Hail to the Tree!

A Christmas Riddle: What's 67-feet tall, travels across the country in a custom box escorted by a guard team and 12 vehicles (one just to carry the 5,000+ handmade ornaments) and is cause for one heck of a party on Town Square....all at the cost of $100,000+ dollars? Answer: The Capitol Christmas Tree.

Okay, I must admit that I can't remember ever cheering for a Christmas Tree - but stranger things have happened...especially since our move to Jackson Hole! (Actually, I do remember one year that our tree had fallen over two times and Barry finally rigged it up with fishing line to the built in book cases and the kids and I did cheer that it was "standing"). Anyways, the entire town of Jackson Hole was cheering on a Christmas tree under sunny and warm skies this past Saturday afternoon, as it was paraded into town. This was not just any tree, it is the Capitol Christmas Tree! Yes, for the first time in history, Wyoming was chosen as the state to provide the Capitol Christmas Tree. This is the tree that will be illuminated on the White House Lawn on December 7, 2010 for the holiday season (the Capitol Christmas Tree is one of the two most famous trees in the world, rivaled in fame only by the high-visibility tree at Rockefeller Plaza in NYC).  The Capitol Christmas Tree Celebration, dubbed "Hail to the Tree," was a fabulous reason for all residents to congregate in the Town Square for yet another celebration!

The Capitol Christmas Tree has a very heartwarming story for those from Jackson Hole. The woman who was responsible for choosing the tree from the Bridger-Teton National Forest (located in Jackson Hole) was actually the mother of one of Barry's colleagues at Rocky Mountain Bank. Sandra Seaton was a 62 year-old, life-long resident of Jackson Hole and 27-year employee of the U.S. Forest Service. "She was excited at the thought of a little town producing something as big as the Capitol Christmas Tree." She chose the 67-foot-tall spruce while on an outing with her children and grandchildren last year. The tree is meant to represent Wyoming, but to Seaton’s family and friends, it also is a memorial to a woman who loved her job, Jackson, Christmas and the trees. On Jan. 21, Seaton, had a heart attack at work. She thought it was from walking to work in the cold air. Doctors at the hospital flew her to Idaho Falls. She died during surgery. Her death stunned her family. In September, family members received another surprise. The Forest Service called to let them know Seaton’s chosen tree had been selected to serve as the Christmas tree at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.  “In the middle of this horrible, horrible, dark storm, there was some light,” Jeanna Seaton said. “I’m not sure there is something grand enough to honor my mother, but this tree comes close.”



The Capitol Christmas Tree standing in the
Bridger-Teton National Forest 11/6/2010

 

Jackson Hole Mounted Police Patrol

 The tree was harvested from the forest @ 5:00 a.m. in the morning on Saturday and prepared for its grand entrance to Jackson Town Square. The parade included mounted police, boy/girl scouts, Rodeo Queen Royalty, the Jackson Hole Community Band and school choirs. And in a nod to Wyoming heritage, members of the Northern Arapaho tribe performed a tree blessing ceremony. Hot chocolate and cookies were provided by the culinary class from the High School, although the warm temperatures drove many attendees into the local ice cream shop on the square!  

The Million Dollar Cowboy
Welcoming the Capitol Christmas Tree



  


Not everyone can get their picture with the
Capitol Christmas Tree before it gets to the capitol!

Following the ceremonies, the Jackson Hole Iditarod Team made their way into town (pulling an ATV instead of a sled due to the lack of snow) to usher the tree to the Rodeo grounds so that it could be boxed for its cross country trip to Washington DC.

Jackson Hole Iditarod Sled Dogs

Just a side note - this Iditarod team is used for Dog Sled tours during the winter months to the Hot Springs just south of town. So, if you visit us in the winter we could enjoy a fun afternoon of mushing and relaxing in the hot springs....another good reason to consider a winter visit! (Side note - Looking at this picture reminds me of the way our new dog Bella looked the first time we put a leash on her - I swear she could have pulled an ATV all by herself! Luckily she is responding very well to her dog training - thankfully, no Iditarod in her future).

Another good reason to visit the Nelsons this Winter in Jackson Hole - American Express Travel has named Jackson Hole as the "top romantic ski destination"; one of only six ski awards given out by the company. So think about it....
1. visiting the Nelsons (always a party)
2. Dog mushing
3. AND the most romantic ski destination....
all this in one place - book it danno!

