Our Blue M&M

Wherever I have traveled over the past couple of years I have always taken pictures of American flags flying, whenever I came across them.

These are examples of flags I have seen over the past few months since LC and I (and our Jamie) arrived back in Cody Wyoming.

Not far from the airport on the outskirts of Cody (and only a couple of miles from the small house that we are renting) is a place called Memorial Park.

It is a honorable, quiet and respectful place that contains memorials to those who fought and died in all wars since WW2.

It is adjacent to a section of Beck Lake, is located across the four lane highway from Beck Lake Park, and I have walked there and sat on the benches looking out over the lake and the mountains a number of times since we made our way back to Wyoming.....................

One sunny and very warm morning over a month ago we drove out to the tiny community of Frannie.

Homes are much much cheaper there than they are in Cody and in many towns that surround Cody, and curious to know why we drove out there to see the place for ourselves.

There's not much there. 

A bar, a couple of odds-and-ends stores............a tack shop............I think that's about it. 

A combination of run down homes and nicely cared for homes and similar to so many other tiny, desolate, isolated, slightly run down communities that are so prevalent in Wyoming.

The town of Lovell is about 20 minutes south, Billings is an hour or so north, Powell is 20 minutes west, with Cody another 20 minutes from Powell.

It seemed to both LC and I that the population of just a few hundred people were either retired or they commuted to other towns for work - mostly retired people though I think.

It was not a bad community. 

Small, close to BLM land, close to the mountains.  LC's and my first impressions of it were good, but a couple of Cody people we talked to about Frannie did not give positive reviews of the area.

Digging a little more, the impression I got from Codyites was that "Frannie is alright if that is all you can afford".

Again I am reminded that I continue to want to keep my distance from people.

Before arriving in Frannie we stopped in the even smaller community of Deaver.

There were only a few homes, a school, a city hall, a park and a church that made up this community, and we stopped briefly at the war memorials outside the small city hall building.

That is where I took the pictures of the flag at the top of the page and immediately below.................

Across from city hall is the volunteer Fire Department.

This wonderfully painted and patriotic fire hydrant was located there...................

I took these flag pictures on the grounds outside the Cody Library only a week or so after we arrived back in town.

I had not taken any pictures in almost two months and drove to the library one morning while we were still waiting for our Internet service to be hooked up at the house.

Without seeing anything around me, lost in a world inside my own head, I drove from the house to the library.

As I turned onto Stampede Avenue where the library is located I looked to my right and saw the flags.

I had no idea why they were there at the time, but later learned that they were set up in honor of Flag Day.

There were more than 80 of them flying wildly and flapping noisily in the strong wind, and when I saw them I pulled the truck over to the side of the road, climbed out of my vehicle and walked towards the flags.

And I spent 20 minutes walking in, around and among the long rows of flags, greatly enjoying the sight and sound of them.

I had been lost in my own world, and for a brief period I was instead lost in a world surrounded by red, white and blue.

For the first time in what seemed like a long time I dug into the side pocket of my pack and searched for my camera.

They were beautiful.  I had never seen so many flying at one time and in one place.  I liked them very much......................

Only a couple of examples of the many flags were saw while watching the July 4th Parade in downtown Cody................

Not exactly a flag, but definitely flag-inspired.

Seen at the Cody Balloon Festival this summer..............

About six weeks ago LC and I went to a political meeting.

It was held on the grounds of some fancy rich person's ranch and I joked with LC that I was only there for the free food.

Which was partially true because they were serving bar-b-que, but I did get a chance to listen to our state senator and our state representatives and it was a worthwhile afternoon..

Predictably there were many American flags at this event...............

I am going to become an American citizen on October 18.

I am hoping that that will not be too late to vote in the upcoming national election...............

A friend of LC's is coming into town tonight for a week long hunting trip.

I have never met him and he will be staying in a camper on the property, and I hope that he and my Mountain Boy have a great week hunting and shooting and doing "guy stuff" in the mountains.

The weather has been cooling slightly with daytime temperates in the upper 60's and nigh time temperatures in the low 40's.

Tomorrow the bottom drops out.

Chances for snow, close to freezing temperatures in the daytime and well below freezing at night at least through this weekend.

They're gonna be doing "guy stuff" in the cold...................

A picture of the living room of this tiny house we are renting...................

Jamie sitting on our $5 couch and leaning on our free cushions.

I sit at that end of the couch most often because I can stash my lap top down on the bottom shelf of the end table when I am not using it, and keep it out of the way.

Whenever I get up from the couch my personality-plus dog inevitably settles into my seat.

It has become a game to her (and to me) over the years.  She takes my seat and then watches and waits for me to come back. 

When I do, I look at her and firmly tell her "move" and she scoots over.

We have quietly played out this same scenario endless times over the years...................

An unplanned bear theme developing (developed?).....................

A shower curtain I picked up at a yard sale not long after we got back...............

On the living room wall instead of outside the front door...................

A small rug picked up at yet another yard sale recently......................

The bear candle holders were bought here in Cody the last time we were here, and the small bear lamp was bought in Tennessee at a consignment shop on the way out to the military base where I used to run and bike and kayak................

He goes with absolutely nothing in the house but LC liked him, so we now own him.

When you pull down his left arm he dispenses candy from the hole on his left side.

Tacky and far too colorful.

The Blue M&M Basketball Player is kind of like The Three Stooges.

Women don't get it and only guys like that kind of junk.

LC will be 65 soon and yet he still likes The 3 Stooges and goofy baskeball candy dispensers. 

I like the boy in the man...................