Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Karl Marx quote

"Owners of capital will stimulate the working class to buy more and more of expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive crudity, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks, which will have to be nationalized, and the State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism."

Karl Marx, Das Kapital, 1867

summer campfire


After our family hiking event we came back to our house for a grill out. fired up the grill, put on the hotdogs, chicken and corn on the cob. My grill is very full. lol! sent the girls out in the woods to collect sticks for marshmallows...- The neighbors dog starts barking - they came back rather quick. They spotted yet another mountain lion! This one smaller than the one P saw a couple of months ago. Closer too, apparently. P said it's eyes are green. That's close. So, we build a fire. That should keep the wildlife at bay. We finish grilling, eat... Mmmm! 'twas good. The girls go inside for a bit.. they want to play with P's guitars. So the adults are left to ourselves. A new neighbor notices our fire... So I'm neighborly and invite her over. She and her son ( early 20's) come over. She brings her own dixie cup full of beer. She's already had a few we think. We all chat a bit. we tell her to keep an eye on her dog. we have a big kitty or two in the area. She sits on one of the benches, her son continues to stand. I think he's embarrassed of her. I offer then food..they refuse - they just finished dinner. then she spills my tiki lantern that was on the bench next to her on the ground. I got up and stomp out the flames. Put the tiki farther from her... They leave shortly after this. Guess they realize the big blue cooler doesn't have beer. and there are a lot of pepsi cans around! As it's getting dark the girls come back outside. we are all talking about the hike, the cat, future plans... one of the neighbors dogs start barking again... We all start looking up the hill and around in the darkness. Suddenly something is crashing through the underbrush towards us coming from the side yard! This is no cat.. not graceful at all! Everyone stands up, the guys grab large sticks.. and we all stand closer to the fire. We think it's a bear. It notices the fire and us in it's path because it veers off and up the hillside. We can hear it skirting around us and up the hill. The dog is still going crazy. The guys throw a few rocks up the hill into the dark to keep it going away. After a few minutes everything settles down. All is quiet again. I realize I am hold my small survival knife.. I was using it on the hiking trip earlier today. Put it back in my pocket. We all stand around talking for a bit longer. D & D decide they'd better get home by now any way. it's an hour drive back to their house. The girls will be tired and cranky tomorrow if they don't sleep. They will all have a lot to talk about in school on Monday. lol!

summer days


cruisin' along on back country highways....

Monday, August 24, 2009

Hiking with ALL the family


My sister in law and her family came over on Saturday. We went hiking and had a picnic then came back to our place for a dinner grill out. Mmmm! Originally, they wanted to go up to the lake, but it's the weekend... and it was packed! So, we took them up to another area that should be less known. It was. This trail is short with a couple of steep spots. Quite a few old mine relics left. The girls liked to explore. went into an old shaft that was dug into the rock about ten feet. There was an old wooden door left ajar and then you squeeze past it and into the dark with in. The cave was about 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Apparently, they didn't find any gold or silver - because it was a dead end about 10 feet in. It was a good trail and even D & D's girls enjoyed it. the oldest one even stated at the end of the hike that she liked it and wanted to do it again sometime. Impressive considering at the beginning she was dragging behind and making it obvious she didn't want to be there, lol! Ha - Converted another one.

10 years


Wow, I've been such a slacker this month. here it is, almost the end of the month and I haven't blogged anything. And now I see... it is official... we have lived in Colorado for 10 years now! Has it been that long... since I told Lake County good bye... without a tear and smiling! lol!
This month has been somewhat quiet. been on a few short bike rides. We go up to the lake during the week while it's quiet and all the city crowd isn't there yet. bike 'n' hike! its fun! Oh, I read a book this month too! Stephen King's Duma Key. Good Book