SNOW REPORT:
We have received phone calls and emails from concerned friends/relatives about the weather. I am happy to report (although I am probably the only person in Jackson Hole NOT praying for a blizzard) that we have not gotten the predicted snowfall in the valley yet. Whatever news reports covered the story about the storm, they were not talking about JH. I know that the mountains are getting plenty of snow, but our day consisted of intermittent rain and mild temperatures. In fact, Bella and I enjoyed a beautiful long run this morning. We are forecast to get snow over the next few days, but don't worry about us...we have already retained a snow removal company to take care of our driveway and Barry placed our snow poles in the driveway tonight (something new to us - but I guess that it becomes difficult to find streets/driveways around here)!
So we are ready and waiting for the next big adventure! In the meantime another sign that is downtown that always makes me smile (and is a reminder that I live in the Wild West):

High Altitude Living

WARNING: This blog entry contains some scientific explanations....grab a Vente Latte and get ready to learn!

Each day we live here I learn something new - I guess that is a good thing! High altitude living has quite a few interesting differences from my days of living in the plain state of Kansas or the beachfront states of Florida and California. I would definitely say that all have there oddities and also their beauty - but Wyoming certainly seems to have a lot more scientific related explanations for those new to town.

COOKING/BAKING
I mentioned in a previous blog about the intricacies of baking - you need to be a chemist/physicist (reason I did not go into a medical profession) to bake here and do all of the necessary recipe adjustments. According to wikkipedia, "living high above sea level can mean your cakes rise too rapidly and then fall in like a moon crater, or end up tough and dry like a kitchen sponge. The lower air pressure at high altitudes causes increased evaporation of liquids during baking. Cakes set improperly and eventually collapse. " So, needless to say baking takes a bit longer - the first step is to adjust the recipe, second step is to bake, third step is to pray it will turn out so it can be enjoyed. Luckily, my baking "experiments" have all been successes to date.


Chocolate Chip Brownie Torte - a family fave!

They make it sound quite simple: decrease baking soda/powder; increase flour; use only xl eggs, or add an egg; add liquid; decrease oven temp, or increase oven temp - you have to experiment; NEVER use self-rising flour - it will explode! As far as cooking, water takes longer to boil (except I have a wonderful Italian industrial type stove that makes up for the altitude and boils at amazing speed - once I get it lit), pasta and rice take much longer to cook, and microwave popcorn takes about twice as long (or we just have a crummy microwave)! The changes definitely take away the once high level of comfort that I had in the kitchen. Luckily grilling and smoking (you know that I mean Barry's electric meat smoker) are unaffected - at least for now. I assume that once we get our first 6 feet of snow that navigating to the grill/smoker could be the challenge!

WEATHER - TEMPERATURE INVERSION
Now that the days are getting shorter and the weather is cooling off (sadly our Indian Summer is finally over) we have had many gloomy days. When I ask the locals, they seem unaffected by it and quickly indulge me with the explanation - "temperature inversion." So, I went to a meteorological website and here is the simple scientific definition. "The situation of having warm air on top of cooler air is referred to as a temperature inversion, because the temperature profile of the atmosphere is 'inverted' from its usual state." And since I am a teacher and understand that some of you are visual learners, I have included a diagram:

"How do surface temperature inversions form? The most common manner in which surface inversions form is through the cooling of the air near the ground at night. Once the sun goes down, the ground loses heat very quickly, and this cools the air that is in contact with the ground. However, since air is a very poor conductor of heat, the air just above the surface remains warm. Conditions that favor the development of a strong surface inversion are calm winds, clear skies, and long nights. Calm winds prevent warmer air above the surface from mixing down to the ground, and clear skies increase the rate of cooling at the Earth's surface. Long nights allow for the cooling of the ground to continue over a longer period of time, resulting in a greater temperature decrease at the surface. Since the nights in the wintertime are much longer than nights during the summertime, surface inversions are stronger and more common during the winter months. A strong inversion implies a substantial temperature difference exists between the cool surface air and the warmer air aloft. During the daylight hours, surface inversions normally weaken and disappear as the sun warms the Earth's surface. However, under certain meteorological conditions, such as strong high pressure over the area, these inversions can persist as long as several days. In addition, local topographical features can enhance the formation of inversions, especially in valley locations. "

Hey - wake up! That was the simplified version of temperature inversion. See what I spend my time doing when the weather is gloomy! Anyway, the locals' answer to getting over temperature inversion is to drive to the Teton Pass (the mountain pass going over the range to Idaho). It is very popular with skiers who choose to hike up the mountain and ski down (NEVER; even in my wildest dreams). It is supposedly "always clear" up there. So I have included a picture from a webcam showing this phenomena:

Photo from JH Webcam this morning. Clear and sunny in the mountains and
we are sitting below the cloud level completely socked in.

