Uh... Who hires these pilots? Or do you fly the chopper yourself, I wonder. I could be on to something...

Ah, yes! The reason we've come! Mount Rushmore itself, as seen from the Hall {or walk?} of State Flags.

As seen from Grand View Terrace... aptly named. The place was buzzing with tourists, as you would expect at a National Monument. Lot's of rich retired folks in their giant caravans - er - RVs. British television is ruining me. People have also informed me of dropping my 'r's, and only yesterday I said tomăto instead of tomāto! Gah!

LB using his first public machine -- we're so proud. It only took him three minutes to figure out that you need a quarter to make the thing work."I can't see anything!" Hehehe.

The day was spectacular for this kind of sightseeing: cloudless, breezy, and in the lower 80s. We decided to take the Presidential Trail and from there took the 'strenuous' branch -- read: 1 million stairs. It started great, all nice and even, chipmunks playing and chattering alongside the walkway. Then we started going down. And down and down and down. And what goes down must eventually come up it seems. All in the form of unevenly cut stone stairs. Not so great when you're wearing flipflops. I had zero traction, and by the end of it a scraped knee, sore rear, and blisters between my toes. And I was starving. I needed happiness.

please excuse the lack of head, i lost it some time ago.

And it came in the form of 5 tons of raspberry-chocolate best-soft-serve-in-the-world.
While omnomming, I had a good time people watching and writing down what I saw. What a treasure trove for that kind of thing!
I....
*walked the trail with a couple from Tennessee
*was served my ice cream by an Italian
*sat across from eight Australians while eating above item
*had a table next to a guy from Greece that was Skyping with his brother {also Grecian} who was in Turkey
*walked into a Chinese family's photo --  I'll just back away slowly and hope you didn't notice....
*encouraged and elderly East Coast lady up the strenuous stairs -- "I can't make these .... stairs!" "...Of course you can! {tries not to laugh out loud and therefore look like a total jerk}


By the time all this had taken place it was already late afternoon and we started to head back home. Then we came upon this little slice of heaven...

They call it... Pack..toe..la... Pactola reservoir. It's right in the heart of the Hills and utterly beauteous. We had to pull over. And we found the perfect spot, too.

And get this - The water is warm! Like warm warm! I so wished I had had a swimsuit or at least shorts. But I had to settle for wading, which was alright.

I promise you my feets aren't really misshapen, whatever this photo may imply. I have very nice feet, thankyouverymuch.
I had fun splashing LB when he wasn't looking. Benevolent sister? But of course! I just had a perfectly large rock, and when one has a perfectly large rock one simply must place it with some force behind an unsuspecting person in the water. :)

But like all travels, this one had to come to an end. A whole day on the road, trails, and in quaint little shops, and very well spent. The next day we had a real day of school - textbooks, papers, and brand new pencils. I'm taking nine classes this year, and now TLOS has a designated spot in my day everyday. So maybe I'll finish it after all.
 In spite of my ranting and raving, I am feeling the tingles of excitement for this...this... newness.
A tree in the backyard is turning yellow though it is only just September. Order and routine has returned to its throne in my day -- everything is scheduled so that I get the important stuff done. Priorities, Gwyn, priorities.
Music lessons are also back and I'm excited to show my teacher my new violin, Dido. {I have pictures of her for you coming soon...}
So bring on Fall and the turning leaves! ... just winter stay away for now...

I shall return to you all later!

-Gwyn

Flood waters

I debated awhile whether to post this on Big Sky of here since this is really more of a photography post, but you haven't heard from the Celtic Cowgirl in awhile so....

a new favorite photo of mine -- no editing required!

After what seemed years of temps under 20* and snow and wind and nastiness, we have suddenly gotten a pocket of warmth literally over night: Went to bed -- 5*. Got up next morning to 50*

 But, hey, I'm not complaining! 

We have had at least six inches or more of snow, but all that's melted already. But the ground is still frozen so.... well, see for yourself.

run-off joining the main flow

May I remind everyone that we normally have no water in our creek bed -- it was dammed up years and years ago and has been dry pretty much ever since. Well, not so much right now.

the creek bed is about three to four feet across dry. this is more like twelve.

