Wednesday, October 31, 2007

A happy All Hallow's Eve to each of you from the Burninghams!










Yellowstone was as free of people as I've seen in twenty five years during our latest dash to the wilderness this past weekend.
Fish, animals, plants, rivers, lakes, mountains, air and people were all spectacular. Our senses were stirred, our hopes rekindled, and the roots of my heart found nourishment yet again in the spirit that the park and its surroundings hold.
Ah, life. It can be just wonderful when one is far away from a public school plodding along under dual-district oversight.
Sigh.

Friday, October 26, 2007

There are those who talk or write about never having seen the Milky Way until a long-planned trip to Yosemite or some other 'refuge' way-out-west. They wax eloquent about the loss of nature and man's inability to connect with the earth or something else moany and groany, and long wind their words across the page about ordinances against certain kinds of lights or support for a law mandating a certain kind of something that will certainly enable more to better see the wonders of the night sky.
Since the beginning of time (the time that our species has been able to recognize as sliding past), the stars have been blazing in their place; appearing as a procession of pointillist shapes and twinkling lights. They have offered us a stage upon which to cast our dreams and divine our future. They guided our journeys and told us stories too, and as we have lit our homes and spaces progressively more brighlty, they have begun to serve as a rallying point for those with misguided purposes and some sense of what we ought to be.
Why is a person with a high-minded and simple hope to quell lights by law and ordinance misguided? The answer lies in the society that drowns the stars with their own creations and games with little or no regard to that which fostered or nurtures it; the loss of stars and the soil will not be remedied by any less than a restructuring of the entire machine.
We are able to see the Milky Way in SpringTowne most any night there's not too many clouds. While there are many who take that for granted, those who live in places like this have a very different view on life and how it moves and moves us. The sky is a place that I see as a reflection of my hopes and history; when I look at it with clear thoughts, I can hope for eternity.

Monday, October 22, 2007

This is the man in his native environment, with a beautiful animal taken in a good way with the honorable intention of sustaining many in his immediate and extended family. He's very happy and exuberant, soaking in this moment and the immediacy of nature.













Again, this time to the right, Ryan. He's not at all in his native environs; in fact, he's in Payson, at the closest such coffee shop to his hometown. He, like his friend, is usually staunchly grumpy about chains and big corporations.
Nevertheless, he is pictured here, as happy as a clam. Certainly not as joyous as he was in the last photograph, but nevertheless, he's downright gleeful. I might add that the numbskull taking the photo is at least as happy to be there as the loon in the chair right there, as well. Why? A place with a decent cup and seemingly cheerful people there to serve it at the time. A blessing in its time and place.
Within a few minutes, though, we were striding out of that place, on our way back home, grumbling about a couple of spandex-clad walking billboards who had bicycled up to the establishment.
Go figure.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Drie and I crawled up the canyon backroads with Ryan and Amy today for a few hours, and in that process, found a lake that we'd never been to. It was saturated with dandy rainbows, so we hooked a few and fried them up over coals. Drie said she felt alive. It was well worth the time.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

It was a long and snowy/rainy day yesterday. Today it was decided that I would need to take a short secret journey, so...
I made my way down to Red Way Canyon (no, that's not the real name, the only way you will find out where it is, is by going down with me sometime) with Moshe. The light is always best in the morning, but it was just right for a quick five miles or so up the canyon in the afternoon.
It's a nice place to be, just remind me to wear something besides my riding boots next time. They're not the best redrock scramblers in my closet.





Tuesday, October 2, 2007






Jerusha had her birdah today, right around 22 hours after her little sister. She was pleased to recieve a party and a new Raggedy Anne doll from her Nana, amongst other thangs.

Monday, October 1, 2007




It's wee Anwyn's second barthdeee, and we're celebrating with a cake!
She says it's cute!
So, Ryan and I decided to head over the mountain around noon or so yesterday, so we could try out Current Creek above Strawberry.
One thing lead to another, and we ended up on the Yellowstone River. The Yellowstone River! Well, not that Yellowstone river, but certainly well off the track from our original intentions. We followed whim after whim until we ended up on the south face of the Uinta range in Yellowstone Canyon, just north of the Uintah-Ouray Reservation.
It was uncommonly beautiful and we were able to catch some wonderfully bright brookies and nice rainbows, so it was well worth the crazy long drive.
It was a nice way to wander out the day.