At Home in Wyoming

A Gloomy Day In February

 
My fireplace mantel in the library...the room that I painted burgundy a few weeks past...all decked out for Valentine's Day.  I won't show you where I spilled burgundy paint all over the white rug, but I will tell you this.  Did you know that watered down burgundy and white...makes pink! 

I would love to sit here and write something profound tonight, but my mind is tired and I think that I am coming down with a cold (Teresa, I am hoping it is not the same virus that you had).  If there is ever a month that I veer toward depression, February is it.  

It is the month that I have resigned from jobs, cut my hair, rearranged every room in the house and pulled up and threw out the wall to wall carpet.  It is the month my father died and I am sure that it is the month that my husband feels like murdering me (just ask him).

Today was one of those gray February days that made me long for spring.  And tonight I found a poem by Ruth Bell Graham that perfectly illustrated how I felt today...

Not fears

I need deliverance from

today--

but nothingness;

inertia,

skies gray

and windless;

no sun,

no rain,

no stab of joy

no pain,

no strong regret,

no reaching after,

no tears,

no laughter,

no black despair,

no bliss.

Deliver me

today

. . . from this.

( by Ruth Bell Graham in "Footprints of a Pilgrim" which I believe is available from Billy Graham.org)

Now tomorrow should be better because I think that the sun is supposed to shine, but if it doesn't...that white carpet turned pink with the burgundy paint is a goner.  And you will find me smiling as I throw it in the back of the pickup and haul it off to the dump!  Or maybe I will settle for something less drastic, like a trip to the greenhouse nursery to smell soil and peat and things growing...whatever it takes to survive a gloomy day in February!  DLB 

 

 

 

 

 

A Word About Sunday

 
Ok, I know that you all are tired of deer pictures, but yesterday I made the mistake of having my son take scenery pictures for the blog, and they all came back out of focus.  His 50 million pictures of mule deer, on the other hand, came back crystal clear.  Go figure!

I remember talking to a friend once who had just returned from a trip to Jerusalem.  I asked for her impressions...and she said that what struck her the most was the reverence with which they treated the Sabbath.  Apparently the Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown, and she recounted how a holy hush fell over the city as the sun began to sink.  She said that you really got a feel that this was a day set apart to honor God, and for rest.

Contrast that with the Christian Sunday, the Lord's Day.  When I was child in Virginia, I remember very well the Sunday Blue Laws, which have since been repealed.  Each Sunday the stores were closed, bars were shut down, and if I remember right gas stations used to take turns being open, one station every so many miles, so that people could get gas in the case of emergencies.  I am thinking that most of the restaurants were closed too, but I could be wrong about that.  But what impressed me as a child was knowing that things were closed because it was a day to go to church and honor God.  I wasn't sure of all the ramifications, but I sensed that Sunday was a different day, a special day, a day set apart from the others.  A day that commerce took a back seat.  A day to slow down.  Sunday was important, different, and to treat it as such was the LAW.

Now I am certainly not a Bible scholar, or here to do some legalistic sermonette on what everyone should be doing on Sundays.  But after church yesterday I drove past Walmart, and noticed that the parking lot was just as full on Sunday as it was on Saturday.  And I enjoyed the lunch that I ate at the restaurant, and I was glad that the gas station was open so that I could go on my Sunday drive.  It was convenient, but I don't know if it was necessarily good.  Jesus talked about that in Mark 2:27-28:

"And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."

In my mind He was saying that we don't serve the sabbath, the sabbath was created to serve us.  A day set apart to honor God and rest...was made just for us.  It is good for us.  To not set that day apart is to miss out on something beneficial that God has intended for us.  He made us, He knows our needs, and He knows that we need this.

So...maybe it would behoove some of us to rethink Sunday.  To pray about it, and ask God if we have been living in a way that we miss out on something that is good for our body, mind and especially our spirit.  In our 24/7 world, it is no longer the law that we set apart a day a week to honor God.  To rest, relax, enjoy our loved ones.  We are free to shop, do the laundry, clean the house, mow the yard and scrub the toilet to our heart's desire.  We can get all of our work done so we are ready for Monday.  Our culture practically dictates this.

But...Jesus said that the sabbath was made for man.  God does not create anything by accident.  So maybe the time has come to get on our knees...and ask Him to show us how He would have us spend our Sundays.   DLB

 

 

 

The Park County Library

  
There are a lot of people that read this blog that used to live in Cody...so they check it out to see pictures of their old hometown.  I thought that they might like to see the new Park County Library building (which is really the old Marathon Building).  I admit that I was not too happy when they changed buildings, for selfish reasons...the old library was not far from my house, and I used to like to walk there in the evenings when they were open.  But now that the new library is open, I have become a big fan...so here goes the $2.00 tour...

