There are two things I greatly enjoy (among others) - cowboy poetry and Johnny Carson. Cowboy poetry is rhythmic and earthy. Johnny Carson was the best. He brought on talent beyond the latest Hollywood star pushing their latest movie.
I have no idea who this cowboy poet is, but enjoy.
This past Sunday Betty and I walked down to the Rio Grande River for a walk through the Bosque (Spanish for 'woods'). It was a beautiful morning, sunny and close to 60 degrees (sorry to all our friends where it's still snowy and cold). Here are a few photos and a short video.
This is a picture of a clear water stream that runs parallel to the river. We call it the clear ditch and it's a good place for our horses to get a drink when we ride them down to the river.
Watch this very determined Border Collie mix try to get this 'person' to throw his stick.
There are only a few things about the Winter Olympics that get me interested -- figure skating and the ice hockey, especially the women's hockey. To me the women's hockey competition is the essence of the Olympic spirit. The competitors are hard-working amateurs -- not like the professionals in the men's competition (although I like watching them). I also like Olympic hockey because the emphasis is on competition and not fighting.
I watched the US vs. Canada gold medal game and it was exciting and heart-breaking at the same time. The US women had a 2-0 goal advantage going into the last four minutes. During that time, when Canada took their goalie out of the net to get a one person advantage, the US almost got an open-net goal, but the puck hit the bar of the net -- just an inch away from sealing their victory.
In that last few minutes Canada scored two goals to tie the game and won it in overtime.
For the US women it was so close. Canada had won the previous three Olympic gold medals and it looked like this was going to be the US women's year. But it didn't happen.
The agony of defeat.
All of us suffer some kind of defeat in our lives - physical, emotional, spiritual - and sometimes more than once.
When I look back on the defeats in my life the one thing I can see that makes them worthwhile is they made me stronger.
Victory is wonderful. Victory is the reward for hard work. Yet, victory often doesn't take us to the next level.
Defeat takes us to the next level. It can give us the motivation to work harder and smarter -- if we're willing to embrace our defeat with grace and courage.
Prior to going to the cross, the apostles were celebrating their 'victory.' They saw Jesus as the prophesied Messiah, the King who would bring them freedom from the oppression of the Romans and the Sanhedrin. They argued who would sit at his right hand in his new kingdom. They didn't see him as the sacrificial lamb for their sins.
His death on the cross seemed like the greatest defeat they could ever imagine. Even Satan thought he had won.
Jesus embraced his 'defeat' - not my will but your's be done.
Out of his 'defeat' came the greatest victory for all of us -- victory over sin and death. His apostles went from 'losers' to determined carriers of the good news of Jesus Christ -- even unto their own deaths. They were taken to a new level beyond anything they could ever imagine.
The US women will come back and I believe they will win the gold in four years. They embraced their defeat with grace and courage. They will come back at a new level.
I know Jesus has won the gold for me because of his 'defeat.' Some day we will stand on the podium of eternity and know the eternal victory he has won for us.
PS: For those too young, here's where 'the agony of defeat' had it's genesis in 1978:
Galloping Grace Youth Ranch is one of our most important groups that we support. GGYR has several goats. Here's an idea for the GGYR goats to have some fun.
On second thought, the GGYR goats would probably figure out a way to cut off a leg - or something ;)
Watch first how a dog teaches it's young one to go down steps. Then see how a cat teaches the same thing.
This past Sunday we worked with the horses. Before we saddled them up we took this picture. I looked like Sugar and Morgunn were just hanging out with their friends next door -- Frankie (black Angorra goat) and Pickles (white/gray).
While I'm having my colonoscopy today, I'll share a movie review
Last Thursday Betty and I went to see "The Monuments Men." It's based on a true story of how a small cadre of artists, architects, etc. went into Germany to save works of art that had been stolen by the Nazis. Their goal was to restore the art to its rightful owners, if possible. Two of their members were killed in the midst of their quest.
They were directly responsible for recovering over 5 million pieces of art.
If they had not done what they did then much of this great art would have been destroyed by the Germans or stolen by the Russians as reparations for their losses in World War II.