Stunned at what I saw out my window, I did the natural thing: grabbed my wellies {okay, so they're actually just high-water snowboots, but that doesn't sound interesting.} and the camera and set off to explore these uncharted waters, Hammie at my side. 

It has completely overflowed and gone round the dam and has continued to carve a path back to its old route -- right across the flat pasture!

look at the way it carved out this bank. there's always been a sort of bowl, but now its a fall!

Ham and I followed the flow to the edge of our land where it meets the larger Hay Creek, which is on full churn too. All the while we were being followed ourselves by this little bugger:

This chickadee would peep and chirp at us; flitting from tree to tree and generally making a nuisance of himself, for he wouldn't hold still enough for a photo. This is the best I ever got of him.

A Bald Eagle also flew over our heads. I think she must be planning a nest or something because I've seen her around more than once. Usually Bald Eagles just pass through occasionally since they usually live near streams and lakes and such for the fish. And we've got no fish. So I wonder what she is planning...

big birds, aren't they?

froth. froth-froth. frothfrothfroth. i think i found a new found a new favorite word...

I nearly fell in taking this photo. Haha. The froth was pretty cool though, and there was a lot of it.

Coming back I noticed a lot of dog tracks heading towards home. I thought that was very odd since our dogs don't go out that far without us. And they had to be new to have survived the warm weather so well... Then it hit upside the head. Well, duh! What have you been listening to every night but coyote cries! That made me feel stupid since it took me a good while to figure it out. But there it is.

bubbles!

I love adventuring. :)

-Gwyn

The day I felt fancy

The following is the account of my grand day yesterday at the 10th and last annual Presidential Sculpture Unveiling.  {As you may already know my brother and I as well as my friend Luseach* were to play lobby music.}

My day began early in the morning. I stumbled half asleep down the hall to my parents bedroom where Mum curled my hair; the first step to my rather dramatic transformation from the groggy, tousle-haired morning me, to the poshed** up musician that followed two hours later when we arrived at the theatre.
 The car ride there was long, so I made the most of it by sleeping most of the way.
*I translated her name for privacy purposes
**British informal word: stylish, upper classy, etc.

The theatre was done-up with all sorts of patriotic things for the day, bulletins and presidential brochures were handed out at the door.
Feeling a bit over done, we unpacked our instruments only to find that the theatre had no place set up for us. It was three minutes till we had to start. We scrambled to the manager's office and he sent one of the staff to get us chairs. We waited but she soon returned chair-less. They apparently had been moved to heaven knows where.
 At five past nine we had finely tracked down someone who knew where the chairs were and set up, beginning the song almost before we had adjusted the music stands.
 Not to brag or anything, but I think we were fantastic! {says modest me ;)} At least for pulling it together in two days, not bad at all.

The ceremony was grand in itself, and slightly emotional for the president of... well, the presidents project, it being the last real unveiling and all. Yes, it was nice to listen to the speakers and sculptors{my Da included} talk about the newest stationary members. But afterwards I shall remember always. Afterwards was the VIP Presidents-associated people only dinner at a five star hotel, complete, may I add, with foreign waiters.
 For someone used to going to steakhouses the elegant chandeliers, white linen tablecloths, and waiters with accents{I could listen to them talk all day}, it knocked me sideways! Don't think I don't like the rustic ranch restaurants we usually visit, heaven's above no! I love the atmosphere there! But this, this was something completely different. And the food was so beautiful and carefully made..! Of course I snuck pictures, even though the dark-haired lady gave me several disapproving looks. She probably thought I'd never been to such a place. Which of course is true.

Dinner was three courses(!) First, a light appetizer of french bread and garlic butter, and lemon water{above}. I admit that because I had had no breakfast I consumed five pieces of bread and three glasses of water. I would have eaten more bread but Mum said I had to share with my brothers.

 I was hungry!

