Heads Up

Thought I'd let y'all know that I'll be in Alabama for training in January, then will be stationed there for the next two years.

1 Down, 99 To Go...

In Germany, you're not considered a real rider until you've been thrown from your horse 100 times. Well, I'm 1% of a real rider...

We were out, having a nice ride in the fall air a few weeks ago, when Dixie decided to jump a fallen tree. Dixie's a jumper, so I'm generally well prepared for her leaps, but at the time of her jump, I was complacent because she had been so well behaved. She took a big prep step, throwing me to the back of the saddle, then upon the landing I was thrown to the front, hit the saddlehorn, and flipped over her shoulder. Luckily, I grew up getting thrown around, so I know how to fall without getting hurt too bad. As I rolled out of my flip, Dixie turned and looked at me, as if to say "What are you doing on the ground?" I did better than my brother, who fell (not thrown, fell) off his horse twice that day.

In Other News: Thanks, Video Games

On this ranch, you learn by doing. Well, I needed to clean up some poop, so I hopped in the big (expensive) green tractor and was confronted with this set-up:

I had no idea what to do, but I've had to learn enough games and use enough joysticks that I was able to quickly figure it all out.

That might look like a lot of manure, but it's only one of three piles!

Catch-Up

It's been a while since I've been on. Other than fighting some internet problems, I've been doing a lot of traveling and entertaining. I was in Denver last weekend to drive a float in a High School Homecoming parade and then stayed for an extra couple of days to pick up some friends who flew in from IN. A quick story (in pictures) of what we did while they were here:

We logged the woods (with our bare hands)...

It dumped 3-5 inches of snow...

We did a little skeet shooting (look closely, you can see the pigeon exploding)

And even chopped some wood

Snow!

It's hard to see because there's only a light dusting, but I woke up to the first snow fall of the year. Flakes might have previously fallen, but this is the first time there was any type of accumulation. The snow quickly burned off and fall showed up again.

While I've been here, I've learned that it's a different type of person that resides in rural areas of Colorado...

Out here, they don't bother with fixing roads, they just warn drivers:

And the drivers are warned because apparently they need it. Who made the mistake that necessitated the following sign?

And what do you do when you can't get a license to build a residence? You build a barn and live in it!

Cattle Drive

I still haven't quite figured out how to properly ride a horse, but we needed to get some cattle off the National Forest and into the corrals. Luckily, Dixie is a horse at her best when she's working cattle, so I didn't have to fight her too much. Instead, we were able to work together and even pulled off some fancy moves when a stray calf took off!

Fall has Sprung

I returned to Colorado and found that fall was in full effect. I got to see a lot of great colors on my drive back - luckily none of those colors was white. Snow will come soon enough. For now I'm enjoying the crisp nights and warm days.



As soon as I'm finally over this cold, we'll finish getting the cows out of the Federal Forest and start collecting wood for winter.

San Antonio

As most of you know, I decided to drive down to Texas to help with the hurricane response/recovery.

I left on Tuesday and drove 12 hours to the middle-of-nowhere, Texas. Wednesday morning I drove another 6-ish hours and arrived in San Antonio around 2 pm. I signed-up, got my official volunteer badge, received some "training" and then I was at the shelter for dinner that night. The shelter fed approximately 2000 evacuees ever meal (the number has dropped in the past couple of days, and will continue to as they are opening most of the evacuated areas). My main job is helping to feed the "clients" (as they're called), which is a continuous task. We often receive new arrivals in-between meals, so we're generally scrambling around trying to find food.

The shelter is divided into a day/dining room and three sleeping bays. It's located in an empty warehouse on a closed Air Force base, which accounts for its size. Below is a picture of one of the sleeping bays.

I was able to grab a cot at a shelter across the street from the evacuee's shelter where many of the responders (bus and ambulance drivers, firefighters, Texas Guard) sleep. I had my own FEMA cot, and as the numbers there began to decline, I was able to set-up my own privacy shelter.

If you look closely, you can see that I forgot a pillow, so I've been sleeping on my Peak7 sweatshirt. Unfortunately, operations at that shelter have been declining as well, so different sleeping arrangements have been made. I'm currently holed up in a local hotel until they can figure out if they have enough room for me (the shelter wasn't really for me, but because they had plenty of extra room, I wasn't a factor. I want to make sure I'm not displacing a responder by taking a bed in the new room). I needed the break - I woke up yesterday morning feeling terrible... I caught some sort of bug, so I needed to get away and get some real sleep. Once I beat this, I'll figure out my next move. Until then, I'm glad I no longer have to take a shower in a semi:

This has been quite an eye-opening experience. Because I've never lived through a destructive hurricane, I've always been insulated from the news reports. I felt bad for those whose lives were affected, but didn't have a personal understanding. I think that will be different from now on. The clients generally have no options other than the shelter. And when they return home, what little they had will likely be destroyed; they barely had enough to make do, and now they have to rebuild...

I certainly have been reminded how truly blessed I am - thank you to everyone who has helped me give back.