The movie is not a great movie by any stretch, but it's still well done, very watchable, and, as far as I can find, fairly factual.
The reason I'm recommending it is this is a piece of history that should not be forgotten.
Here's a picture from the real Monuments Men.
PS: If you go to see it, the main character, Lt. Stokes played by George Clooney, is shown as an old man at the end of the movie. The actor playing the older Stokes is George's father, Nick Clooney.
I'm out of pocket today, Tuesday, and tomorrow, Wednesday. I have a colonoscopy scheduled for tomorrow - just a regular check so hopefully no issues.
But, if you've ever had a colonoscopy you know you have to 'prepare' the day before which means only clear liquids and a delightful drink that is the equivalent of Drano for my bowels - sorry, more than you probably wanted to know.
So, with that disgusting image in your mind, I will leave you with cute.
And my favorite...
I've said before how much Betty and I love Golden Retrievers. They are smart, loving, kind and beautiful.
Here's another example of why we love Goldens. Watch as this Golden protects his master's bike until he returns.
Sometimes God's love comes in unexpected ways.
A 7 year-old boy named Owen Howkins was born with a condition that makes him unique. Owen has Schwartz-Jampel syndrome, a disease that leaves his muscles constantly tense. Because of his condition he was afraid to interact with others.
Haatchi was a lonely dog that faced death and abandonment. He was tied to a train track and was hit by a train - he lost a leg. However, he was rescued and eventually wound up with Owen.
Together, though they make a pair that puts smiles on the faces of everyone they see.
This past Wednesday Betty and I were out cleaning up the horse manure. If we saw one flight of Sandhill Cranes heading North, we saw dozens of flights - probably several hundred cranes. There are over 1,000 cranes that Winter down South of us so we will probably see several more.
One of these days I need to get a video of them just so you can hear there squawking. It's a delight.
And to all beautiful women - especially Moms with the heart of this Thai woman.
And, if that doesn't touch your heart, then how about this perfect bouquet for Valentine's Day....
Happy Valentine's Day Y'all!
For our snow and icebound friends back East, we feel your pain - and so does this little guy.
Here's a short video of Betty riding Morgunn out to our round pen on Monday morning. From my viewpoint this is a primer of good riding posture. Just my biased (because I love her) opinion ;)
Maybe if I had four feet I could ride a skateboard as well as this cat does. Enjoy.
No, I guess the balloons this morning weren't in celebration of us being home. There is some kind of balloon rally that's held around Valentine's Day and I guess it was today. We counted over 50 balloons and they all went straight up the valley in front of us.
A nice sight that's unique to where we live and that made us feel good about being home - even though we still miss the warm weather and ocean and whales and... sigh.
Wednesday was our last day in Maui. Our flight on US Airways didn't leave until 11:20 PM so we had the full day to do whatever caught our fancy.
I started the day early by going down to the lobby to get our boarding passes. It was early enough that I got a picture of the morning sunrise over the Maui mountains.
We checked out of our room about 10:30 AM and we went down to the pool to read and have a salad lunch.
We decided to check out one of the tourist attractions in Maui - the Reef Dancer. It's a boat with a cabin that's under the water where passengers can see coral, fish and divers who bring some items up close.
It's not an attraction for people with claustrophobia.
We were hoping to see a green flash when the sun set which is caused by the green light waves being the longest and the last ones you see. Unfortunately, the sun set behind some clouds so we didn't get to see that, but the sunset was still beautiful.
So our last day on Maui started with a sunrise and ended with a sunset. Seems kind of appropriate.
For our last full day on Maui we decided to take a walk on the Coastal Trail from Kapalua Bay to Kapalua Bay Villas where we have stayed several times in the past.
Kapalua Bay, about a 10 - 15 minute walk from the Kapalua Bay Villas.
The volcanic rocks around Kapalua Bay Villas. This is a bird sanctuary and an ancient Hawaiian burial ground.
Swimming pool at Kapalua Bay Villas. We stayed the last time in the unit behind and above the swimming pool.
Ironwood Beach at Kapalua Bay Villas.
For our last night on Maui we had dinner at Duke's Restaurant at our hotel.
A good last full day.
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