Below are a few more pictures from out our back door and on my way into town so you can get a true look at temperature inversion here!

A delightful morning of temperature inversion - ugh!









Town Square



Temperature inversion at Melody Ranch



The burn off happens literally withiin minutes. Once the air warms,
the clouds lift and dissipate and it becomes gorgeous...the bad
news is this sometimes takes until 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon.

SKI FITNESS - Halfway through the session and still standing!
CLASS GOAL: mid season shape, before the ski season starts.
MICHELE'S GOAL: not to blow out my knees before the season starts - this class is killing me!
Please email me if you would like some great exercises that will whip you into ski shape for when you visit - or at least they will help you be able to squat in the woods without worrying about falling over (we do have indoor facilities, just thinking of when we take you skiing in the backcountry)!

We actually just found out a bit more about the instructor who kicks our butts on Thursday nights - a few photos of what kind of skiing she has in mind:

Our Ski Fitness Trainer: Crystal Wright - Freeskiing World Tour Champion 2009

  Crystal Wright -  1st place U.S. Freeskiing Nationals
Snowbird, UT March 2009

WOW is all I can say about her many, many accomplishments. Crystal is not only a world champion skier, she is also a nationally ranked rodeo competitor; and is going to start competing in mountain biking. And of course, she is a certified fitness instructor.  If you would like to check out a really interesting blog, check out hers at http://www.crystalbwright.com/ and click on her blog link. Read about her ski outing on Oct. 30 - she is one of the die hards who hike the mountain to ski down (carrying all of her gear). Amazingly, this type of skiing is more prevalent here than you would expect. Barry & I are definitely waiting for the "resort ski" experience - ski lifts, mountain dining options, and apres ski!

That is all for now - I promise that the next entry will be lighter and brighter and help ring in the upcoming holiday season.

Cure for a Halloween Candy Hangover!

We enjoyed our first Halloween in Jackson Hole and the only negative that I can come up with is that I have a terrible candy hangover today. I swear, I didn't even have a glass of wine last night....ok, a few beers, but just way too much candy! The solution....a well-balanced breakfast:

The cure for a candy hangover!

I know that they always suggest that you buy candy that you don't like, but I have never been able to follow that rule. It was especially impossible this year since I didn't have any kids who went out trick-or-treating that had bags of candy I could raid while they were at school (okay Derek & Ashley - the secret is out)! Needless to say, a few of my favorite things made it into our treat bowl - and surprisingly the few boxes of candy that we had leftover were all Milk Duds! HHHMMMMM how did that work out? I was merely looking out for the welfare of our neighborhood children - Milk Duds can (and do - just ask Ashley) pull out your teeth. No worries, they are almost gone now - I jut don't know how I will cure tomorrow's candy hangover. There are always the 50% off candy sales the day after Halloween - KMart here I come!

The snow in the valley all melted late in the week, and the rains came down all weekend. But, just as it was time for the Town trick-or-treating, the skies cleared. I have never seen anything so cute as all of the little ghosts, goblins, witches, firemen etc. roaming in and out of all of the stores downtown for treats. There were plenty of grown ups dressed for the occasion as well. The best costume by far was an actual Headless Horseman that was riding through the Town Square - it really created an eerie feeling like we were in the Twilight Zone!

A true headless horseman!

 


















We strolled around Town for awhile. Then we joined some new friends at a window table in the Historic Wort Hotel Saloon to watch the Town Square festivities unfold over a cold beer. This is what Halloween is all about! I will admit that it was always so cute/fun to be taking the kids around in their costumes when they were young - bu it seemed that the fun always had a way of going awry before the night was over. Then it was the age when they wanted their independence and we sat home and worried all night whether they would make it home safely. Now it is kind of nice to sit back and relax and enjoy the Holiday! A few more years of this and then I know that I will be energized to take some grandkids out for some Trick-or-Treating and teach them about the good stuff - milk duds & sugar babies!

Today I find myself a bit melancholy as I experience one of the true signs of being an empty nester. It is Ashley's birthday, my "baby" turned the big nineteen - and I am hundreds of miles away from being able to celebrate with her on this special day. Thank goodness for all of the technology we have today - I have been emailing, texting, calling and facebooking her all day (I am sure that she is thrilled)! In the meantime Bella and I had a little celebration for Ashley here at home!

Happy 19th Birthday ASHLEY!

Hope that everyone enjoyed a very safe and Happy Halloween and that you got more treats than tricks!