Bruce Letters: Sitting on a Bunny

Happy Birthday to Dad, 85 today!

I bet you can’t figure out what this is:

You have till the end of this post to place your bets.

A couple of months ago the large open pit Kennecott copper mine West of Salt Lake City had a massive landslide:

Their sensors warned them it was coming, so no one was injured. But it was bigger then expected, so some equipment was buried. The amount of dirt that slide would fill two-thirds of the Panama Canal!

We had a wonderful Miles City Bucking Horse and Mom Birthday visit a couple of weekends ago. I don’t think the whole family has been together there since Dad’s retirement 10+ years ago:

There was partying in the street:

And at the cave:

And of course, lots of crazy horses trying to buck off even crazier cowboys:

This horse resorted to an attempted tongue lashing:

And this cowboy decided for a horizontal exit:

This cowboy was the crowd favorite. He stayed on his horse even after it did a forward role on top of him and got up and kept on bucking!

While wondering around Mom and Dad’s basement, we discovered Grandpa Winter’s World War I foot locker. I dusted it off and put 7 coats of varnish on it:

And now it is proudly on display in the center of our living room as a well protected coffee table:

In other projects, I finished the pool temperature monitor and cover control box. The house now automatically turns the pool filter pump on/off to maximized solar heat gain (water temp is already up to 87 degrees) and I can, with my cell phone, open and close the cover!

Last weekend’s project involved punching a hole in the wall above our deck solar shade:

And installing the worlds most efficient exhaust fan to pull in some of that nice cool evening air. 1500 cubic feet per minute at 30 watts!

In cat news, she has been proudly bringing in hunting trophies. Most recently, a baby bunny, which she lets loose in our house, then can’t find. Here, she is sitting on it, wondering where it went!

When this happens, I grab a container to catch and save the bunny:

Then take it outside, leaving the cat inside, and hide it in thicket on the other side of the fence.

Then she finds the bunny and we repeat the process. 3 times yesterday!

I had my shoulder examined by a Ortho sports doctor and he concluded I had something called a subluxation, which is like a dislocation, but not as severe. I’ll be seeing a physical therapist to see if I can get it back in shape.

I’ve been getting my legs in shape in anticipation of a hike with the boys just prior to the wedding. This is my practice hill, 0.4 miles, 600 feet gain from bottom to top. Got it down to about 11 minutes, shooting for 10: