Flaming Gorge

How do you sum up Flaming Gorge? So beautiful and rugged. We went camping and boating with a few other families. We toured the lake, went fishing and snorkeling. We sang songs around the campfire while Jerry played guitar. A good time was had by all. We cannot wait to go back next year.

Rest in Peace little doggies!!!

Fifteen years ago we got our first puppy, a pomeranian we named Django. We read a book about poms which described them as, "robust and lively dogs". Django lived up to that reputation. He ran away at least once a week until I finally figured out he was climbing the fence. We thought he might like a friend and when he was two we adopted Chili a rescued dog. She walked in the house walked straight up to Django grabbed his scruff in her mouth and yanked straight down causing Django to flip over on his back. Chili was top dog from that day forward. That was the one and only time she pulled that stunt. Django was so passive he wouldn't even eat until Chili gave her consent. The two dogs never really played together or slept together. The only way you could tell they cared about each other is if Chili yelped Django would come to her rescue.

Last week Chili died of congestive heart failure and Django, a diabetic, refused all food for seven days and slipped into a diabetic coma today. These two dogs who lived together for thirteen years died a week apart, just like an old married couple. We'll see how the cat fares after the death of his best friend, Django.

There are a million funny stories about Chili, but the top photo sums up how bossy Chili could be. Notice how she has the cat shaking in his boots...not. She was also the kind of dog who would stay by your side if you were sick. During one illness I had Chili refused to leave my bedside to eat or go potty. When Jerry picked her up to carry her outside she bit him so hard he dropped her. Every day when Jerry kissed me goodbye she growled and yipped until he backed off. She followed me wherever I went in the house. Even with a broken leg she refused to remain immobile.

They both brought us a great deal of joy and heartache. Chili was hit by a car, injuring her back right leg. A kennel visit resulted in severe nerve damage to her front right leg. A stroke a couple of months ago weakened her two left legs. Poor dog had damage to all four legs in the end. I told Jerry that I never had a down day in the last fifteen years. No matter what went on out there, I would come home to pure love and adoration.

Yellowstone

I could post a dozen pictures of our trip to Yellowstone, but nothing can match seeing a grizzly in the wild. This was Jerry's first trip to Yellowstone. I went a few times when I was a kid and it looks nothing like I remember. The 1988 fire was HUGE!!! 

We saw every animal imaginable and had some great picnics in the snow. Our mantra became, "Where's the bears?" We did not see a single one...until...we were heading home and just before we hit the main road after checking out at Grant's Village we saw a couple standing on the side of the road. We asked, "What do you see?" Grizzly was the answer.

Holy Cow! We stood and watched the bear graze all over the hillside for a half hour before it disappeared over a ridge. We pulled onto the main road and I wondered aloud if the bear might be nearby because of the position of the ridge. We pulled the car over and ducked into the bushes. There 25 yards in front of me was the bear. 

Oh my gosh!!!

Has it really been three months since I posted? Wow I am such a slacker. Well it turns out that I would need another two to four years of education to practice as a counselor or therapist in the state of Utah. It is a pretty special feeling to have a masters degree with absolutely no occupational value whatsoever. 

Anyway... In the last three months I have:

been to Nashville

paid for doggie dental surgery "OUCH" 

been to Yellowstone

been looking for a real job

Genealogy just doesn't pay. My clients send me money and then I do the work so I feel that I am perpetually in debt to my clients. I have to figure out another system.

Hatch Farm Studios

The place where Jerry records every time he goes to England is called Hatch Farm Studios. There is a large farm with horse stables, cottages, and a variety of other enterprises on the premises including a state of the art recording studio. All set in the tiny village of Addlestone in the Surrey countryside. I spent many happy hours curled up on the couch in the corner of the studio listening to great music being created. Everybody is so professional it is amazing to watch and listen. In fact the sax player was a bit bored and so offered to play bass. Normally the keyboard player "kicks bass" or plays a bass line with his left hand. John Goforth did a tremendous job as bass player. He sounded like that was his instrument.

There were some magical moments in the studio and some tedium too.
All in all a memorable couple of days.


Ponies in the meadow at Hatch Farm Studios

England is so lush. A forked vine covered tree.

Which came first? The tree or the roof?

Donny Marrow and Jerry Cortez consulting

I loved this! An American Western from the Fifties... How fitting???

This was my vantage point in the cramped control room. Jerry Cortez, John Goforth's hand and Dana Sedgwick singing a reference vocal. If she were actually recording vocals she would have been sequestered in an Iso booth.

Brian Withycombe and Jerry Cortez

Musicians plus recording engineer: Donny Marrow, Brian Withycombe, John Goforth, John Burns, Jerry Cortez and Dana Sedgwick in front.

The whole group. From left to right: Jerry Cortez, Brian Withycombe, Dana Sedgwick, John Goforth, Kathy Cortez, Donny Marrow

One of the resident peacocks.
The white feathers signify that this one is a baby

Daventry

Jerry and I spent a week in England. There is something magical about England for us. First of all Jerry's main musical influences in the sixties came from the British Invasion. For Jerry England is mecca. For me it is the homeland of most of my ancestors. I relish being able to walk in the footsteps of my ancestors. This trip I visited the tiny village of Daventry in Northamptonshire. I found the street where my ancestors lived, but the houses had been rebuilt in the 1890's. I tramped through the church graveyard. The ancient Norman church made of ironstone which has the color of rusted metal is like nothing I have seen before.