And Here's Another Uinta Photo

This is my son Ben and I atop King's Peak, Utah's highest point.

View from Bald Mountain

Here's one of my Uinta pictures, a view from landmark, Bald Mountain.

Not to Leave Out the Uinta Mountains

I have recently added a group on Facebook called "High Uinta Lovers". The Uintas are a unique mountain range that runs east and west in the northeast corner of Utah. They are stunning and Utah's highest point, King's Peak, can be found within these rugged peaks. I will post a picture here, but if you go to the Facebook page, there is already a link to some amazing pictures of the Uintas.

Thinking About the Mountains

Wow, the Wasatch Mountains are beautiful when they're snow covered. Actually, they're stunning any time of year. I love living near them and am impatiently awaiting spring, so that I can once again traverse their wooded paths and climb their rugged peaks. I'm not looking forward to the annual inversions that we have around here, that obscure my view of those fantastic spires. The lower photo is of the Big Cottonwood Canyon area, covered in snow, shrouded in clouds. I have a better winter picture somewhere--I'll just have to dig it up. The photo on the right is Sun Dial Peak, with Lake Blanche in the foreground.

The Puppet President Begins?

Barack Obama's naming of Leon Panetta as CIA director can only be interpreted as a cave in to the extreme left. Why else would the President-Elect name someone with zero experience to head the organization charged with finding out plots against America and Americans? It's not only a huge risk for America, but a huge risk for Obama as well, for if American's are attacked and killed because of an intelligence gaffe, he and Panetta will be squarely to blame. Unbelievable, that at a time when terrorism plots and attacks are at their highest, our new President selects a rookie for the job.

What Will You Do in the New Year?

I'm thinking I might actually try and achieve something this year. Like last night I asked my friend Boyd, who is an artist, if he'd be willing to try and illustrate my cowboy Christmas poem "The Cowboy's Mile", and he said, "sure". I'm thinking it might do best if we put together the book, and then try and sell it. I'm not really much of a self-publishing fan, but I'm thinking in this case, it's a book that needs to be seen first, gather a following, and then it may just take off. At least that's what I'm hoping.
Another thing I want to do this year is work on becoming a better musician. To do that I have to be organized and that isn't my strong point. I am one of the five most disorganized people on the face of the earth. That may be an exaggeration, but it's not much of one. Anyway, I plan on playing my guitar and banjo daily, on a regular schedule in order to accomplish this goal. I've already printed out some free daily schedules. All I need to do is fill them in.
I will become a better writer this year. Whether or not I will actually sell something this year is questionable--back to those organizational skills----but I will write a lot, and I will improve. I will learn how to be a better newsletter editor. I'm the current editor for The Lariat, which is the newsletter for the League of Utah Writers, and I just completed my first one in November. It's a quarterly newsletter, so the next one is coming up soon.
I will do several hikes, mostly in Utah. I love hiking and seeing things, so I will also do some road trips, or maybe a flight or two, though flying isn't really my thing.
I think that's about enough for one year, though it won't be all. There are home projects and church assignments, family gatherings and all sorts of fun and exciting stuff awaiting me in 2009. I hope the same is in store for you.

The Utes Rip the Tide

It wasn't supposed to happen. The University of Utah Utes were supposed to lose to the vaunted Alabama Crimson Tide. At least, that's what all the "experts" said would happen. But it didn't. Millions of stunned fans watched as the Utes jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back. For those of us who are Utah fans, even though the lead looked good, we worried. In earlier games this season, Utah had rushed to an early lead, only to see that lead crumble in the second half, pulling miracles out of nowhere to get some of their victories. No miracle was needed this night! And my family and I watched and waited for the experts to eat their crow. And they did. Already though, the excuses are happening. Alabama's offensive line was missing its best player is being heard time and again. Funny, but they knew he was missing before the game and they still thought Utah would get crushed. Stop making excuses and start realizing that Utah belongs with the big boys.