Ok, I am going crazy getting ready for Ostara. My family is coming up for lunch on Wed. and I still don't have any presents done. We didn't all celebrate Yule, christmas, or Ayyami'ha together so are doing our family gift exchange on Ostara. I have all the projects "in process" but am freaking that I wont get them done on time. Add to that my house is a mess and my sister will be here the night before and Aaahhhh.

Sigh, OK, blew off some steam. Its 1:30 am and I still have lots more work to do before morning. Looks like another sleepless night.

I have never written a blog before. In fact, to be honest, I have never really read a blog either. Other then a single entry forwarded through one of my groups that is. I have never followed through and read any more. I guess that's not that unusual since I have never been able to keep a diary either. I always wanted to. I have told friends about things from my past and they keep telling me I need to write it all down and keep a diary because my life is so interesting. Well, it's not that interesting any more. When I was a kid, we lived in the mountains half the year. For two or three summers we were an Indian tribe. My name was Wild Rose and I had a wood knife my brother carved for me with my name on it. The first summer we found a small cave and that was out camp out. It was great. It was right on the edge of a huge cliff, about 50 ft., and no one else knew about it, or so we thought. We would spent all summer roaming all over the mountains hunting deer and protecting out land. The next summer there was a building project and a bunch of trees got cut down and de-limbed in the meadow. We spent a long time taking the branches and building long houses with them. That summer was more about the building then the roving around, but it was just as fun. Eventually we went from being Indians to just exploring. As distance restrictions were slowly lifted as we got older we went on longer and longer hikes into the national forest. One summer when I was a young teen my cousin and two of our friends hiked into one of the gulches, striped, and hiked around in complete freedom from modern encumbrances. Let me tell you, hiking through wild raspberry fields naked gives you an appreciation from jeans. We only did it a few time before we decided the novelty wasn't worth the scratches.

During the winter we moved to town. Most people assume I was a military brat when they find out how often I moved while growing up, but it was just a way of life for us. It was cheaper to move to the mountain and save on rent for 6 months a year. A few winters we tried to stay all winter. The first time was the winter of 82'. Any one who lived in Colorado might remember the blizzard of 82'. One morning we woke up and my mom and aunt looked out side at the heavy falling snow and realized it wasn't going to stop. We packed up as much as we could and bailed off the mountain. A friend in Evergreen gave us shelter until we got on our feet. We moved into Northglenn and had to hire someone to plow out the road so we could get the rest of the stuff we needed for the winter. The next time we tried was in 84'. Anyone who lived here back then might remember the blizzard of 84'. That time when it started snowing we knew what was coming and we had had it. We packed up everything we thought we might need for the rest of the winter into my aunts VW bus. It was loaded half way up the windows and we climbed in on top of everything with the three dogs. That time we headed south until we got warm, and then a little further. We ended up around Phoenix living in camp grounds. After the rains hit Arizona our finally destination was on the Navaho reservation where we stayed until spring. It was great. I don't think I can remember a more perfect winter. Even there we didn't escape the snow. They said it was one of the worst winters they had ever seen and we all joked that we had brought it with us. Even though it was bad to them, for us it was like early spring. We loved it. The only sadness that marred the joyful times was loosing two of our dogs. Both were getting old, 13 years, but we never expected to loose them so close together. The first to go was my moms dog Thaddeus. He got bone cancer on his shoulder. My mom let him go until his cancer took the joy of life away, and they she had him put to sleep. It was one of the hardest things she has ever had to do. Paying for cremation was prohibitive, and the ground was to frozen to bury him. All she could do was leave him in the desert knowing wild animals would dispose of him. Charley stopped eating the day he died. She was his litter mate and had been with him her whole life. We had her lifeless body put to sleep just a few weeks later and headed home. We didn't try to spend the winter on the mountain again until I was 16. That time we made it. A low income program helped insulate the house and make it air tight. We got a plow and we had light snow that year. We lived up there for three years strait. It was great.

Wow, a simple introductory post has turned into an 18 year ramble. I guess maybe its not so hard to write it all down after all. As for my life right now, I guess I will get into that later.

BB

Sima