All kinda of stuff

Where do I start? I've been having a hard time writing ... or wanting to write ... so I just haven't. The loss of my brother has really changed my life and changed my outlook on things. Losing my parents was one (very tough) thing. Losing my brother is entirely another. It's now just my sister and I, and we are both feeling very alone. Having 1,000 miles between us is probably not helping, either. I am very thankful to my friends for playing such a huge part in my life right now and helping me though this. I don't know what I'd do without you.

As busy as Mark has been, we seem to manage to spend some time together and do fun and different things. We went to a play in Boise called "Out of Order." I'd never been to a play before, and that was a fun one. We also went to see Celtic Knights at the Nampa Civic Center. Good music, great dancers, and some history of Ireland that brought back good memories of the stories my mom used to tell me about her family when I was a kid. If I ever make it back to the East Coast again, I'd like to see Ellis Island. I was there as a very young kind, but I don't remember much.

Mark also took me up to Donnelly for a horse-drawn sleigh ride to feed the elk. This was a really cool experience, and one you don't get to do often. The elk come down out of the higher elevations when the temperatures drop, and they hang out on the property owned by the Points family. And, of course, I snapped a few photos ... but I was much more interested in enjoying spending time with these majestic animals.

Starting out ... there wasn't a ton of snow, so the sleigh was a bit noisy, and the trails were kind of rutted.  I would love to go on a sleigh ride in very deep snow, where all you hear is the hoof falls and sleigh bells on the horses.  (The blur in the upper left corner of this photo is due to Mark's hair.  Yup.  That same hair that everyone told him he should cut off because it would shave years off his life.  Yeah, that hair.)

Something spooked them and suddenly everyone took off.

The food on the sled proved to be a bigger draw than whatever it was that spooked them, and like sheep ... once one was brave enough, they all started coming back. 

The little young ones were so cute.

But, alas, the time came when we had to leave. 

And here is the youngest one of the crew, a fine young man.  In ten years, I expect to go back and see him driving the sleigh.

And here's a lousy photo of the Percherons.

More updates coming ...

J