Counting blessings

Today, I left the ranch in the wee hours, with the heater blasting in the truck in the -12 degree calm night. I turned up the county road in the dark, and my headlights fell on a white animal in the roadway ahead. It was just the size of a jackrabbit, and that bright white the jacks get in their winter camouflage. As I approached, the animal took wing - it was a snowy owl. What a fabulous way to start today, Christmas Eve.

I picked up my friend Sheri, and drove her to the hospital in Jackson so she could have her “Christmas chemo.” Sheri’s been battling breast cancer for two years, doing chemo every week for at least a year now. We got the chemo out of the way, and proceeded onto the local brew pup for lunch and refreshing libations.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming is an interesting place, but I’ve got to be in the right mood to handle it. There were so many people out shopping today, and all I wanted to get was a selection of fine breads to serve as the week progressed. We stopped in one bakery and found it was like a high-end art gallery of chocolate creations. They were works of art, but too snooty for my rather humble mood. We stepped outside and spotted another bakery across the street. We walked in to a heavenly smell of hot breads and pastries. It was a Mexican bakery - yummm. One of the young ladies introduced us to Mexican cheesecakes. Oh man, this day couldn’t have gotten any better.

We headed for home and as we entered Hoback Canyon, a bobcat slid down off the sun-lit boulder it had been basking on, and melted into the brush. Here and there on the way, we spotted small herds of elk that had migrated to lower country, and we rounded a corner to watch a dozen bighorn sheep. There were two adult rams busy courting ewes. The same thing was going on at our ranch with their domestic counterparts.

I left Sheri at her home, with promises to drain a bottle of wine as we break bread together in a few days at the ranch. I arrived back home to my family and contented animals. It was a day with too many blessings to count. I wish the same blessings to all of you.