Fondly,

J

(By Nancy West)

At first glance, I thought she was taking one of her leisurely dust baths under the Cube coop, with her gorgeous monarch butterfly feathers glowing in the late afternoon sun.  But when the other girls greeted me at the fence as they usually do , and Annabel remained frozen in place, I knew something was amiss.  She had never missed an opportunity to grab a few leaves of spinach or grains of scratch until this moment….

I peered closer and knew she was gone.  Her yellow claws curled up under her belly, and her head tucked under her left wing feathers–no sign of a struggle, no blood, no silly soft clucking sounds….She was simply still………..

Having tended to her needs and watched her “growth and development” from a two day old “chicklet” to a mature hen during these past two years, I can attest to Annabel’s being more than just a chicken.  Not only was she stunningly beautiful with perfectly arranged orange/black feathers–a classic Golden Wyandotte– but she possessed “character” as well.  Annabel’s every waking moment was devoted to scratching and pecking with total abandon.  When her opportunities seemed to diminish, she would hop up onto the top of the coop and attempt to fly out into the yard in search of the most promising  grubs and worms.  She loved to scratch around the base of the blackberry vines and the gooseberry bushes surrounding the garden’s perimeter.  Annabel was the hen who most yearned for her freedom, so we frequently had to chase her around and around the corral’s perimeter before she finally gave up and let us catch her.

Our favorite Annabel memory is when she caught a young garden snake while free ranging in the back yard last year. Obviously delighted with her catch of the day, she raced around with the startled snake wriggling and writhing as it dangled from her beak.  Eventually she dropped it as she couldn’t swallow it, and we rescued the hapless creature by tossing it into the woods.

Of course, a chicken’s raison d’etre is to provide humans with either eggs or meat.  Finding freshly laid eggs and holding them still warm from the hen’s body is truly a special treat.  Annabel  laid exquisite dark beige eggs, perfectly oval in shape.  And, ironically, hers was the last egg we found today in the nesting box….

Tonight we dug a deep hole outside of the garden proper in the “bald” area where the coop had been, now stripped of grass from the hens’ constant scratching.  I lifted Annabel out of the box, placed an old white towel around her, and set her in the ground.  She may have been “just a chicken”, but we shall miss her all the same….

We are staying at a hotel called “Boulder Outlook”. The sign features the slogan “the cure for the common hotel”. The exterior is very wacky, and the lobby even wackier, but once you drive around the corner, past the “caution, hula-hoopers” sign and haul yourself into your room, you’ll find it is very much, a common hotel. The only difference appears to be that they care about recycling. While I give them points for that, the stark white bathroom with the horror film lighting renders these points useless. Maybe it will grow on us. Anyway, our day began with the complimentary continental breakfast offered in the hotel’s dark, wood paneled restaurant. We planned our day over a bowl of Lucky Charms and a peanut butter bagel while the restaurant speakers serenaded us with dated music from the 1940s. It seemed like an odd music choice until I noticed that the other patrons were about 112 years old and rather salty.

We decided to spend the morning driving aimlessly around to get a feel for the place. I’m pretty sure we drove through nearly every street in town. It is almost impossible to get lost in Boulder. With the Flatirons as your landmark, you can never lose track of where you are. We had a wonderful time driving through neighborhoods to get a feel for what it might be like to live here. The houses are wonderfully eclectic, not just in the makeup of the neighborhood, but in the construction of individual homes as well. We were quite charmed.

We then headed over to Pearl Street to grab some tea and coffee and do a little exploring. I had a chai that nearly blew my head off with its spiciness. We savored our beverages while walking the length of the mall, window shopping all the way. I feel compelled to note that there are startling numbers of homeless people in the downtown area. I hope to find some answers to this while we are here. I did read in a local paper that there is some activism happening at the hands of students helping the cause of the homeless here by trying to overturn a law that prohibits them from sleeping in public areas. The story featured a man named Olive who had been ticketed for doing just that. He had refused to pay the $100 fine or do the alternative community service and was taking his case to court. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

After lunching at an incredible Latin American style restaurant called Aji, we took a long, pleasant walk on the Boulder Creek trail. The trail runs through the city up to the foothills of the mountains. It’s a lovely walk with the relaxing soundtrack of the rushing creek accompanying you along the way. Homes that abut the creek feature elaborate stairs and walkways from the small cliff tops down to the water. Several have set up bohemian looking lounge areas at the bottom, complete with lanterns, flags, couches, and pillows. It was an enviable sight.

This evening, though, we had the best fun of all. I selected Walnut Brewery as our dining destination. I had a hankering for a nice cold beer after our long walk and it seemed like the ideal place to satisfy that craving. Once I had the beer in hand, I could not find anything appealing on the menu. The waiter was encouraging us to order quickly as the restaurant had a 100 person reservation occupying their main dining room. Trying to speed up my selection process was unsuccessful because even reading unappealing items quickly does not somehow render them any more appealing. Ryan read my thoughts and suggested we just get the check and go elsewhere for our food. I downed the beer (more quickly than I should have) and paid the check. Our baffled waiter wished us good luck and off we went in search of something else.