 
This is a cozy little reading spot at the entrance.  There is a rack of newspapers near the fireplace, and with the sun streaming in through the windows it becomes the perfect spot to read the paper.

 

This is the Biblio Bistro...really good food at reasonable prices, or a quiet place to have coffee with a friend.

 

This is the outside patio...which in the summer is a nice place to sit because it borders the old Marathon Building pond, and you can watch the ducks.

 

Save a dollar or two by reading all the latest magazines at the library.  To the left is the Media Center, where you can check out books on tape, DVD's and videos.  

Now there was lots more.  A Children's Library, a Teen Room, lots of places for meetings, and a Used Book Store.  Not to mention rows of computers, desks and tables...but I was afraid to use the flash on my camera anymore for fear of getting run out of the place.  Librarians frown on flashes, I'm sure!

So if you live in Cody and you haven't been, check out the new library.  And if you have moved far from home...well, the new library is just one more reason to come back! DLB
 
 
  

 

 

Good Recipes

 

I tried to get all artsy and on a snowy day took a picture from the outside of the room that I use for a library...looking in.  But all I can see in this photo is a window frame that is SORELY in need of a coat of paint!  It is at times like this when I am so glad that it is still winter, and outdoor chores are months away...

My mother is a great cook, and an inspired baker.  I can use one of her recipes and follow it exactly, but my attempts to duplicate her cooking are mediocre at best.  So I am always looking for ways to improve.

I stumbled upon this website one day when I was looking for a recipe for egg salad for sandwiches.  It is called, "How To Cook Like Your Grandmother" and you can get the blog entries of recipes sent directly to your email.  The address is http://cooklikeyourgrandmother.com or just google it by searching for How To Cook Like Your Grandmother.

What I like about this blog is that the recipes are relatively easy, and there are step by step pictures in case you get sidetracked.  For us visual learners, the pictures are a big deal.

The recipe up for today is "Deconstructed Cannoli for Valentine's Day".  The only thing that I know about cannoli is that I heard them mentioned in the "Godfather" movie...but if I can figure out where to buy pizzelles I just might give them a try! DLB

 

Snow, Cold...And Chocolate Coffee With Mint!

 
My house looked so forlorn after all of the Christmas decorations were packed away, so I decided to make a snowflake tree to sit on the top of the piano.

Winter came back a day or so ago, and with it came a few inches of snow.  Not that I mind snow, but I was really enjoying the milder temperatures.  Then a few minutes ago my husband came upstairs and asked if I would like to go for a drive in the country...he even bribed me one of those chocolate coffees with mint in it from Rocky Mountain Mudd...and suddenly I don't mind it so much that winter came back!  Isn't it funny how sometimes the smallest things can change your whole frame of mind? 

Have a nice weekend!    DLB

 

 

 

How To Turn Doom and Gloom Into Hope And Victory

 
This was the view from the Green Creek Road on the North Fork last week, I was surprised to see how little snow there was on the peak.

I awoke this morning with a heavy heart, and so I reached for my Bible for some comfort...and of course I got it.  

"But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.  Se'lah."   (Psalm 3:3-4)

We live in a troubled world, and life is often a painful business.  To relieve the pain we are tempted to turn to mind numbing things...alcohol, drugs, food, television, books...anything that we can find to escape (for a while) the pain.  Some of those things are not bad in and of themselves, but they can be if you are using them to hide from whatever is causing you the agony. 

Don't hide.  God wants us to find our comfort in Him.  And his comfort is not the temporary kind, He is not a fair weather friend.  So I challenge you (and challenge myself), the next time you are in need of comfort and are tempting to hide out for a while from the pain, turn to your Bible first.  Read until you find a passage that quiets your disturbed heart.  Do that, and you can face your pain head on because you find that you no longer have to carry it alone.  In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says:

"Come to Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 

Don't try to hide or escape from your burdens, go to God FIRST.  Pick up that Bible, then get on your knees.  You'll find you won't have numbed your mind for a while, like you would have if you went somewhere else for comfort and escape, but you will find rest...and an inner peace knowing that God is working on solutions to what ails you. 

And with God dealing with your problem, instead of you hiding from it or avoiding it because it hurts...you will find that in His time you will see answers instead of despair.  You will have hope that leads to victory.  

 And, as Forrest Gump would say, 'that's all I have to say about that', folks! DLB

 

 

The Old Cody Theatre

 
On Main Street in Cody sits the old Cody Theatre...looking the way that movie theatres used to look, with the red velvet portieres and the old fashioned popcorn machine.  For a while, I remember that they  even sold old fashioned penny candy in the lobby.  I especially liked it because it is just a few blocks from my house, so my husband and I were able to walk there on summer evenings to catch a show.

So it was with real dismay that I read in the paper that it was closing.  People were opting for the newer multiplex theatre out on the Powell highway with cushioned rocking chair type seats and surround sound (I can't blame them, I like those cushioned seats myself).  But I wondered what would happen to the old Cody Theatre.  I hoped it would not be boarded up and abandoned like so many other small town Main Street theatres.

