Starting to come together

LBRs will undoubtedly get real tired of our incessant blathering about how this whole NVUM thing fits into the grand scheme of  "All Things This Year."

One way we know we're on a correct path is that whole thing of "keeping our appointments" that's been discussed in detail much earlier in this blog's lifespan.

So far, two such appointments have been confirmed and calendared and we're certain there will be more. (Counting chickens again, eh?)

Marti Lu, The Spudboater, is coming over from Les Bois on May 22.  She's already reserved the campsite next to ours at the Baumgartner Campground.  We haven't seen Marti Lu in a long, long time.  We are really looking forward to our reunion.  Also, what a great way to celebrate the day of our first NVUM interview there at the hot springs.  Thanks, Marti Lu, ya dun gud! We hadn't seen Marti Lu in like a lifetime or two when we got together on 7-7-7.  That's right, do you remember it?  July 7, 2007 was all sevens.  So, naturally, we had a 7&7 party up at Bowery Guard Station.  What a memorable hoot that was.  Marti Lu's a Master of Memories.  What does that mean?  It means that she somehow shows up at times that automatically become lifelong Memories.  Some people are Masters of Ceremony.  Marti Lu's a Master of Memories.  (You can get a Master of something, too, look it up on Google.)

The second appointment is typically hilarious.  First, we have to fast rewind way back into The Waay Baack Time Machine to June 2006.  That's when we met Heather (AKA: Doctor Mack) one day at the Sawmill Station near Saturday Mountain up on the Salmon River.  We became fast friends with Heather and her husband John.  They had just acquired what is now known as The Dream Ranch way up on the East Fork.  Technically, they were our nearest neighbors to Bowery Guard Station even though they were many miles distant.  Heather let us spend our days off there in her palatial log mansion that summer.  At the end of our gig at Bowery, Heather let us stay on for another almost two months.  We even toyed with the idea of becoming full time caretakers of her place.  We made copious notes on how to manage the place and Heather is still using those notes four years later!  We've been fortunate to cross paths several times with Heather since then--the latest being last June for a night up there at what she calls, "The Dream."  It really is kind of dream like and kind of surreal there, especially when it was snowing like last June.  Snow in June is surreal.

Somehow we've been thinking a lot about Heather lately.  Afterall, we're going to be driving withing maybe 25 miles of The Dream when we head up the Salmon River Friday.  For days now we've been saying to each other, "We've got to call Heather."  Yesterday, while we were walking we repeated that phrase.  Back at the bungalow, I fished out Heather's phone number and called it about mid-morning.  I expected to get her voicemail and was surprised when she actually answered.  There was a long pause. I said, "Heather, is this an OK time to call?"  She said, "Yeeessss, it is a PERFECT time to call, John, you're not going to believe this."

It turns out that she had tried to call my old office cell phone less than 24 hours before I called yesterday.  Of course, that phone rang as "disconnected."  She put her phone down and looked up into the sky and said, "Universe, I need to talk to John!"  So, dutifully, I called less than 24 hours later and she was thoroughly delighted.  That's how it goes with Heather--she's "right there," so to speak.  She actually EXPECTS positive outcomes to her requests and, guess what, she GETS the positive outcomes she manifests.

As it turns out, she and John were sitting in their truck on the first leg of the 15 hour journey from their California ranch to their Idaho ranches, so, yes indeed, it was truly the PERFECT time to call!

Heather was trying to contact us because she wanted us to meet her Mother.  Now here's where the whole appointment gig gets interesting.  Her Mother is coming to Idaho during the time we will be over at Baumgartner Hot Spring.  OK, so what?  Well, Heather's OTHER ranch is called The Mystic and it's just north of Mountain Home about as close to Baumgartner as one can get in this parallel universe we call home.
She was so delighted to learn we were going to be at Baumgartner.  We made a firm dinner date for June 1 when we will get to meet her Mom and get caught up on All Things Heather and she on All Things Susun & John.  Ain't that sweet?  Yeah, that be sweet!

And so it is that we now have two calendared appointments to back up the decision to take on the Baumgartner gigs.  It really helps us know we're on a solid pathway heading in a positive direction.

The Mystic, by the way, is quite the righteous ranch in and unto itself.  We've stayed there in the past and it's going to be great to see it again, tucked down astride a small stream in an endearing little basalt canyon.  Her caretaker there is a retired Air Force sharpshooter.  The guy is Annie Oakley with a rifle.  He's amazing and his stories are over the top.  We can hardly wait to hear some more of them.

We know of one more appointment that we can count chickens on over there but until it's confirmed we won't discuss it here.

Life is good.  Cheers, jp