of steers and spurs

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Few things make Colorado girls feel like they've come back home like a night of college rodeo. It's about as iconically American West as it gets and it never gets old. When we found out we had arrived in time for the regional college rodeo we sure as heck weren't missing it. At $4 a head it was half the price of your average movie ticket.

Every place has a story. This one is reading really well.

There's a story behind those chaps. I'm tellin' you. There's gotta be. You don't sew that into leather for nothing.

Aidan said if he was ever to do a rodeo event it would be steer wrestling.

His sisters pointed out that you don't get to pad up like football for steer wrestling…

So much fun. But I'm pretty sure we are all gonna be saying, "Son of a gun!" for the rest of the week now at least. Have I mentioned the emcee?

awesome

Exploring – Snowbasin

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

It was so warm in town we figured we would venture up to a trail near Snowbasin ski resort. When we got there the trail was still pretty soggy and as you can see there was still plenty of snow. We decided to backtrack down the mountain a little way and hiked through the canyon but not without looking around the area a little.

Exploring – Great Salt Lake

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

From the looks of it our east coast friends got buried again. Not sure how it happened but in this neck of the woods it was sunny and 70s. We took full advantage of that and headed to the beach. In March.

Wild

It is super fun right until you get salt in your eyes. Lunch restores good humor in record time though.

The lake and the mountains have become my landscape, my real world.

– Georges Simenon

Keep close

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

"Keep close to Nature's heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean."

– John Muir

When we learned we were moving back to the mountain west I was determined to spend as much time up IN them as possible. We have always been hikers but our ranch in Colorado was 45min from the nearest trailhead. There were also farm animals to tend to twice daily. Things stacked up. It didn't happen nearly as often as we would have liked. That was one priority we had this time around – to keep close, to break away early and often, to climb mountains.

We started with Mt. Ogden since the western face trailhead is just a few minutes from our front door. It had been days since the last snow but the weather had already warmed to the high 60's. Short sleeves and sunglasses.

The peak is 9000ft so there was still a fair amount of snow as we neared the top. I made the mistake of taking the big girl camera along. It survived the climb but it definitely impeded my progress as the trail got icy. Next time – iPhone.

The views were incredible as expected.

I can't tell you how friendly everyone we passed on the trail was. Everybody said hello, talked to the dogs, asked about the conditions ahead or offered input on same if they were coming the other way. So by the time we were stopped for lunch and I was snapping this picture it didn't surprise us a bit when a couple passed and insisted I get in the frame too. I paused for a half second and said heck yeah because remember why? Because it's important that mom gets in the picture.

a few moments in Rome

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

(another in a series of random, non-chronological tale telling)

The ragged flag flying alone before those old shutters caught my eye while we sat and ate our lunch purchased from a small shop in Rome. Our feet were killing us. Ok me, mostly. I noticed it wasn't just me though. A lady was walking holding her sandals, wincing as she went. If I hadn't been so freaked about the germs and sharp objects that amass after millions of feet walk over pavement I might have been tempted.

Shortly before our break we had been walking down this street lined with vendors hawking their goods. In a split second a crowd came running at us like a scene from a zombie apocolypse movie. They darted around the corner before they reached us. There had been a scare that inspectors were coming around to check for licenses. It's nothing short of amazing how quickly those tablecloths can be gathered up…. and laid back out again as though nothing occurred.

And really nothing did. Nothing out of the ordinary. In moments all was calm. People went on shopping. We went on eating. And a wedding carried on at the end of the street.

Life in old Rome.

Market at Christmas

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Some shots from Norwich at Christmas

November walk

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

“November is usually such a disagreeable month…as if the year had suddenly found out that she was growing old and could do nothing but weep and fret over it. This year is growing old gracefully…just like a stately old lady who knows she can be charming even with gray hair and wrinkles. We've had lovely days and delicious twilights.”

– LM Montgomery

Lucy Maude captures my love for these days better than I. So grateful for chance to wander the lanes with my boy on a still afternoon.

Nov 2014 aidan web (11 of 14)

nasoni di Roma

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

So what's a boy to do when it's 80something in Rome and the water's run out? Well one's mind immediately turns to these….

and these….

What are they? They are nasoni, a slang word for the public fountains all over Rome, which turned out to be more than decorative.

Yes I see that green stuff. But for realz, we saw a lot of people doing this….

Even the dogs were in on it. The dog on the right was playing with his owner at the dog park which is off left and down two stories. The guy sent him up for a drink and he knew just where to go.

So yeah, I caved which is really huge for me. I can handle a lot of mess in my own home but get REALLY weirded out by other people's germs as a rule. It turns out though that the water is safe, potable and just a courtesy of the city for the past 2000 yrs. You can even pick up a map plotting out all the nasoni in the city center. Which is way better than paying four euro for a bottle of water. Kid you not.

When in Rome….

walking through Rome and other miscellany

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

This is the self-guided tour since it's super late here. After nearly two months of away from the house activities we are bringing our focus back to home. We have one child who recently arrived on the continent and another who recently left for a short time. Homecoming weekend took all our energy for the past week and now we are winding up the fall sports season. Home stretch!

Home. It's definition is ever expanding and contracting. : )

While my energy is there right now I am stealing a few moments to walk through Rome before hitting the hay. Hoping to just keep bringing bits of my random comings and goings to this space as I can for whomever may be out there wandering along.

Apartment in Rome

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

I love seeing how other people live around the world so in that spirit I caught a few pictures of the flat we rented in Rome to share with you. The white walls were so nice. The white sofa….less nice. I think I am officially over my white slipcover obsession. Ok not really but they'd need daily washing in my world and I AM over that.

It was a wonderful sunny bright space. Definitely Euro-sized but fabulous for our needs.