Luckily, the old theatre found a new use!  From mid May each year until the third week in September, it is home to Dan Miller's Cowboy Music Review...a 'fast paced, family friendly show featuring songs of the American West, cowboy poetry and comedy' every night but Sunday.  They put on quite a show, so it you wind up in Cody this summer take it from me, it is worth every dollar!

In addition, the Cody Wild West Show sponsors the Cody Concert Series in the winter.  As you can see on the marquee in the picture, Billy Dean will perform this month (remember the song about missing Billy the Kid?), and I heard a rumor that the Kentucky Head Hunters are coming next.  Past performers were Lacy J Dalton, TG Sheppard, Mel Tillis (I am still kicking myself for not getting tickets to that concert), Suzy Bogguss, Gary Morris, Waddie Mitchell and BJ Thomas (who I believed performed at the Wynona Thompson Auditorium for a Christmas Concert).  Let me tell you, for a small town in the dead of winter, these concerts are big doings!

But what I like most of all is that an old building has found a new use, and won't be torn down or abandoned.  Behind those velvet portieres are lots of happy memories...and while memories are stored in your mind, the visual reminder of them stirs up a cozy sort of nostalgic feeling in a world that is zipping by, and changing too darn fast for its own good!    DLB

 

 

I Wonder Why Jesus Wept?

 
About 6 houses down from mine, I spied this buck getting ready to walk down the hillside.  I told him 'don't move' and ran back to get my camera.  He obliged, and graciously posed for this picture!

I am a big fan of the poetry of the late Ruth Bell Graham (the wife of Billy Graham).  I would like to share one of my favorites with you...but first I need to set the scene.  Many of you are familiar with the John Chapter 11  account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  If not, please read John 11:1-45 before you read this poem.  It deals with a possible reason of why, in verse 35, 'Jesus wept'...

 

Jesus wept.

But why?

Knowing what lay ahead

moments away...

Was it because

He had not come

when He heard

Lazarus might die?

Lazarus was dead!

Was it in sympathy

with their raw grief,

faith's impotent lack?

Or could it be

because He

had to bring him

back?

 

(Poem by Ruth Bell Graham, taken from the book "Footprints of a Pilgrim")

If you are interested in reading Ruth's poetry, or prose, I found a lot of her work available at the online bookstore of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, at billygraham.org   DLB

 

 

 

 

A Sigh Of Relief Called January

 
Pahaska on Christmas Day, 2009.  This is Buffalo Bill's hunting lodge built around 1904, located near the East Gate to Yellowstone Park, some 50 miles or so from Cody.

Did you ever notice how quiet it is when you are outdoors during a snowstorm?  Even smack in the middle of town, all the noise seems muffled somehow, as the world fills up with snow.  That muffled sound is the way that I feel about the month of January.  After all of the hustle and bustle from the concerts, the shopping, the gift wrapping, the church services, the twinkle lights, the cooking, the parties and all the festivities...well, I think that January comes just in time. 

The saying is that all of nature abhors a vacuum, and at no time is that more true than the month of January.  Once the tree is down and the wreaths are pulled off of the windows and packed away for Decembers to come, I start to look around and think, 'what's next'?  Maybe that is where New Year's resolutions and making goals kick in...something new to occupy yourself with, to fill in the vacuum of space and peace and quiet.

But this year I am going to try to just let the month of January unfold on its own, without me organizing it to death.  I am going to try to do less instead of more.  Instead of de-cluttering and reorganizing my house like all the magazines are telling me to do, I am going to take walks, read and yes...take a nap now and then.  The daily things that I need to do I will do of course, cooking and cleaning and feeding the dogs.  But other than that, I am not going to mess with the space that the departing December sucked up.   I intend to think more, and do less. Yep, the month of January came just in time. 

 But you know what?  I am going to miss those twinkle lights! DLB

 

Do It Now!

This picture was taken about 40 miles out of Cody, on the road to Pashaka on the North Fork.

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest." (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

In other words, do it now!  While we have life, this is the time to learn, to work, to do whatever it is that God is telling you to do.  I am a procrastinator by nature, but at some point time...this side of eternity...will simply run out.  Once we enter Heaven, it will be too late to do the things that God was telling you to get done on Earth.

I don't know about you, but I have wasted away a lot of time making things easier for myself than doing what I was supposed to be doing.  I sometimes think we try to make Heaven on earth...we worry about our own comfort and security.  But Heaven comes later, folks.  Now is the time to study to 'show thyself approved'.  It is time to work, to pray, to forgive, to love when it is hard.  To serve.  To simply do what He tells us to do.

It's a new year, let's make it count for all of Eternity.

Happy New Year!    DLB