 Thursday, September 21, 2006
This morning, the hills surrounding the valley had a dusting of snow and we got a few hours of slush - rain and snow mix. It was about 40* F in the valley, so nothing stuck.It is clearing now and the snow has melted from the hills. Even with the rain, most guests went riding. One guest doesn’t like the water part of the hot chocolate mix. Once the machine starts giving the water part, she pulls her cup away and lets the water run onto the counter. At least now she has started to use a napkin to mop up some of it. Yesterday, I took a 2.5-hour nap and last night I slept from 9:00 - 7:00. I think partly I am tired and partly I’m bored. At any rate, I felt a lot better this morning. 9:30 p.m. It’s snowing! It’s been snowing all evening and sticking. 🎵 It’s snowing, snowing, snowing! 🎵
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 Saturday, September 16, 2006
I got my ticket home this morning. I went on a ride to Cowboy Cabin. It was cold and windy. On the way back, we all put on our slickers because they helped keep in the heat. Mine dragged the ground. I looked like Dumpy the Dwarf or a friendly troll. Sage looked at me, took one step forward, and gave me a long, quizzical look. I love how Sage is always looking around and turning her ears in all directions. She is always aware of her surroundings. When we come to a dip or rise, she slows down and looks at it before proceeding. Instead of “slowpoke,” I should call her Miss Deliberate. I still don’t like her as much as Wyatt, but she’s growing on me. Almost as soon as we got into the lodge, it started snowing. It snowed all afternoon. Nothing stuck, but it snowed in September!  Friday, September 15, 2006
It’s been windy and rainy all day. In the upper elevations, the riders saw snow. I’ve spent all afternoon playing Scrabble with guests from England.  Thursday, September 14, 2006
Line dancing night! It’s my favorite part of the week. We even had some men try. Ezra made butterscotch sauce for the ice cream. It was delicious. I love butterscotch!  Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Dad called, so I talked to him and Mom. That was nice, but of course I thought of things to say afterwards instead of on the phone. I think tonight, for the first time, I found the North Star. I couldn’t find a useful star chart online, but I read several descriptions of how to find Polaris and looked at the diagrams. I think I finally did it! I think I see Cassiopeia, too, but I’m not sure. I thought before that I had found the Little Dipper, but after finding the North Star, I found out I was wrong. I don’t know where Cassiopeia is supposed to be. I only have in the back of my mind that it looks a little like a “W.” Of course, when I finally get a star map, I may find it’s actually something else. Right now, I just want to know what the fake Little Dipper is.  Tuesday, September 12, 2006
It feels good to sit in the loft and play flute for the few people who wander into the lodge. I’ve been working on playing how I want to play and not paying attention to the people around or what they might be thinking. I’m getting better at it. I found a website with all the Tae Kwon Do forms. It helps a lot, except when the print is too small to read and I can’t remember what the move is supposed to be. I’ve been trying to practice some part of TKD for a few minutes each day. I waded in the warm shallows and collected some snail shells. The big shells all had occupants. These snails are mostly 1-1.5 inches long, but some are 2 inches. The shells I found are no bigger than my little fingernail. I also saw small crabs that look like leaf insects. You can see no legs, only two front pinchers that look like wings until you get close. There were also small, brown fish.  Monday, September 11, 2006
It’s the 5-year anniversary of the September 11 attack. I see what must be the Milky Way - a cloudy belt of stars cutting the sky from north to south. In this Wyoming sky, I have, for the first time, seen the Big and Little Dippers, but I’m not sure of the North Star and can’t find Orion, my constant friend in North Carolina and the only constellation I could easily find there. I don’t know how to find any other constellations and I haven’t seen a star book here. Staying up late to do laundry has its advantages. The stars are amazing  Sunday, September 10, 2006
Yesterday afternoon, Ezra let me make chocolate zucchini bread. He even bought the zucchini for me. We had it at staff breakfast this morning and everyone liked it who tried it.  Saturday, September 9, 2006
A guest was riding Wyatt, so when I went on a ride with Mila and two day riders, they started me on Buster. He acted up too much. We could barely get out of the gate. So, they switched me to Sage. She is a slow-poke, but overall a good horse. It was nice that Mila understood how slow Sage is and didn’t keep after me to keep up.  Friday, September 8, 2006
I worked 8-1 and 5-8:30. I spent the morning in housekeeping. A towel rod fell in Cabin 8 and broke the toilet tank cover. A wine glass fell out of the golf cart and broke. I took a walk to take pictures of the early fall foliage. Last night, we had line dancing. I always enjoy that. As usual, the ladies danced and the gents watched.  Thursday, September 7, 2006
Worked 8-1. Half-day today. I played the flute in the lodge for 45 minutes this afternoon. It was rainy and cool all morning, but now the sun is coming out and it is warming up. It’s too cloudy to see the Tetons. Yesterday, Mila got stamps for me. Now I can delay going into town a little longer.  Tuesday, September 5, 2006
