Happy Birthday Mom!

I received an email from my dad the other day; “Were you aware that your mother had a cap gun and a holster when she was younger!?  It went with her cowgirl outfit.  Guess I know where you get it.”

My mother is with out a doubt the reason I want to be a cowgirl. She is also why I love insects, gardens, tractors (John Deere) canning food, making jelly, yodeling, the flavor of burnt, and bonnets. 

She is the smartest person I know. The kind of smart that she could have chosen to be an engineer, or rocket scientist, but she was a teacher. A math, science, and computer teacher.... you know the smart stuff! Oh and not the fun sciences I love; the physic and chemistry stuff, the hard stuff. And since I’m still hearing from ex-students how great she was... she was a great one. 

She is also an artist. She can draw and paint, she can craft and sew. She makes playdoh and granola and bug collections. And I will never know anyone that makes better bread. Proof is the rolls and muffins in my kitchen. OH wait; those butternut squash muffins are long gone.... they were so good! 

I have her great taste in a lot of things, I have her smile, maybe someday I’ll have her common sense (I bet she hopes that too...) Even when I do things she does not like, she still loves me. 

She dances to Honky Tonk Women. She has the greenest thumb I’ve ever known. And the busiest bird feeder. She composted before it was cool, yet can maneuver an iPad better than me. 

My mother is kind. She is a doer. She is one of the few people I truly respect. 

And, quite frankly, she is a great cowgirl in her own right.

Happy Birthday mom. I love you.

This is not a current picture.

Tired. (or how to recover from a snow day.)

Wildfire decided to test the new futon chair. Seems to pass his rigorous inspection. 

Pillows are difficult.

Snow Dogs! (or what a great day to be off work.)

This was the biggest snow these two pups have seen. Wildfire loves snow, but gets cold and tired of it quick. Wichita however..... I guess the Chow Chow and Akita in her really show on days like this. She eats a lot of snow, and can't quite contain her excitement.

Best. Concert. Ever. (...Or the time I got to see Judy Collins again!)

My seat wasn't as close this time, but the theatre was so intimate it didn't matter.

February 7th I headed to Edwardsville Illinois. The Wildey Theatre was hosting a dream night for me. My favorite living folk singer was in town.... And I had the pleasure of seeing another Judy Collins concert.
It was the best concert I have ever been to. This time she sang more of favorites; Both Sides Now, My Father, Since You Asked, Send in the Clowns, and to absolutely floor me she sang the song I never thought I'd get to see her perform... Farewell to Tarwathie. I adore that song. She sings with whales! Which is clearly why I never thought she would perform it live. How do you get whales on stage?!
Of course technology made this easy, and let me say those humpback whales sounded even more amazing in that sound system. But Ms. Collins and that voice brought me to tears. It was so great.
She told the stories of the songs, then sang them. She sang songs off of her new album; which is such a beautiful album. She sang old standards. One of the other big highlights of the evening was when she performed the song Pure Imagination from the Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie. In doing this she took a song that I have known for years and knew in a very specific setting and turned in on it's head. Once this song pulled up the images of the movie (which I love) but in her voice it became bigger. It left the candy coated world of the factory and became trees and birds and flowers. She released that song like only she can.
She sang some Baez, and Cohen, and to my delight she sang City of New Orleans. I've seen Arlo Guthrie perform this live before, but she blew it away. She led the crowd to sing along, and had such a perfect cadence I swear I felt the swagger of the train cars.
It does occur to me I could go on and on about her and how great this show was. But I do need to end this post. She ended it with Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It was perfect. Perfect song, perfect show, perfect night.

There she is! It didn't occur to me to take a picture of her till her encore.

Not my video, but this should give you a clear example of the amazingness.