Mandala Follow-up

Remember that mandala we showed you the other day?  Well, Charlotte and I happened to stop by again yesterday, right as the mandala ceremony was about to take place!  What an experience.  First of all, let me just say that if you think you're good at sand art, these guys would be far better.

Next, let me say that if you think you have cool instruments and/or outfits, Tibetan Buddhist monks may give you a run for your money.

Anyway, in addition to being quite a spectacle, it was very moving to watch the monks disassemble the incredible work they had undertaken for nearly a week.  The awe/horror/electricity/fascination in the crowd was almost palpable, and it all happened in a matter of minutes.

Anyway, we are on to other things, and we imagine the monks are, too.  It's definitely an experience that we'll remember for quite a while, though!

Mandala

Last week, Charlotte received an interesting email: 10 Tibetan Buddhist monks would be visiting the University of Wyoming to prepare a mandala.  If you don't know what a mandala is, I'd advise you to look it up online, because it's fascinating and I'd do a poor job explaining it.  Anyway, Charlotte stopped by on Tuesday, and sure enough, the monks had arrived!

As you can see, they had traced their geometric pattern out.  Pretty neat, right?  Well, Charlotte and I stopped by today to see their progress; check this out!!!

It is hard to convey in photographs how amazing the practice is, but the entire colored pattern that you can see is made of sand!  To create their work, the monks collect various colors of sand using a cone, or "chakpur," like the ones in the bottom right of this photograph.

Then, using a stick to vibrate that cone, they meticulously apply tiny amounts of sand extremely precisely.

The result, as you can see, is incredible.  Unfortunately, as you can't see, the design is not only incredibly intricate, but also three-dimensional and layered.

Anyway, the monks are still hard at work on the mandala.  After all this, once it's finished, they'll have a ceremony to dismantle the mandala by sweeping the sand away.  We're certainly glad that we made it before that happened!!!

Oldemort

Many of you may know that our friend, constant companion, and Mazda sedan is named "Mort."

Some of you may also know that great-grandmothers in Denmark are often called "Oldemor."  Well, today, due to a major milestone in our buddy Mort's life, we are coining a new term: "Oldemort."  

That's right!  Mort has maintained his youthful complexion, but he's seen many places.  

He celebrated nearly all his big mileage milestones on the East Coast with us.  However, some were more scenic than others (he turned 10k underneath a highway overpass in Oneonta, NY).  So, I was happy when he was treated to some unbelievable scenery for the big birthday.  Here's the actual view out the window while the odometer read 100,000!

I don't think either of us would have expected this occasion (or any other) to have occurred in Wyoming, but you have to admit that the view's not too shabby!  Anyway, Mort's got big plans now that he's in his golden years.  And they include travel!  He's already got a trip planned to Fort Collins tomorrow!  And another one to Laramie tomorrow!  And another one to Fort Collins on Friday...

Long live Oldemort!

A lackluster post about cool things!

Hi all!  We're due for an update, and we had lots of fun adventures yesterday!  Unfortunately, things are a bit sparse in the photo department, but we're pushing ahead anyway, in the interest of timely journalism.

First off, Charlotte went to the Medicine Bow National Forest for some early morning cross-country skiing.  Since it's only about 10 minutes away, she was able to go skiing...before class...in a National Forest.  She reports that it is not only free, but also stunningly beautiful and that the trails were really well groomed.  Since she was skiing, though, she didn't really get the chance to snap many photos.  Here's one for now; we'll hope for more next week when she tries to go again.

A bit later on, Charlotte and I attended her departmental (Ecosystem Science & Management) party at the Laramie Railroad Depot.  It was great.  Not only is the building beautiful, but it was filled with tons of tables, and the building was bursting with faculty, grad students, families, great food, and even live music!  Unfortunately, I forgot to take any photos until after we had cleaned up everything, when everyone had left.  On the bright side, you can see how cool the Depot is!

Anyway, we hope you're having a great holiday weekend, doing lots of fun things.  Remember, no matter what you're doing, take photos!!!  You'll be glad you did (especially if you try to write a blog post afterwards).

A Chill in the Air

Our iPad weather app had some unexpected news for us this morning.  Four quick points:
1)  -19 Fahrenheit equates to -28 degrees Celsius, which sounds way colder.  I'll stick to Fahrenheit in the winter.
2)  This does not include the windchill, which was actually -35F (-37C).
3)  Charlotte left for campus when it was actually several degrees colder.
4)  No real tree in Laramie looks like that today.

Anyway, the nice thing we've found out West is that the brilliant sun and extremely dry air make winter days feel warmer than they really are.  But for all of you blog readers, I set out to discover: does a -35 wind chill still feel cold?

Yes.

Holiday Travel Recap!

Well, our semesters are about to begin here in CO and WY, so any posting of photos from our East Coast travels is going to happen now or never!  So, in the interest of bringing this humble blog back up to speed, here we go!

In addition to the adventures we've already posted about, Charlotte and I squeezed in some exploration of the Seacoast region of NH and southern Maine.  WE STILL LOVE IT THERE!

Among the many trip highlights, we were able to spy an adorable seal while visiting Seapoint Beach in Kittery!  It was right where Charlotte is pointing (we just couldn't snap a photo in time).  

 We also spent a good deal of time in our beloved New York, after briefly trekking through Vermont.

While in Latham (Mike's hometown), we enjoyed lots of cozy Christmas decorations and scenery, delicious food, and Mike's family.  Hooray!

We were also fortunate to spend time in Otisville (Charlotte's hometown), where we were greeted by lots of cozy Christmas decorations, delicious food, and Charlotte's family!  Aren't the holidays great?

In addition to our pre-Christmas festivities in Latham and our Danish Christmas activities in Otisville, we also celebrated the Christmas holiday with Mike's family in PA!  It was, as always, wonderful to see everyone (including Grandpa and Linda, who didn't make it into these photos)!  

Anyway, that's a brief summary that barely does justice to our fantastic and special trip back home.  In our next blog update, we'll fast forward to the present.  Until then, though, we hope you can see why we're so crazy about the East Coast!