Brown Family Update -- Orchard of Death

Remember those Costco citrus trees I planted last week?  Well, they have been under heavy attack by Daisy, the Golden Retriever (aka the “Sock Retriever and now known as the “Citrus Tree Slayer”).  I had no idea that she cared about the trees so much.  I planted four on the side of the house near the chicken coop and mulched the soil with smelly citrus mulch intended for new trees.  Apparently it has an odor to it that Daisy cannot resist.

Well, a morning or two later Sam came in from feeding the chickens and announced one of the trees had been dug up.  I couldn’t believe it, but sure enough it was not only dug up but ripped into shreds like the chicken that sadly escaped from the coop last month and enjoyed only a moment of freedom before it realized its mistake.

What do you say to the dog?  Well, we had words.  She knew I was not happy with her but she did not know why.

I decided I had to put up a fence, but I didn’t have time or materials.  Instead, I put up one of those flimsy orange plastic fences you sometimes see around a construction site that warns more than it deters.  I used miscellaneous wood and metal poles as stakes and thought it would be enough to keep her away.  Jill added some “chili powder” on the dirt around the trunks to make it less appetizing for the dog.

Poor trees.  Removed from the comfort of Costco only to be planted, stalked and seasoned at our house.  Needless to say, we thought the problem was solved.

Not so.  The next morning the orange fence had been ripped in two places and another tree had been badly damaged.  I repaired the fence and the tree as best I could.  I also gave Daisy another scolding.  By now she began to realize that she shouldn’t follow me to that part of the yard.  By now I began to realize she loved the mulch, but she also loved the citrus leaves and branches just as much.

I still didn’t have time to buy a sturdier fence, so I repaired the orange one again and, sure enough, the next morning it was ripped up.  This time the trees were still standing.  But it was a matter of time before she decided it was time to dig up some more.

Finally, Saturday arrived and I bought a wire fence, some metal stakes and a few more trees from Costco to replace the casualties.  I spent the better part of the afternoon with Sam, Anna and Zach planting new trees and building the fence.

And guess what?  When Sam went out Sunday morning to feed the chickens, guess who he found on the inside of the fence?  Yup.  Daisy.  And one badly damaged tree.  The fence wasn’t made out of the strongest wire, but it is the same material I used for the chicken coop and fence and she hasn’t figured out how to break into the coop thus far.  And yet she somehow get into the “orchard of death” but couldn’t (or didn’t want to) figure out how to get out.

So, tonight and future nights will be a kennel night for her until I can figure out a better solution.

Meanwhile, I’m putting my midlife crisis on hold and have decided not to trade my house and profession for a farm, dairy or orchard.

Morning sun rising on the Orchard of Death

Scott K. Brown II Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP Attorney: Triple Billings Trip 2016

Scott K. Brown II Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP Attorney: Triple Billings Trip 2016: In 2016 I went to Billings Montana three times.  I like to call it my Triple Billings year.  The last trip was with my family over the holid...

Family Day? Nice Try ...

Jill and I decided to do a “family day” on the first Saturday of every month and this is an exceprt of our our first attempt. Unfortunately, Josh and I had stayed up most of the night before, so we were both grumpy and unpleasant to be with. Our family day went like this:

1. Eat breakfast together and do dishes. Get mad at Josh for not helping. Assure Sam that the chicks are not about to die. Help Lily with her hurt foot (long story - may be broken, we will see).

2. Clean the family toy room. Josh was happy to miss wrestling practice to help, but Zach begged to go to a basketball event that day.

3. After what seemed like an eternity sorting toys in the toy room, we all go to Anna’s soccer game (probably the last time the entire family went to a sporting event for a family member was when Scottie, who is almost 20, was a kid). She played goalie and did well. She got sunburned. Lily had to be carried everywhere because of her hurt foot. Zach and Sam played catch with the football. Josh tried to catch up on sleep on the sideline.

4. After the game we went to lunch at a restaurant. We had to tell the kids multiple times that it was not appropriate to complain about eating out and there were plenty of left-overs at home if they wanted to keep complaining. Eventually we ate and everyone calmed down. Josh tried to catch up on sleep by putting his head on the table most of the time. Josh and Zach ordered “wings” that were too spicy. Neither can tolerate “spicy” food very well. So, there were a lot of trades during lunch.


5. After lunch we all kind of did our own house/yard jobs and then we let the kids have their freedom back.  For the first time all day, everyone was happy.


I’d say family day was moderately successful. We didn’t think there were be that many conflicts on the schedule that day but we were shocked with how much stuff we had to say “no” to in order to spend time with the family like that. 