I am so so so glad we did. We ended up at a wonderful place called Jax Fish House. Not only was the food exquisite, but the entertainment was second to none. No, it wasn’t just the paper tablecloth and dish of crayons that amused us to no end; it was the couple sitting next to us. The woman was about 12 sheets to the wind and the man was not far behind. In the span of 10 minutes we learned that she was considering moving in with her ex boyfriend (who is now gay) so they can try to have and raise a baby together. Any significant others, she announced, would just have to be accepting of this situation. She then went on to give details about how a friend of hers was “snitched” on for selling drugs, leading to the arrests of 10 people. This particular friend is now teaching Crossfit lessons in prison. As the evening wore on and the wine glasses piled up on the table, she began to focus on her dining mate’s neck. “Your neck is very wide.”, she observed. Would you like to guess what he said? He leaned in and said, “That’s not the only thing…”. While Ryan and I desperately tried to keep our composure, we heard him invite the woman home to “get high” with him. They stumbled out the door a short while later. Who knows where the night will take them, but we will always be thankful for the endless entertainment we will get out of their awkward drunken conversation this evening. I am certain that when we are old, I’ll peer over my bifocals at Ryan and say, “Honey, remember that dinner at Jax…?”

**UPDATE: The site has been taken down due to lack of support and interest. Oh well. On to the next new thing…**

Visit us at http://toodumbforlove.wordpress.com

It’s time for an update on my artsy endeavors. I’m starting to take steps towards marketing myself as a crafter and illustrator. I’ll be starting with an Etsy shop for Flighty Fleurs. Once this is established and stocked, I will begin building up my portfolio with my paper cutout artwork. I recently received an encouraging push in that direction when local blue grass duo Herb and Hanson asked me to do the cover art for their latest CD, “Awakeness“. It was wonderful to be working in that medium again, giving me even more confidence that I’m making the right choice by pursuing my art. I also began a series of paper cutout portraits of American literary figures that I would like to explore further. You can see some of this work on my (sadly out of date) website. I intend to operate another Esty shop to push prints, cards, and other such merchandise featuring this artwork.

Right now our apartment is nearly overwhelmed with Flighty Fleur materials. I have flowers poking out of every available vase, bowl, and bottle and will likely soon have them coming out of my ears. I’ve found a sequence that maximizes my productivity in the assembly of the flowers, preventing me from thinking too hard about color and pattern combinations. Last weekend I cranked out well over 100 flower faces. These will be utilized to generate stock for my soon-to-be shop ranging from bouquets to wreaths to garlands and possibly magnets. Cards might also be suitable, but I will start small and see if there is enough interest to branch out. I am trying to strike a balance in the selection between the brightly colored whimsical Flighties that I love and more sophisticated muted blooms. If you have any other ideas that I could put a Flighty Fleur spin on, let me know! It’s my goal to open this shop the weekend of April 23rd when Ryan and I return from Spring Break in Boulder, CO. I’ll leave you with some photos of some of my creations thus far. Ugh, here comes Monday. Best to all!

a 12 inch wreath

close up of wreath

drawer full of flower faces

subdued color scheme

stem detail

colorful grouping

As my father once said, “Anything worth doing is worth doing to extremes.”  We proudly present to you, dear reader, the all celebrity cast of Les Miserables:

Marius – Nick Jonas.  The reason for the season.

Fantine – Nicole Kidman, since we already know she is good at dying of tuberculosis (re: Moulin Rouge)

Thenardier – Bruce Springsteen.  No, really!  Stop being a jackass and listen to the Seeger Sessions already.

M. Thenardier – Susan Boyle.  The hair.  The teeth.  The look.

Gavroche – Justin Bieber.  “Hey guys, wait for meeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

Bishop – Bill Maher, if only because he’s a better Christian than Glenn Beck

Enjolras – Gerard Way.  I’ll spare you the Wikipedia lookup; he is the lead singer of My Chemical Romance.  Need an edgy person with some pipes for this role, and he fits the bill.  If you can’t see it, imagine him *without* the eyeliner.

Cosette – Taylor Swift.  Duh.

Eponine – Miley Cyrus.  My immediate response when my wife said “We need to come up with a whiney brunette”

This brings us to the two most critical casting choices – Javert and Valjean.

Javert – My initial thought was Darius Rucker, but dude seems to be incapable of frowning / scowling, so we dismissed him from our casting call.  Patrick Swayze, alas is no longer with us (“Valjean’s like the wind…”).  Upon further review, a very broody Christian Bale looks perfect in this role.

Jean Valjean – Hugh Jackman.  Cha-ching.  Wolverine = Valjean.  You love it!

Honorable mention to Snoop Dogg.  Snoop, much like bacon, makes everything better.  Director’s choice on where to fit him in.

Epilogue.  As it turns out, Nick Jonas played Gavroche in the original Broadway production of Les Mis, so this entire exercise was founded on a false (though entirely plausible) assumption.