I didn’t have time to mop yesterday. Last night, we had a bottle of Merlot go inexplicably bad. We had been serving a lady from it all evening, but after dinner, she gave the glass back and said it tasted like it was going bad. We opened a new bottle and the two smelled different. The old one had no smell. The new one was almost fruity. She liked the glass from the new bottle.  Monday, September 4, 2006
I was filling up the salad dressing containers and had 5 minutes until I could leave. I put the Italian away and come out of the walk-in, holding the ranch jar by the top so I have one hand free to shut the door. I start walking and the ranch jar starts to fly. It hits the freezer at the other end of the room and the lid comes off. Actually, the lid came off first because there was a ranch trail to mark the flight path. I got a rag and cleaned it up. No one saw; one one has to know. I didn’t leave until nearly 10 after and I wasn’t able to set the table. No problem, I’ll have plenty of time to do it at 5:00 if they don’t do it this afternoon. I’m doing laundry now. I have to wash my comforter, too. The bird pooped on it and the floor. If I have time, I’ll mop.  Sunday, September 3, 2006
It’s hot today! I cleaned my part of the bathroom. I played some bolo ball with Sam. I’m not very good, as usual, but it’s fun. I’m not sure why I have a curtain over the door window when I leave the wall window without a curtain. Just used to it, I guess. Earlier, I was sitting in my doorway, reading, and had the door open. Suddenly, I sense something fly over my head and hear a “thunk.” Then I see a hawk-like bird flying to the fence, then winging away. Later, I hear something and see a sleek, black bird flying around my room. I didn’t know how to help him get out, but eventually he managed.  Saturday, September 2, 2006
It amazes me how many people ask “What’s ‘shooting’” when they see it listed as the afternoon activity. The response, “Target practice.” “With a gun?” “Yes, a .22.” Then they are in shock because we use a real gun. One English lady said that in Europe, they can’t understand why Americans want guns, but after being here and seeing the wilderness, it makes sense. It’s been agreed that I’ll stay here with some others during the off season. We’ll each go on vacation for a week or so. Keith says that it is nice here in the off season with no guests and the work we do helps us for the winter season. We had a minor collision in the kitchen tonight and I got hot minestrone soup all over me. Keith said I could go change and I did. I’m not sure why I find such events amusing, but I guess it's better than getting upset over them.  Friday, September 1, 2006
At 7:30 this morning, it was 22* F. I wrote letters today. It is a good way to stay busy, but I have no table and it makes my shoulders hurt. I only have two stamps left, so I will have to go into town soon, whether I want to or not, unless someone is going to the post office and they will pick some up for me. Yesterday, just before supper, the horses broke through the fence and almost escaped, but Keith saw them. When he went out there, all but one horse went back inside the pasture. Then a wrangler arrived and handled everything. Last night, the horses got out again, but I didn’t hear them. They went to the ranch above us. We get their neglected basset hound (who was down here again yesterday) and they get our escapee horses.  Thursday, August 31, 2006
I’ve been thinking about why swearing is bad. All I can come up with is, “Swearing is bad because it indulges the baser nature and contributes to a society that neither practices nor values respect or honorable and noble actions.” The problem with my reasons is that they are based on the assumption that being respectful is good. I don’t know that anyone would seriously say respect is bad, but they might say it isn’t necessary at all times. They might also say that swearing is not disrespectful because it is used so much that it has lost its effectiveness. The problem with trying to convince people to do right is that they first have to admit that right has value. I don’t think human arguments can bring them to that point. Emailing college friends are like a lifeline out here where there is no one I can get to be friends with or really talk to. If I get lonely, I can only imagine how hard it would be for a Christian who is also a “social butterfly.”  Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Monday, I rubbed a raw spot about the size of a nickel in the middle of my hand while loosely holding the saddle horn when cantering. Well, I didn’t want it to get filthy on the ride Tuesday or to keep bumping it with my finger nails and causing myself pain, but there’s no way a Band-Aid would stay on there, even if I found one the right size. Nobody had any medical tape, but in the tack room, they had vet wrap. Mila put some gauze around my hand, then secured it with neon green vet wrap. I love that stuff! I don’t know why I never heard of it in music school. It’s so flexible, even with my entire palm wrapped in two layers of it, I could still play the flute with no problems. Today my hand is wrapped in purple. It looks like I broke my hand or am getting ready to box. The bandage is quite impressive compared to the minuteness of the injury. Yesterday, I played my flute in the loft of the