Music Appreciation and EVMCO

December 6, 2015 (part 2)

Saturday night was the night I had tickets to Jill’s choir concert -- EVMCO. We decided it was time to take Josh, Zach and Anna to the concern. None of them wanted to go since it meant they couldn’t hang out with friends. Little did they know that a lot of their friends are in the youth concerts. In fact, Zach and Anna had such a good time pointing out all of their friends when they were singing that I had “shush” them quite a few times.

Anyway, I was mostly interested to see Zach’s reaction to the singing since, as you know, he sings the most in our family. I thought he would love the music and the power and sound, etc. And I could tell from the get-go that he was blown away by how good it was. It didn’t seem to faze Anna or Josh at all. In fact, Josh complained that it was too loud and we should have sat in the back so his ears wouldn’t hurt. 

I think if the concert was 45 minutes instead of 90 minutes, Zach would have been in heaven. But some of the songs were a little long for him - mostly the obligatory Christmas songs from other countries (Africa and Germany, to name a few). But the show ended with a bang and I think Zach appreciated it. 

Go EVMCO -- https://www.millennial.org/east-valley/

Wrestlings of Yesteryear

It used to be that I had two sons that wrestled.  I didn't know anything about the sport, but I studied up on it and eventually came to enjoy the intensity of the matches.  But, alas, no more.  I found this old journal entry from last year when I took a younger son to an older son's wrestling match.

December 6, 2015

I took Sam with me to Josh’s wrestling tournament on Saturday. He was extremely upset that he has to spend the afternoon with me at a tournament than with his friends at home. He was in tears. It was more than he could bear. But once we left and he realized he was going to be with me regardless, he calmed down. Also, we also stopped at the gas for a drink and king-sized candy bars. He didn’t complain the rest of the trip.

He had a lot of questions to ask about the tournament, like how one “wins” or how a team “wins” and stuff like that. I think the format was very confusing to him since there’s no true champion. That said, Josh did pretty good. He’s wrestling JV and, this won’t surprise you, believes he is better than the Varsity wrestler in his weight class. So, he thinks it is beneath him to wrestle JV. But he went to the tournament this Saturday and Sam and I showed up for his first match just in time. He pinned the guy in the second period. Josh is tall and skinny and I think most wrestlers think they are going to dominate him and are pretty surprised when that doesn’t happen. After that match, Sam and I went to go find food. Josh requested a chili cheese dog from Sonic. I couldn’t find a nearby Sonic, but we found a local restaurant with a really messy version of a chili cheese dog. When we got back Josh couldn’t eat it because he was just about to wrestle again. Unfortunately, he lost his second match by a point. Josh thought he was tied at the end of the third period so he wasn’t trying any moves during the last 30 seconds thinking they were headed into overtime. It came back to haunt him. Anyway, since Josh doesn’t think he belongs on JV, it ticked him off pretty good. And it didn’t affect his appetite - he crushed the chili cheese dog, as Spencer L. would say. That’s not something I would eat in the middle of a wrestling tournament, but I know Josh is a little different in that respect. So, he finally got to his third and final match of the day and came out like a bull. He looked so different from his second match that even Sam noticed it. Josh won 5-0. Afterwards Sam leaned over to me and said: “What was it that Josh ate again?” Apparently the chili cheese dog is to Josh what spinach is to Popeye. 

Triple Billings Trip 2016

In 2016 I went to Billings Montana three times.  I like to call it my Triple Billings year.  The last trip was with my family over the holidays.  It was a blast (of cold air).  At first we were tempted to drive there in our rear-wheel Suburban.  Our travel plans evolved as follows:

1.  Drive to Montana and back if the weather cooperates.  (Too risky in our Suburban -- and too long.)
2. Drive to Utah and rent a 4x4 and drive the rest of the way to Montana.  (Still too long and now too expensive.)
3.  Fly to and from Montana on Allegiant and use a relative's truck while there.  (Too expensive.  Otherwise, too easy.)
4.  Fly to Montana on Christmas Day in a four-hour delayed flight and unexpectedly buy a 4x4 family car (goodbye Suburban) and drive home from Montana on two consecutive windy, cold, icy days.  (Not too risky, not too long, not too expensive -- and not too easy.  Just right.)

We picked option #4.

The weather was perfect for Billings -- in the 20's during the day.  And the skiing was wonderful -- two great days -- one at Bridger Bowl and the other at Red Lodge.  And, of course, family was awesome.  The Larsens hosted us; Grandma and Grandpa Wells engaged us in lots of interesting conversations; and the Wells entertained our kids!

Oh sure, we all got sick at some point during the trip (thanks Dane!).  And we barely made it out of Montana before the freeway was shut down due to zero visibility from Blowing Snow.  But what's a Brown Family Vacation without a little drama?

Christmas Day in the Allegiant terminal (no this is not a selfie - someone actually took the picture for us)

Zach and Sam at Red Lodge ski trip

Closed freeway (we skirted 60 miles of the closure by driving a snowdrift covered frontage road)