Josie Maiz

Graduation

Johnny Boden Larsen has completed his final year of preschool. His graduation was fun and he did a great job. He is a smart kid and Sloan and I are very proud of him. As usual his teacher loved him and he seemed to be friends with every kid in his small class.

River Rats

This last Sunday we took the kids below Gunluck to play in the river. We spent a couple of hours splashing around. The boys were excited to get there because every year they catch hundreds of tadpoles. Last year they raised a couple that they ended up keeping alive for a full year. This time we all had a blast. Instead of just tadpoles their were frogs everywhere. The boys caught 25 of them and in the excitement of being a kid again with my kids I threw out an idea of taking them home and feeling up the pool for them and the kids to swim. They of course were 100 % down with this plan. Naturally on the way home Jett dropped the frog he was holding and it still is rotting in my truck somewhere. We stuck with the plan and the boys swam with there frogs for the rest of the afternoon. It was a funny sight and we all had a great time. After they finished swimming we took the frogs back to the river and let them go. In all the craziness I think 3 brave frogs were lost for the cause. 22 were returned safely.

Just the boys

Chubbs, Johnny Bo and myself went up on Pine Valley this last Friday after work. We rolled into our campsite on the hill across from Grass Valley around 7 o'clock. We drove from 93 degrees in the low lands to a perfect 63 on the mountain. The kids and the dogs were as happy to be there as me and we all ran around for a half hour before we set up camp and cooked some dinner. We had a fun night staying up late around the fire and looking at stars. In the morning after a dutch oven breakfast I hiked around the hills with the boys catching grasshoppers and collecting sticks and rocks. Boden would help Jett corner a grasshopper and tell him things like "watch out buddy, he's a spit er." While we were hiking a couple of F-16s came screaming over the mountain insanely low and right above our heads. Bodie and Chubbs thought that was pretty freaking cool. It was a really good time and all three of us agreed we should live up on top for the summer. Before we drove home we picked up all the garbage the local white trash had left behind. Both kids were happy to help even though at home it takes a heck of a lot to get them to clean their room. Even at such a young age they can see what is wrong with that picture.

Squirrel Canyon

Sittin in the fire light....feels good. Random bird's sing in the tree's surrounding camp. Fire crackles. Steady rolling of the small steam below. The light fading slowly behind the sandstone towers that surround us. The dog and I sit in silence and drink this all in. The hike in was quick. Racing the sun. 70 degrees with a slight breeze. Good trekking weather for early May in Southern Utah. My God this is calming. Re-charging to fight.....people, jobs, cities, civilization. Need to give myself a break. Need to give my wife a break. Hell,, even my kid's could use a break. Cant help them now, they will get theirs,,, some day, some how. I could make these trips quicker and less complicated by camping on the side of a dirt road with my truck instead of walking it out. The necessary feeling of isolation and freedom would not be as strong. Spent the first hour of complete darkness holding my pistol in paranoia from sounds above camp. Perhaps a polygamist who believes I am trespassing. Ha ha. Silly plig, this is OUR land. Wouldn't blame them if they did claim it. God knows if Cannan Mountain were my backyard I would claim it. Hell, its not my backyard and I claim it anyways. Have to admit I am offended and a little angry of any person in here rather than close friends or family. Wind picks up. The mood changes. I look at the dog, he has noticed as well. New sounds to hear, feel and understand. Woke up at sunrise to a high pitched and steady hum outside my tent. At first thought it was a far of whine of a motorcycle. Climbed out of my tent and found the source to be a large gathering of mosquito's waiting for me to come out and play. Although a little bothersome I would rather swat those little beggars off my ass all damn day than have it be a real live motorcycle coming up my canyon. Wish their were some kind of spray for those fuggers.