Second was the main. Gourmet tender steak {which I didn't care for. Meat should taste like meat, not plants} and a whole lot o' salad. How ever much I may hate eating greens, in the spirit of experiencing new things I bathed the leaves in Italian dressing and gave it the heave-ho. On reflection, I should have realized that they would have made the dressing fancy in some way and that I should have tasted a tad before sticking a forkful of saturated foliage in my mouth. But I didn't and therefore the taste I faced was not the tangy make-your-mouth-tingle taste I love that comes from plastic bottles, but the strong bitter flavor of white wine. It was so strong that I could actually feel my sinuses clearing. What an awful surprise. Especially to someone who has just plucked up courage to eat salad after years of refusing its dreadful leafy bits.

 After that unfortunate event and the main course was over coffee was served. *angel chorus* What delicio café it was too! Yumyumyumyumyum! I cannot drink plain house coffee, I just can't. But if it comes from a coffee shop or some place like this *sighs*. There are just certain things in this world that are set high above their kinds. Food: Çhocolat  Animal: Horse  Drink: Coffee  :)

I like my café best with about a third cream and two table spoons sugar or even black with honey.

I love this photo, by the way. Doesn't it just look so warm and cozy? Perfect for the chilly autumn days ahead.

 *Takes deep breath* And then there was dessert. *needs another deep breath* 

Okay, I am not a food person{though I do have a sweet tooth}. At all. If I could survive I would probably go days without eating because I simply don't care for food. But this..! Dessert was just so beautiful! This was my Mum's Cremé Brulé. She let me taste it. It's like the best vanilla pudding on the planet with a crunchy, sugary, caramel-y top. 

I got about two and a half cups of the richest apple cobbler ever. The cinnamon alone was to die for! And as an artistic touch they spiraled caramel over it. I'm making myself hungry now.

My younger brother had apple cobbler too, and my older one had chocolat cake, which he described as like a muffin -- but not!

 Oookay... Moving on!

 Having artistry in the blood, us children of course took the opportunity to 'play with our food'. This is Older Brother's plate. Sadly, I had no chocolate sauce to draw with.

All too soon the glamorous party dinner came to an end, alas. But I shall always have fond memories of my first really fancy dinner. The whole thing was a little surreal; I kept thinking that in a few hours I'd be back in my blue jeans seeing to Roanie, cleaning her feet and applying smelly ointment to the sores on her belly and back where the flies ferociously gather, knowing their pathetic days are numbered.
 It was like for two hours I was two very different people. Kind of a fun sensation. :)

 Now it is Sunday night and yesterday already feels so long ago. But if there's one thing I learned yesterday{besides taste gourmet things with caution} it's that you don't always have to be outdoors to experience an adventure.

-Gwyn

I can explain!

I'm terribly sorry I didn't post Horse Logic Saturday! ...or Sunday.... But! I can explain all!
 You see, Saturday I was swamped with personal affairs like house chores, boring stuff like that etc., and I simply had to go to my little brother's soccer game. The weather was perfect that day - a balmy 75* and sunny all day. You know it's been rainy and cold here for the past two weeks(!) and that's something I am not used to {nor does it make me cheerful to be trapped indoors with homework - blah.} Anywho, my brother's team smoked the other one by a whopping 9 to 1. Afterwards there were victory icy-slurpy-high-sugar-yummy things all round. I can't recall clearly what happened once we got home. But that too is explainable because yesterday, after church, completely out of the blue, Da hooked up the trailer and said we were going to go trail riding!
 I know you must be thinking that with all the pastureland I'm blessed to be able to ride in whenever I want,  it's rather odd that I should be so excited to go trail riding. Well let me tell you this, we never take the horses on trails. We just don't have the time. And, when you ride nearly everyday all summer, even with all this land, you've pretty much adventured the whole place out. Things get a bit samey.
 Back to the main point.
So we loaded up Wilber for Da, Roanie for me, and Tricksey for little brother. Mum's knees hurt her real bad when she rides so she decided to just walk.

All loaded up
{L-R Wilber, Roanie... and Tricksey, though she's too short to see}

After a long and precarious drive up{...and up and up...} into the National Forest Reserve {aka, the Hills} we came to the spot. The trail head of Big Hill.
 What a sorry name for such a pretty place. The only excuse for such a name is that it was named by the Naive Americans and the translation is simply "big hill". If that is not the case, then whoever did name it is a buffoon. I stray yet again....
We took the longest loop around the hill, about 4 miles. Four miles of blissful riding in the depths of nature. The trees are dressed best autumn frocks, but only for for a few days. The breeze was already plucking at the leaves and whispering change.  As we passed through the silent wood, the leaves fell gently like golden confetti. The variety of hues the different trees take on after a summer of greens is extraordinary. Red oaks and maples, yellow aspens, orange birches..... God's own fireworks show.

