Month: September 2004


  • Old Mill at War Eagle, Arkansas                            Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy


    I'm so tired I can hardly stay awake to do this blog.  I started coming down with a sore throat yesterday at work and then we went to a ballgame last night and got rained on. Actually we stood around for over a half hour under the eaves waiting for it to stop raining, but then finally left.  Neither one of us had really wanted to go to the game very much anyway, but a friend of ours had gone to a lot of trouble to get us play off tickets because she thought we'd really want to do it.  No surprise it didn't take a lot to make us decide to go back home.  I wonder if they stayed for the game to start again or not. 


    Quote of the day: Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.  

  • I'M BACK!  And guess what?  I DID have a great time after all, unlike my poor hubby.  It was a very stressful board meeting for him, but by the end of the 4 days, most of the board members were in his corner even stronger than before. . . just that one pesky fella who is creating such havoc.  I think he's jealous; of course that's just my opinion.


    Back to the fun I had . . . actually I mean the fun WE had . . . two of the other wives and me.  My friend Paula had never been to the Royal Gorge before and since her husband will be retiring this year, they won't ever be coming back to the board meetings again, so the three of us headed out in our rental car so she could experience the Gorge.  It's about an hour and 15 minutes from Colorado Springs and it was a very beautiful and pleasant drive. 



    Royal Gorge Bridge ( 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River)             Photo by Chris Duffy


    If you've never been there, it's impossible to describe how high up you are when you're crossing that bridge.  The picture above shows less than one quarter of the distance to the bottom of the gorge.


    My other friend, Angie, had been reading the brochure about the gorge and noticed that there was a new attraction since the last time she'd been there.  It's called the SkyCoaster . . . sort of like bungee jumping only you don't do the jumping and you are moving like a pendulum rather than free falling.  She decided she wanted to try it and wanted Paula and me to try it with her. . . and we almost did, but thankfully common sense prevailed.



    SkyCoaster ride at Royal Gorge                                                             Photo by Chris Duffy

    Pictured above is the contraption you swing from and there's Angie going to take her "flying lessons", while Paula and I went up to a good vantage point so we could get pictures of her playing like Peter Pan.



    Angie just before they released her . . . .                                                    Photo by Chris Duffy


    There she is as they hoisted her up and up to almost the top of the third tower.  Fortunately we had not yet eaten lunch and they also provided a porta potty and recommended that folks took advantage of it BEFORE they took the ride.   She's a braver soul than I am.



    SkyCoaster attraction at Royal Gorge                                                  Photo by Chris Duffy


    She said that on a scale of 1 to 10 it was an 8 for fear and a 10 for fun. You can see how high up we are . . . the bridge in the distance is 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River and this was a good climb even higher up than that.  Right after Angie finished, another woman went on it and her husband refused to watch.  Their two kids were taking pictures of their mother, but he just couldn't watch . . . said he didn't approve, but he got out voted.


  • Another Broadmoor shot                                          Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy


    Man, I've been busy lately.  So busy I've not had time to post.  The kids were here for the week end and that was a lot of fun.  Then today at work felt like a Monday and a Tuesday all put together, with a little bit of Friday thrown in for good measure.  There just wasn't much to do at work Friday because so many people had taken Friday off to add to the Holiday week end, and it all caught up today.  I just finished working on my final project of the day about 15 minutes ago.  But when I get to work tomorrow I should be sort of caught up now.


     


    Thought of the day: Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.  


  • The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs                        Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy


    YEAH !!!!  It's FRIDAY !!!!  The kids are coming for the week end and Monday is a holiday.  Does it get any better? 


    I'm sure Alice and I won't be staying anyplace as nice as this, but I'm equally sure that we'll see scenery just as beautiful on our Austin trip.  This is part of the campus at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, where my husband's company has their board meeting every year.  Occasionally he asks if anyone wants to have the meeting at a different venue for a change and every time they say, "NO, why would we?"  So the board meeting is coming up again the later part of next week and I'll be there, wishing I didn't have to attend the coctail hours and command performance dinners.  Not that the food isn't good, it's fabulous!  It's just that "schmoozing" and "hob knobbing" just isn't my bag.   And neither is getting all gussied up.   But I'll be a good girl and pretend I'm having the time of my life.  I might even find time to get some more pictures.


  • House in Eureka Springs, AR                                Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy


    It's amazing that I got this picture at all.  Alice and I had been walking up and down the streets of Eureka Springs taking pictures of all the Victorian homes and our feet were killing us.  We got in the car to drive to the next neighborhood and saw this house.  I was too tired to stop the car and get out so we both took our pictures through the open window.  I wasn't even fully stopped as I was in the middle of the street.    The picture was a little tilted and I had to straighten it and crop it on the computer, but I kind of like it.  Some of my favorite shots are ones that I don't think will really turn out well, for one reason or another.


    Thought of the day: Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.