Life Goes On, Doesn't It...

Hooray, it does!

We've had a lot of rain (and some more snow), which is like liquid gold around here -- we get so little. All the same, it's strange to wake up to grey skies. Coffee and warm slippers are a daily gift; wish I could say the same about the dogs, who enjoy rolling in the mud and digging huge holes in the backyard. We were planning to keep the grass; they beg to differ.

The Prescott, AZ gig was a fun one, thanks to the dears at the Thumb Butte Quilters Guild. They were enthusiastic, and absorbed in what they were sewing during the Crazy classes. Even better though, I got to see their involvement in the community -- they definitely believe in helping, but educating as they go. Refreshing.
    And I got to see a whole series of quilts in response to a challenge -- good, strong, elegantly-designed pieces that were strikingly different from each other. Attagirls!

We got an additional surprise while in Prescott. One morning at the Marriott's breakfast, Husband said, "Doesn't that guy remind you of someone?" He was staring (or trying not to) at a person who looked like Ian, the first-season winner of one of our favorite cable shows, Top Shot. (A group of shooters compete in a series of complicated challenges to see who is the best -- i.e., the Top Shot. Lots of unusual weapons and weird situations -- like shooting while strapped upside-down on a revolving wheel, or zipping by the target standing in the back of a truck. The contestants really got into that one...)
    I would have snorted at this -- after all, how often do you see a celebrity? -- but Husband noticed the other guys at 'Ian's' table had gun-related motifs. That, and while slicing his English muffin, he'd quickly whipped out a very big knife to do it. ("Only a Special Forces guy would have a knife like that," Husband said.) 
    Next morning, we were at breakfast again, debating whether we really had seen Ian. A girl nearby spoke up -- turns out she was the assistant of Caleb Giddings, another shooter on Top Shot's first season! (Caleb was an insurance agent; now he shoots and does gun-related journalism.) The upshot of it: Caleb stopped to talk with us for a while,  pulled off his cap and autographed it for Husband. What a thoughtful, kind gesture from a very busy guy --
    The cream on the coffee was a stroll-by of Ian Harrison (yes, it was Ian), who stopped to chat with Husband for a minute. Turns out that the people there were participating in a shooting 'media event,' and Caleb's assistant, Shelley Rae, was applying for the fourth season of Top Shot. (Read one of her articles here. A kind and personable shooter -- I hope she makes it!)
    Husband wore his cap for the rest of the trip, and stopped by a gun shop, to boot. What a great finish to a long-hours-on-the-road-but-rewarding trip.