Yesterday morning we heard five robins singing gaily in the tree by the deck. The temperature is attempting to get into the 50's and wonder of wonders, the wind is not blowing. The pond ice should start melting soon so the duck migration can appear. These hints of spring inspired me to wash the bed linens so I could hang them on the line. I was even able to transfer some of the water from the 50 gallon rain/snow/ice barrel by the barn into milk jugs for my houseplants.

I found a bag of frozen bones from a chuck steak in the freezer to put on the woodstove. Stan and I laugh at our frugality but I get an odd pleasure out of getting the maximum usage from what I have to work with. Besides a good broth, there will be a little meat to incorporate into a green chili stew for dinner.

Still going up to collect the eggs, we generally have seven or eight dozen on hand. Now there are goose eggs also. I guess I need to make a sunshine cake or angel food. I've developed quite a following hiking up the hill.

A face in the crowd



Text and pictures © 2008 Mona E. Dunn

Wilds of Wyoming Winter

So you may wonder, how does one wile away the long winter months in the wilds of Wyoming? There is just the two of us many miles from concerts, art, lectures, and other amenities of culture and the persistant cold winds discourage you from even setting a foot out the door. Of course there is the endless cooking and cleaning.

I do enjoy making comfort foods such as chili and chowder to ward off the cold. We have onions, garlic, potatoes and squash from the garden in the basement, carrots still in the garden under some hay and plenty of eggs and meat. If we had a milk cow I guess I wouldn't have to go to town more than once a month.

Occasionally I get inspired to make a nice dinner with homemade bread and to enjoy with a bottle of wine.
When I do go on the hike to get eggs and feed Sindy's birds I may be gone for hours. My love affair with rocks has become obssessive. Although the hills appear colorless I find yellow, blue, red, pink, green and white treasures scattered everywhere. Carrying many pounds home for my rock wall in the back yard constitutes the weight training aspect of my exercise program.The obssession has expanded to creating necklaces with polished healing stones and research to understand how to apply their magic.



A walk never goes undocumented.






Text and pictures © 2008 Mona E. Dunn

Valentine to the Planet

Ode to Gaia

What can I give you, sustainer of all life?

You give the pleasure of flowers to adorn space,

The warmth of the sun freely to all,

The moon to calm our fears at night,

Flowing water and floating snow

To quench the parched throats of these hungry ghosts,

The sweet fertile earth to tread upon

To reap as we please

The harvest of our need and our greed.

Fair Lover and Mother

Trying to nurture us all,

Asking not for gifts, only respect.

I can only give her all of my love.








Text and pictures © 2008 Mona E. Dunn

Break From Tedium

Sorry to keep you waiting...I've been in the mid-winter twilight zone. For some reason I seem to stall out in January and February. Actually I know what those reasons are...

I always thought tax season was an burdensome hurdle to be overcome but this year our paperwork projects piled up. Looking through boxes of records to apply for Clark's retirement, making investment choices in a downward spiraling market, house bound with facts and figures scrawled...

On a decent day when the wind lays down it's imperative that one drop everything and go out. On such a perfect day I asked Sindy to come down with Ezra to skate. The ice was not perfect but there were patches to glide on.


I personally may have to give up the ice since for no good reason I ended up flat on my back three times, bruising my tailbone. Can't believe I'm going to say this but "At my age" I'm lucky that's all the damage I incurred.

Text and pictures © 2008 Mona E. Dunn