*Ladies and Gentlemen, the devil is real*

Now I know that this is not the site where one typically expects to see images of the supernatural, or musings on deity and the like, but today has just been one of those days, so as it is my place to write, enjoy this if you might.

I have been married more than 9 years, and during that time, I have been brought to realize the true nature of evil. Evil wants you as miserable as he is, he constantly confronts and challenges you in ways that you previously thought unendurable. He is nasty, hateful, and when I sense his presence, I feel anger, fatigue, and helplessness. I of course refer to, the adversary, the devil, my cat Kenshin.

That bugger has been with me since roughly a month after saying "I do" and his goal in life is to make me sorry I have ever met him. Well, it has worked. This afternoon as I sat home while the cable company worked on restoring my connection, I had offered the gentleman at my home a drink, and so just as I stepped into my front room to deliver it, the devil laid me low. I had barely handed my guest the glass when I heard a tremendous whooshing noise, and upon turning round to the kitchen, I saw Kenshin, the devil incarnate, had knocked off a gallon of egg nog from where it sat closed on the counter and had created an egg nog orgy for himself and the three other youngsters who are prone to follow his bad example.

One of these days, that damn cat will be gone. Please make it sooner rather than later!!

All four kitties, gorging themselves on my sorrow

Poor Gigi has been blind since birth and has never had to take a bath in the sink before, though she has never been drenched in egg nog before either. Thank goodness my sink was essentially empty to begin with.
Sad note, she has no clue that faucet is right in front of her nose. I kid you not. Luckily for us all, my cable guy suggested I photograph the evidence of this misbehavior to share with the world before I got about the business of once again, doing my floors.

The Road Not Taken
- by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.


I started off on my adventure, ignorant to the fact that at the end of November in the Utah mountains, one would expect to see snow...

To someone else, this means something.... stay on course? Anyhow, it wasn't bad to start and the terrain looked manageable though slow going.

The trail quickly went from snow ankle deep to something more disheartening...knee deep!

Here is the exact point I turned back. I looked above me on the mountain side and saw a merry group of cross country skiers making their way across the terrain. There is no shame in turning about when one has short hiking boots and ankle socks where snowshoes and skis are the proper apparel.

My very own "Road less traveled." Rather than follow the relatively mild path I ventured out on, I decided to take the higher trail which offered more scenic views. Please note, this ended up being the path that I was knee deep for the last 30 minutes or so of my adventure though the prospect of this is precisely what precipitated my turning back in the first place.

After I realized that my snow filled shoes and surprisingly warm calves (despite being repeatedly dunked in snow) might be a reason for concern, I began a sad attempt to run a portion of the "trail" to get to warmth faster.

The most beautiful cabin in the world! A welcome sight after 2.5 hours on the ice covered mountain side
Welcome home!