Feliz Navidad i Bon Nadal

A Christmas Greeting from Rebecca Lowe

It's Beginning to Look . . .

After Day 3 of skiing, Sam helped me check the new K2 skis for any damage. Unfortunately, they were pretty scratched up. But I guess that is why we have skis . . . to ski.


Once the skis were thoroughly inspected, Sam moved on to the snow itself. Notice that someone forgot to put any gloves / mittens on him. We are genius parents.

Back in its element

As you can see, the Subaru is right at home here in Colorado after feeling rather out of place on the Los Angeles freeways. It doesn't overheat here, and it has maneuvered miraculously in the snow (here's to All Wheel Drive). And snow we have had plenty of. Yesterday we skied all day in "package deep powder" (statement attributed to Matt Foley).

Sam's Holiday Cheer

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1125159424

Finally . . . a winter wonderland

Snow has finally fallen again here in town after a dry November. Hopefully we'll be skiing this weekend!

a failed experiment

Although Sam sported Ute Red all afternoon, it was all for naught. It was a tough loss for Sam to stomach seeing that he had waited his whole life for this afternoon. There is always next year.

GO UTES!!!!

Just a few more hours (16 as I write) until the big kickoff . Utah vs. BYU.

GO UTES!

November Snowlessness

With the ski season set to open on Thursday, I took this photo from Main Street here in Aspen this afternoon. We haven't had any snow in over a month. Snowlessness.

. . . Ready to Parachute off the Balcony

"Sam Bear Grylls"

(Becky calls Sam "Sam Bear," and "Sam Bear + Bear Grylls" = Sam Bear Grylls.)

Sam is gearing up for Bear Grylls' new season, if only his mom let him watch TV (and for those of you who don't know who Bear Grylls is, see below & click here). In order to do so, Sam made his second bid to the extremely high altitude Maroon Bells outside of Aspen in trecherous autumn winds. His alpine tenacity is remarkable for such a young lad. Here's to a great season as the snow begins to fly here in Colorado!

una paella a la colorado . . .

Nothing like an early November paella on the grill. Such was our dinner.

In the memoir "Spain's Cause Was Mine," by Frank Rubin, there is an account of hungry soldiers in the Spanish Civil War anticipating a twelve foot paella on the coals when Franco's regime began bombing the encampment. All of the soldiers ran for cover, except one, who couldn't stand the thought of leaving a paella on the fire. He took cover near the coals, and had his fill of paella until the air raid had finished.

According to most Spaniards, la paella is the greatest dish on the face of the earth, even if made in Colorado.

A Calabasa Halloween!

For one's first Halloween, one should always dress up as one's birthplace. Accordingly, Sam, being born in Calabasas, California, is a "Calabasa," which is Spanish for pumpkin. We went trick-or-treating to ONE house before Sam completely came undone. I suppose he knew that I was going to eat all the candy anyway. He wised up to my plan.

. . . to Church on Time!

Just a Few More Days til the NBA Season Begins . . .

Go Jazz!

Snowy October

This was the view that we woke up to this morning . . . October 20.

So Sam is getting an autumn start on his winter clothes. By the look of things, Sam agrees with Steinbeck, who said, "I have lived in a good climate, and it bores the hell out of me. I like weather rather than climate."

Little Mr. Man Boobs

Le Tour de Becky

Becky has been mountain biking a ton this summer (see her legs above), and is now preparing to cash in all that added leg muscle on the slopes this winter.

An Array of Autumn

The Times in Aspen

This is the cover of The Aspen Times today, October 3, 2007. Autumn in the mountains is magnificent.

Thursday Night with Dwight

With "The Office" on the air again, we are back in business. The sitcom reminds me of our days in Los Angeles, so it will take some getting used to here in Colorado. But Dwight is Dwight, no matter where you live.

