I’ve been enjoying a variety of adventures over the last week:
A visit to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West – there are 5 museums here. I’ve visited several times over the last few years. I spent most of my time in the Art Museum, checking out the new pieces and revisiting ones I remembered from last year.
One evening I went to hear live music at the Chamberlain Inn. The 16 year old singer, Jillian Nordberg is a junior at Cody High School and has an incredible voice. In addition to some of her own songs, she sang quite a few Johnny Cash songs (when she heard his music for the first time at age 3, she fell in love), as well as Patsy Cline and other country favorites. I was so impressed with her stage presence and ability to play guitar and harmonica at the same time! A young man I had seen earlier in the day buying red carnations from Albertsons sat at a high top across from Jillian, when I walked past I saw the flowers in her tip jar. So sweet!
I spent much time on the phone (mainly on hold) with the IRS dealing with making some form changes for work. It amazes me that when I follow the specific directions from their website, the people I speak to have no idea what I’m talking about or how they can go about helping me, even when I refer them to their own website! Eventually, though I got everything sorted out (well, I hope it has been sorted out, only time will tell).
At TAC I’ve spent time painting signs, preparing meals for an upcoming group, setting tech stuff set up for a book club, organizing one of the linen closets, spreading fresh bark in wind blown areas, and cutting up tree branches. Never a dull moment around here! I am enjoying doing more physical work.
I participated in a reuse changemaker boot camp put on by the nonprofit Story of Stuff. This program was focused on motivating people to get involved in reuse efforts in their communities, something I have been interested in doing for a while. Once I get back home, I’ll check out Plastic Free Marin and a few other local reuse organizations.
Speaking of physical work, I’ve traversed TAC hill a few more times, meeting up with the horses who were very sweet, though I could tell they were disappointed I didn’t have snacks for them. I made sure to pick up carrots the next time I went shopping. I’ve seen deer in the mornings and the local owl swooping around at dusk. I can hear him at night, but haven’t been able to find where he perches in the trees.
One night I babysat Abigail while Rebekah and Rob went to a local fundraiser. They took John with them as he tends to get fussy in the evening and only wants his mom. Abigail and I had a great time eating mac and cheese and watching Frozen. She, of course, knows the words to all the songs! I got to catch up with Annemarie and hear about some potential changes at her work, which could turn out to be a good option for her.
I’ve enjoyed my fair share of music this week. Besides seeing Jillian Nordberg, I did my usual Saturday trek to Rawhide coffee to listen to the picking. This week there were several new (and much younger) musicians who played some more modern country music. Later that evening I was out and happened upon a group of bagpipers! I later found out they are a group from Billings, Montana, who come to Cody the weekend after St Patrick’s Day to and do a pub crawl! That night I went to a sold out concert at the old movie theater, which is now only used for special events. Kalyn Beasley is a local (his mom owns the bookstore and his dad and brother are farriers – they shoe horses), who has been making a living playing guitar and singing his original music. He told us the story behind every song, most were very specific to Wyoming and ranching life. It was one of the most touching performances I have ever seen. The audience was enthralled, many of them had known Kalyn most of his life, at the end he told us the concert was the highlight of his career. What a wonderful evening!
I’ll end with a few pictures of the gob smacking skies that I have enjoyed in the mornings and evenings here.
