This, my friends is Lucy.  She is our resident moose.  Yes, I have named her.  She is so funny and sweet.  Ok…not really sweet because moose will charge your butt if you are in their way.  But, I like to think she is sweet as she has not charged at me…yet…..:-)

I’ve been watching Lucy for a while now….she can be super entertaining…(unless, of course, you are a teenage girl..then nothing in nature is really entertaining.). Lucy and I first met a few weeks ago.  I was oblivious and BOOM..there she was…just looking at me and I swear she was thinking “you stupid human, I’m right here and I could crush you if I wanted”..And, she would be right.  I was in my own head just taking the trash out.  So much for practicing more mindfulness…(I don’t want to discuss that now).  So after that, I see Lucy regularly.  She is in our yard, the neighborhood, our deck….kind of makes me think she really likes me.  (yes, I know it’s in my head..but, c’mon!  It’s a moose for crying out loud!!)

So, here is where my Maggie comes in.  So Maggies has legs that are about 6 inches long…that’s it…seeing above an 8 foot wall of snow just isn’t going to happen. BUT, she can smell Lucy.  Which actually kind of cracks me up because she is 9 1/2, she’s a bulldog…not a hound dog and tends to ignore everything smell except food.  When she smells Lucy…she gets a little crazy.  Kind of reminds me of a kid on sugar at Disney World.  She will run her little legs up and down the snow wall trying to figure out how to get to the smell.

Stay with me…I know this is long winded right now…

I have Maggie out one day doing out little walk, and the snow plow is coming down the road.  So, I’m holding Maggie and out of the driveway next to us…here comes Lucy.  Well, I consider Lucy my pal..until she is about 2 feet from my face and I’m holding a hyped up 48lb bulldog…and a snow plow is coming straight for all 3 of us.  Well, damn.  Lesson here people…when a moose is coming towards you, you actually are supposed to stand PERFECTLY STILL…well, that is hard to do when the damn thing is trotting right towards you.  Then, she sees Maggie (apparently, moose don’t have very good eye sight either, poor things)…she STOPS…ummm…no Lucy…please keep going..the OTHER WAY!!  The snow plow stops (thank goodness because it’s not just a truck…it’s a big ass John Deer with the biggest tires this country girl has ever seen!  And, that’s saying a lot after growing up in Kentucky!!) Finally, Lucy decides to SAUNTER off…no rush, because realistically, she owns this place and she knows it.  She goes up and crosses into another yard and disappears.  This is the moment I realized we have a connection.  She clearly adores me…right?

The snow plow guy stops and we have a good laugh and he continues on as well…now, here’s Maggie thinking she can find Lucy…

Isn’t she just so cute?  I kept telling her that Lucy wanted nothing to do with her…But, Maggie is very optimistic!  She thinks EVERYONE loves her..including Lucy.  I decided not to crush her dreams!

Since Lucy and I have this deep connection now…I’m learning from her.  This girl is a survivor. I mean, she climbs snow plow piles to get to tree branches.  She will walk through 10 feet of snow to get to food.

Ya know what else…she doesn’t give a rats patootie what anyone thinks…2 nights ago…she was chomping on a tree..walked over to our driveway…laid down and decided to just chill…

“oh, you want to get in your garage…please wait..I’m chillin here”. “you want to walk your dog…yea, not now….I’m busy”. “DUDE!  You’d be tired to walking 2 tons around!  Give me a break!!”

So, Sweet Lucy and I have bonded…I’m learning that sometimes you just need to pop a squat and chill.  And, listen to nature and your heart.  Life doesn’t give you the answers, but, if you just chill and listen….you can learn to roll with it.  Thank you, Lucy.  I love having you in my life!!

As always…spread joy and show gratitude!

STAY WILD!!!

P.S.

One last Lucy…its a video.

I know it’s been a while!  And, for all of my 4 readers…I do so apologize!!  But, we have been busy!  First, we had family in town (more to come on that!!), then we had some friends come in…and, for some reason I have no time!  I mean..what the hell?  Yes, Yes, I am sure you are all saying “boohoo, poor thing..just plays all day”…well…I WISH!!  Ok, ok…yes, we play A LOT!!  But, seriously…why do you think I had kids??  It sure wasn’t the legacy!   I want to play with them!!  Why do kids get to have all the fun??  🙂

Ok..but, seriously…I have no idea where the time goes. Contrary to what you 4 think..I don’t ski everyday…(well, sometimes..but, we don’t need to go into that!)…but, I am up at 6-6:30…usually finishing laundry of some kind…have my coffee, sometimes work out, sometimes ski, then it’ all about the girls!  Well, not really as they are totally independent with their online school…but, then I’m cleaning, laundry, cooking, laundry….you see the theme here!  How 3 people wear so many clothes..I will never understand!

Ok…enough boring stuff!!  So!!  I originally had a title for the post when my cousin, Dawn, her husband Jim and son Hiatt were here…Ready for this one…because it would have been fabulous if I hadn’t fiddle farted time away….

FAMILY, FUN AND 50 INCHES!!!

Yes, it’s true…50 inches of snow fell in the 4 days they were here!  I was soo excited..and we had some fun!  First, it was so fun to have them and show them my favorite town!!  We had a blast.  And I am so grateful as I know how hard it is for them to take time off!!

It started off a bit dicey as their flight was delayed like 3 hours…but no worries!  We grabbed dinner and then home…And, no trip is complete without an Antler Arch Pic!!!

And, then this is what happens when you ask a partially inebriated person to take a picture of all of you….

Hiatt’s face says it all..and I have no idea where Allison is…

And, then, with all the snow…the rest of the pictures looked like Alexia had some kind of laser shooting from her body!!

So, there’s that!  Then, bring on the skiing!!!  It was so fun.  And, thank goodness for a lot of powder…because we had some wipeouts!  All fun ones, and no injuries, which is key!  The snow was so chopped up  and so we stayed in some trees (very fun albeit sketchy when 4 of you are flying through!)..I’ll let some pictures speak for themselves…

This is Dawn’s epic stop…don’t worry, the tree wasn’t injured!!

This is me after face planting…and that’s Alexia laughing her butt off!!!

There are a couple of Hiatt eating it..however they have mysteriously disappeared…hmmm…think I may need to have a chat with my nephew!!

We saw some great wildlife….Elk on the Elk refuge, a moose that I have now named Lucy…I see her all the time…and a Bald Eagle totally showing off!!  Check these out!

This is “Lucy”….And yes, I am that close…just outside my front door…

There is so much more…It was so nice to chill out with family and share this magical place with them!  But, for now, keep Jackson Hole Dreaming!!

Stay Tuned….another post coming sooner rather than later!!

Stay Wild!