I wasn't able to take pictures because I was riding the whole time, but I was able to snatch a few.

{This shot took me forever to get. Roanie wanted to go home, not hold still}

Roanie was awesome for me!! She only spooked twice the whole time. And that, my friends, is what you call a miracle.

Now I have to go now, though...  Da wants on. Okay, okay! I'ma gettin', I'ma gettin!
 I will try and post HL tonight!

-Gwyn

My epic, epic day

Yesterday was one of the best — probably the best — day this year! My day started with getting up at seven am and loading up the family to go for a hike in the hills. A beautiful time of year for it.
 I'm not sure what it is about taking long walks in a forest, but an exhilarating feeling rushes over me when I look on a new piece of Creation, one I have not yet explored.
 Naturally, I took the camera {how could I not??} and took... Are you ready? ... A whopping 238 photos.
Gulp.
 Imagine editing all of those! Well, for you, my friends, I'll only show you my best photos of my adventure, which is still a lot! So bind up your hiking boots and lets get going...

Mr Snail and Mr Wormy

Take only pictures, leave only footprints

A faerie bath?

My personal favorite

A deer path

Our destination

This hymn kept repeating itself in my mind over and over as I walked. It would seem wrong not to post it.

-How Great Thou Art-

O Lord my God,
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all
The works Thy Hand hath made,
I see the stars,
I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy pow'r throughout
The universe displayed;



When through the woods
And forest glades I wander
I hear the birds
Sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down
From lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook
And feel the gentle breeze;

Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art!
How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art!
How great Thou art!

We saw a few chipmunks and squirrels, but most of them were too fast to catch with my camera. Okay, make that all of them were too fast. But all the same everything felt perfect. Our hike was only about 3 miles, but since I was taking a billion pictures every two feet, it took us me three hours to walk the whole way. By that time we decided to grab something to eat before heading home to wash up and go to my friend's going away party. She is going to a convent in Wis. and possibly in a year or so, to one in Poland. That's a sobering thought. My (older) brother and I grew up with her and her sister, we had a string quartet together for, gosh! Five years?? Okay, now I feel old!  It's going to be hard. *sigh* But God is calling her and that's a good enough reason for her to go for me.

To top my awesome day off, at eight o'clock sharp the most amazing sold out concert of all time began:

Celtic Woman

Songs of the Heart

Omigoodness, there are no words to describe the experience to it's fullest. I could use words like breathtaking, stunning, awe-inspiring, staggering, fantastic, beautiful..... But in the end, you just had to be there.

 Music touches me emotionally like nothing else on earth. I'll make it clear now that, being half German as well as Irish, I am not overly emotional — at least I don't show it. But music breaks down any barriers I may have, it opens my heart. And live music with drumbeats that resonate though my very being? ... An incredible feeling. Oh, and when the three of them sang Oh, Danny Boy, my grandmum's song and one I have not played since her funeral, I was crying. That right there is proof of their wonderful singing.

 Cloë was extremely personable, talking to the audience like we were all good friends, telling us about her {quote}"Typical tourist" day. She said the whole group went out and bought tee shirts and post cards and mug and key chains, all sorts of souvenirs from our "lovely and charming" state.

Though I didn't get a picture of her, Máiréad the fiddler was there. She reminds me of a sprite dancing and leaping with her fiddle, she was incredible. If I'm ever able to play one tenth as well as she, I'll be content.

 The entire group was _____!!! {I'm running out of adjectives}

We got home really late and had to go to early service at church this morning so that my eldest sister could catch her plane back to school. So now she's gone. *sad face*

 Today is also Mum & Da's anniversary, so here's a Happy Anniversary shout out to them!!!

Now I must bid you all good night: it is late here and I am super tired. *snors* Huh? Wha? Oh! I hope you enjoyed my "epic post" :)

 G'night! 

-Gwyn