lodge. People hear me and think it’s a radio. Listeners say the arched ceiling makes my sound fill the lodge. I play as quietly as I can and still they hear me loud and clear. I would love to be able to hear it. When I get especially tired in this place, I start to feel lonely. Then I want to start walking and just keep going. The hills in particular attract me. I stare at one hilltop and it pulls me. I want to go over it. As I can’t, I usually walk to the entrance of the ranch. If I can’t do that, I do what I did as a child - keep on living. I feel like all the emotions and uncertainties and change that are supposed to happen to teenagers are happening to me these past two years. Not the physical changes - those are at least a decade past, but the “where do I fit in” and “what am I supposed to be doing” feelings that come now aren’t so easy to live through. When I was in college, I always was convinced that I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I was supposed to do. Now, I’m fulfilling a dream, so I’m not unhappy, but I know at the core, I’m a musician. I just don’t know completely what I want to do with that.  Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Another day off today and another ride. I didn’t want to do a 6-hour, so I was with the day riders. Wes is taking us and letting me ride Wyatt again. We were supposed to ride to Soda Lake, but the day riders didn’t get here until 10:30 and they had to be back by 2:15, so we went as if we were going to Cowboy Cabin, but stayed in the sage plains. On the way back, we rode up a steep hill that I’ve thought about climbing. That gave us a nice view of the valley and the Tetons. The ride was just long enough. Anymore and it would have been painful. As it was, just below my knees was stiff and sore, but I could still use my legs. I am very thankful I didn’t go on the 6-hour ride.  Monday, August 28, 2006
I went on the guest ride today. We went to Cowboy Cabin, except Ford couldn’t find it, so we did some riding off the trail, looking for it. The guests were good sports and nice people. I rode Wyatt and fell in love with him. The rhythm of his walk feels like I would walk and he speeds up and slows down in almost the same places I would. I liked the saddle, too. My left knee, which had begun to hurt 30-60 minutes into the other rides, never gave me any particular trouble. In fact, I only got uncomfortably stiff in the last hour, and it didn’t really hurt until I got off but couldn’t walk around much because I was holding Wyatt until Ford could tie him up. Then the pain hit my knees, moved to make me nauseous, and then proceeded up to make my ears ring. At that point, Ford was close, so I gave him Wyatt and sat down to take a few deep breaths. As soon as I started walking around, I was fine and the stiffness quickly left.  Sunday, August 27, 2006
I have a half-day (8-1) today and Monday and Tuesday off. If I wanted to take a weekend trip, it would be perfect, but I don’t feel like going anywhere, especially at the last minute. I spent 2.5 hours after work cleaning my room and the bathroom. I cleaned and disinfected both sinks, showers, and toilets, and mopped the whole floor. I think the one set of toilet and shower hadn’t been cleaned all season, maybe longer. I don’t use them, but they’re near my space and I wanted them clean.  Saturday, August 26, 2006
It was still raining from last night, but some people still wanted to go on short rides. By mid-morning, it had started to rain very hard, then hail. We got a radio call that the riders were coming in. They arrived at lunchtime and we had mulled wine and hot chocolate waiting for them, as well as a roaring fire. Lunch was ready, but they were too excited to eat. Finally, at 12:15, Filip, the ranch owner, let the staff eat first, then the guests followed. I tried two sips of the wine and didn’t like it. It smelled and tasted bitter. Some staff here are really touchy about their laundry. They leave it in the machine long after the cycle finishes, then swear the walls down if someone puts it on the table. We only have one washer and two dryers. I figure, if you don’t get it within a few minutes of the cycle ending, you should expect to have your laundry touched.  Friday, August 25, 2006
I got two packages and a letter today. Dad sent me some food, a furry vest, some bath sponges, and some playing cards. My sister sent me some jewelry, a shirt, and best of all - three books. What a treasure! Mom sent me the letter. The firemen aren’t coming for supper or any more meals. They’re moving camp and picked up their chairs and tables from where they’d been eating here. The kids got restless during Robert’s talk. When he went out the door, it was like the dam broke. The kids burst into activity and noise. More than once, they had to be told to turn down the TV, stop shouting, etc. We were inside because it was cold and raining. |
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Jill Hames is a writer, musician, biblical studies teacher, and ESL tutor who finds life too interesting to pick a niche. She has a B.A. in Music and Spanish, a Masters in Library and Information Science, is TEFL.org 168-hour certified to teach English as a second language, and is working towards a Master of Divinity. Jill is a member of Delta Omicron and the International Women's Writing Guild.
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Copyright 2025
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Copyright 2025