Four Country Gals

The gals (and Shawn) enjoy a quiet Christmas, celebrating by opening packages on Christmas eve. This year, it’s a little subdued as Mom is still recovering from the bout of diverticulitis and then depression.

Coco, the puppy is the “star of the show”, investigating every gift, and of course, all the wrapping paper.

Shawn has to catch the Las Vegas shuttle out of St George bright and early Christmas morning, so it’s up at “Oh God:thirty”, well before the sun comes up.

Leaving Mom home with most of the dogs, Bev, Cindy, Shawn, and Coco “the pup” pile into the Avalanche for the hour plus drive to St. George. All the way there, they’re a little concerned about whether or not the shuttle will actually be running on Christmas Day.

No problem, they arrive at about sun up (shortly after 7 AM) and hook up with the shuttle.

Their only regret is that there is no snow for Christmas.

Oh… but the very next morning, they awake to the first tease… a brief snow shower.

The ground has been frozen for some time now, so what little falls sticks immediately. Is it really winter here now?

With Shawn here for Christmas, and the weather holding nicely, it’s time to explore a little further than 10 miles in any direction.

Cindy and Shawn take the day to “go west” and see what they find. Now, I don’t know if they were looking for anything in particular, but heading west takes them to some interesting country.

Leaving the house and hooking up with Hwy 56 (just over 6 miles south), they head west, towards Nevada. About 20 miles west, they come upon the last town in Utah (0n Hwy 56), called Modena.

It’s pretty much a ghost town, except for the railroad crossing. There are still plenty of folks who live in the area… but Modena has next to nothing in the way of a business center.

Within seconds, they’re in Nevada, headed for Panaca, the oldest surving town in Eastern Nevada. When it comes time for us to have something to sell at a “Farmer’s Market”, this is the closest community.

Cindy says going from the desert of Utah into the “green” of forest in Nevada is as if you’ve gone through a wall.

Pioche is just a few miles north, so it’s off to explore the “Baddest Living Ghost Town” in the West. Would you believe they recorded 72 murders before the first person ever died of anything related to “natural causes”?

Shawn’s really interested in the wildlife and other than a few unidentifiable ducks, they see a couple of Golden Eagles. These magnificent birds are larger than the Bald Eagle and relatively abundant here in the winter time.

Once at Pioche, they discover it’s an old silver mining town. In fact it still has the ore buckets dangling from the overhead cable transport system.

These days, Pioche is part tourist town, part ghost town, and part home to folks who really enjoy dancing to their own drum beat.

I mentioned that Cindy and Bev had found the perfect Christmas gift… a little Chocolate Lab puppy!

Mom named her “Coco”… aka “Little Brown Bug”.

What a cutie-pie. She has great big brown eyes and a big brown nose. Her head looks way too big for her little wrinkly body.

Missie, the “old gal” has taken up the grandmotherly duty of teaching Coco the “rules of the house”. This is what you do, and when you do it. No, you don’t do that!

You’ll hear a lot more about Coco as she grows up… and about the rest of our pack, too. They truly are part of the family.

Life is very good indeed… all the way through Thanksgiving and until the morning of December 11.

Mom wakes up not feeling her usual perky self. She’s got an upset stomach that’s getting worse as the morning goes on.

Teasingly, Bev says, “If you’re not better in an hour, I’m calling the squad (cop talk for emergency services)!”

And Mom replies… “Don’t think you’d better wait for the full hour”

With that, both Bev and Cindy spring into action. They call 911 and begin moving furniture so the EMT’s can get the gurney to Mom’s room. Let’s see, if they bring the gurney in the front door, they can go out the sliding door, and make the turn on the patio, then come in the back door with a straight shot into Mom’s room.

Within about 15 minutes, the squad arrives, and loads Mom up for the 45 minute trip to Cedar City. Bev and Cindy follow in the Avalanche. No one knows for sure what Mom’s problem is… but they all agree, she’s feeling pretty badly to agree to a ride in the ambulance.

One thing about Utah, and health care. These folks know how to take care of you… Bedside manners are tops. Even in the emergency room, the empathy oozes. Health care is a most important aspect of the “good life” in Utah.

Now, this a Sunday, so you wouldn’t expect much news about any conditions. But again, because it’s Utah, and health care is awesome, Mom is diagnosed with diverticulitis. She’s spending several days in the hospital until the Dr’s can get the infection under control.

Here it is… Christmas season, and Mom’s in the hospital. No time to slow down…

Besides making nearly daily trips to Cedar City, Bev and Cindy are readying the house for Christmas. That means shopping for presents and also meeting Shawn when he arrives.

Mom’s always hard to shop for, but this year, it’s a bit of a “no-brainer”. Earlier this year, on the way to Utah, the girls had lost “Bree”, having to euthanize her at the start of the move.

They’d be replacing her with a spunky little “brown bug”. Looking around, they found a family in Cedar City who had a Chocolate Lab puppy up for a “rescue adoption”. Perfect! She’ll do just fine with the Black Lab, the other “old gal” Chocolate Lab, and Koda, the shepherd-husky cross.

So, on Dec 17, nearly a week after Mom has gone to the hospital, Bev and Cindy visit the folks with the Chocolate Lab. Yes… they’ll take that one. How soon can they pick her up?

It’s now just a week before Christmas and time to go get Shawn. He’s making things easier by flying into ‘Vegas and then taking the shuttle into St. George. That means Bev and Cindy will go get him, then pick up the puppy, and then visit Mom.

“How well do we have to hide a puppy to get into Mom’s room”, Cindy asks.

“Puppy? How small… oh really… Yes, by all means. The puppy is welcome in her room.”

With only two days to spare, Mom is finally released from the hospital only to spend the next 10 days pretty much in bed, suffering from a bout of depression.

It’s getting into November now, and the gals, remembering Ohio are looking for really cold and snowy weather.

They’ve got the fireplace ready. It’s even decorated for Christmas with a “frontier desert” motif. Along with the fireplace, they’ve laid in several cords of wood, as the fireplace will provide most of the “morning heat” and evening “stoke it really good” heat. Even though electric heat isn’t expensive here, they’re not real sure about the quality of their furnace/heat pump.

They can see snow in the really high mountains. That’s actually “Brian Head”, Utah’s most southerly ski resort. It’s situated south of Bryce Canyon and north of Zion National Park.

They even watch some really menacing stuff pass them by on the east. Around here, the main “weather” happens east of the nearest mountain range in what they call the “I-15 Corridor”. That’s where Cedar City is located… and they get an abundance of snow.

In the meantime, cold means it’s below freezing at night… sometimes way below as in barely above zero, and then bright and sunny during the daytime. Oh, and what makes it winter is the north wind.

When the wind comes from the north, especially the northeast, or even east, the wind chill is ferocious. Even the birds look for shelter where they can stay out of the wind.

Think they’re happy?

You bet! With Mom here, and the dogs, “Mindy, Missy, and Koda”, the family is nearly complete. They’ve even managed to get Shawn, Cindy’s son to come out for Christmas. Life is very good, indeed.