A Morning Commute

After living in Los Angeles for 3 years, Becky and I are not big fans of the "Commute." I read on CNN the other day that the average driver wastes 38 hours a year sitting in traffic. In Los Angeles, it is 72 hours a year! It made me rethink my current commute here in Aspen. My commute is 25 minutes of walking. I start out strolling up the driveway . . .

. . . then I cross the Roaring Fork River on this nice footbridge . . .

. . . then I stroll through town for a few blocks . . .

. . . then I cross Main Street . . .

. . . and finally a block below Main Street I arrive at the Jerome Professional Building, and my commute is complete. My commute is the opposite of stress, nor is it a waste of time. In fact, it is one of the best parts of my day . . . easily one of the greatest commutes in the nation.

(Here is the CNN Story on "Commuting")
(http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/traffic.congestion.ap/index.html)

NOTE: It has been brought to my attention that this post has a slight "anti-california" slant to it. This was not my intent. It should only be "anti-commute."

Picnic Visitor

On Sunday night, we enjoyed a picnic at the big house down by the river. Our friend stuck the leftovers by Matt & Whitney's Land Rover while we ran back inside, and by the time we headed back out to the cars, this bear had won the jackpot. Chicken, strawberries, cheese, cookies, chips, you name it. So we had to wait a good 45 minutes to get to our cars while the bear feasted (during which time I took this photo). This was my 4th bear encounter in 3 days. It's bear heaven here in Aspen.

An Aspen View

This is the view from Smuggler Mountain, taken from the Specialized Stumpjumper the evening before I started work. And sprinkled throughout this great little town, we often see randomly placed bear traps. Funny enough, we see many more bears than we do traps.

Sam & Hank . . .

Sam's "happier" encounter with Uncle Dave's new dog, Hank. The first encounter didn't go so well.

High Uintas Fly-Fishing

I joined my friends Bubba & Ben for a few days of alpine fly-fishing in the High Uintas in Eastern Utah. Stellar!


We only had a few setbacks: cold rain storms, being lost on a steep ridge at over 12,000 ft., being run out of camp by a bull moose, and virtually running out of food by the last night. But in the end, we caught hundreds of alpine trout, and who can beat this view?

Comic Book Sam

An impatiently selfish friend of ours, Jason Barlow, complained at having to watch Sam eat peaches every day. He demanded a new post. So in honor of his immaturity and impenetrable love for comic books, I made this photo for him.

Jason, grow up.

Organic "Shmorganic" Peaches

Sam's reaction to this beautifully organic peach his mother mashed up for him says it all. Organic is for Shmucks!

Castle Peak - 14,260 ft.

To decompress after the bar, a few of us decided to head to the high altitude summit of Castle Peak just outside of Aspen. I had previously climbed King's Peak in Utah a few times (13,526 ft.), but I had never climbed above 14,000 feet. Here is a photographic summary:


This is the road we drove up, which took us well above treeline.


Above, you can see the most scenic parking lot in all the rocky mountains.


This is Matt & Joe scoping the route up . . .


Almost to the summit, looking back down the ridge just below 14,000 ft.


The Summit Shot! 14,260 feet! But there was no view except for heavy grey mist.


Once the mist cleared, this was our view.


The fast way down . . .


. . . and then back into town before the evening lightning storms roll in!

FULL SUCCESS!

Front Porch Visitor

The other night, I drove home from Denver in a daze after enduring the two day Colorado bar exam. Back in Aspen, I went to get my bags out of the car in the rainy darkness. As I went to open the back of the Jeep, I looked to my left, and there on the front porch was a black bear. He looked at me, and just wandered away.

I, on the other hand, made a mad dash for the back door. Welcome back to Aspen!

A New Food Critic

Aspen's Black Bears on our Driveway

The bears are out and about this summer in Aspen! This big black bear paw print is on the door in the driveway where the garbage is locked up. A bear evidently took a liking to something he smelled inside, but couldn't get it. But he didn't leave without unleasing his claws on the door (see below).


Sam's wide eyes illustrate his opinion of living in bear country:
AMAZING!