I am not one for resolutions, usually. This year, I thought maybe I would try something new. So, here we go.

• Read the bible, all the way through.
• A blog post every week.
• Run 350 miles (not brave enough to commit to 500).

Hopefully, next week's blog post will not be about how I have abandon these resolutions already. Worse would be no blog post at all which would essentially be the same statement.

To read through the bible in one year I plan to use an iPhone app, Bible. The app offers access to a variety of reading plans. I am going to pick one of the one year plans. I am leaning toward an historical approach, reading events in the order they occurred. But, I have not decided yet.

I already use a Garmin Forerunner 405cx on my runs. Garmin Connect provides the ability to set goals. I have already set an annual goal for 2012 of 350 miles.

To track my blog posts… Watch this space for further developments.

Happy New Year. Welcome 2012.

Afghanistan. What are our prospects in Afghanistan? Most likely, the current administration will declare victory and leave. The current trajectory does not appear to have the projectile landing anywhere inside the circle of success, no matter your definition.

There is no precedent for centralized government in Afghanistan. There is no established bureaucracy in Afghanistan. There is no history of democracy. In fact, even the process of voting is a new concept in Afghanistan with election results called into question from the very onset. The Karzai administration is fraught with corruption, struggling to maintain any authority even over the district in which it resides. I believe that this summary of the situation in Afghanistan, published in Foreign Affairs magazine, sums up the situation today.

For the past ten years about a half a percent of the population has been fighting two wars. About 70% of the unit has done more than two deployments. One soldier who is about 25 has been in combat zones for more months than he has been in college.

Smittie

This year three fourths of the family (the daughter didn't think a dude ranch was for her) went to the Lazy E-L Guest Ranch in Roscoe, Montana. I have had a life long love of horses, ranches and cowboy culture. I decided I wanted to try the cowboy life on for size. My own personal City Slickers experience. What an awesome experience it was. First off, I totally missed my calling. I definitely should have been a cattle rancher, or at least a cowboy.

Before we got to Lazy E-L, we spent a day in Cody, Wyoming, supposed capital of the cowboy world. While there were some cool shops, it was mostly tourist central. We had lunch in the Irma Hotel, named after William F Cody's daughter. It was a fun experience but now that I have done it, I probably would not go back for the food. The hotel has gotten a number of good reviews so I might try spending a night there, again largely for the experience of it. There is a rodeo in Cody every night during the summer months. It was fun but a little expensive for the calibre of cowboy that competed. All in all, I am glad we went to see Cody but now that I have seen it, I probably will not make any special effort to go back. I do recommend The Proud Cut steak house. Good food and service, reasonable price. Next year, we will be stopping at Sheridan, Wyoming, the next on my list of American West locations.

We arrived at Lazy E-L at 1400 on Sunday as instructed. We were shown to our cabin and told to be in the cookhouse at 1500 for orientation dressed to ride horses. After about a half hour briefing on food service, basic rules and facilities on the ranch, we were led out to meet our horses. The Lazy E-L wrangler staff starts out with instruction on how they would like horses brushed and saddled. Once the horse is saddled and bridled, you mount up and move off to the arena. Walk around the arena, trot around the arena, the wranglers are looking to see who is comfortable on a horse and gauging the riding ability of the guests. Once they have a basic idea and are sure everyone is going to be able to stay in the saddle outside the arena, the wranglers lead off on a trail ride. That first day at Lazy E-L is the first and only trail ride we did during our stay. The next five days we rode on cattle every day.

We stayed in the Russell cabin. I love rustic, cozy feel of the cabin. The cabin is a single room with a bathroom. A queen bed and one twin. It is filled with lots of items from the era when the ranch was founded which creates the ambiance that I really appreciated. The Russell cabin really feels like you are on a ranch, even transporting you back a few decades. The cabin is very comfortable, the shower is large, modern and really a pleasure. The drawbacks of the Russell cabin are its size and amenities. No kitchen, no frig, no laundry. The cookhouse is right next door where all three are available. Russell cabin is perfect for a couple.

Our week at Lazy EL was exactly what we were looking for. Most days we were up at 0600 in order to have horses saddles before breakfast. When things worked right we were on horses and riding out to the day's work before 0800. Most days cattle work kept us out until lunch time. Three days we had lunch brought out to us because the cattle work was scheduled to take a little longer. The latest we came back to the ranch was 1530. There was cattle work every day. Participation in moving cattle depended on your ability in the saddle. I got to ride a lot of the more difficult terrain, going after cattle that had gotten into the woods. The biggest challenge for me was keeping up with the wranglers on the longer transits. Trotting is the favored gait of the cowboy because it is easy on the horse, hard on the cowboy. Monday I got ridden into the dirt. By midweek, I was able to keep up in most cases.

The remuda at Lazy EL is excellent. These are some of the best trained and well behaved horses I ridden in a very long time. All of the horses I rode did test me to see if I was really willing to be in control. Once that aspect of the relationship was established the horses responded wonderfully. I did have one horse that had an injury the previous season. He was still behaving like he expected some things to hurt him. It was a challenge to push him through things so that he began to see that he was OK, which was a good way to expand my own riding skills. All the riding is under the watchful eye of the wranglers. While they are a young crew, they are very talented horseman. They provided the guidance and oversight to make sure horse and rider did not get into more than they could handle while at the same time pushing riders to improve.

I guess the best review of Lazy El Guest Ranch is this. We have already booked our vacation for next year. We did look at some other options but in the end, we really has such a good time at the Lazy EL that we decided to go back again.

I have been interested in living history ever since I got involved in Civil War Re-enacting in the late '90s when we lived in Iowa. Back then I did the tactical stuff, marching around the field shooting a springfield rifle (sans bullet) in set formation of the Napoleonic style. I quickly discovered that I was really a lot more interested in the sociology than the history. I was more fascinated with understanding how and why Johnny did than what Johnny did.

This past Memorial Day several World War II re-enactors came to the Memorial Day event in Santa Cruz. I thought it was cool so I introduced myself and talked to them for a moment. I met DJ Tom LG and his lovely partner in crime, Rosey Lakos with a small entourage in tow. Their uniforms were excellent and they were, in the parlance of the day, charming.

DJ Tom LG "delicious assortment of original viper jazz, hokum, big-band, Latin swing, Western swing, old-time, rhythm & blues and vocal oddities from the 1920s through the 1940s on LPs, 45s & 78s." He does regular gigs through out the Santa Cruz area. The day I met them, Tom invited me to his Monday gig where they would be celebrating Memorial Day with some serious swing dancing and wartime era music. I had to go check this out. I really love the music and style of the war years.

All of this long story leads to how I ended up out on Los Banos at Eagle Field watch Mitchell B-25s fly in. Tom and his re-enactor friends had WWII field hospital, office and photographers office set up. It was a rather small group but it was fun. The Eagle Field event is really a reunion of the WWII pilots who trained there. Apparently there used to be a large number of aircraft that would come in. On the day I was there, there were 2 B-25s that looked like they were just off the assembly line and several trainer aircraft. We chosen to leave before the festivities really got started. This particular event was more of a local social event and less about the living history.

There is a Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive event in Kelly Park in San Jose the beginning of August. I am looking forward to going to check that event out. According to Tom, the focus there is more on the living history aspect.

I am Thankful. I am thankful that I am home this year. I am thankful that my wife's battle with cancer has gone so well. I am thankful for my wife of 21 years. I am thankful for two of the most awesome kids ever. I am thankful that I have a job Sven if I don't always like that job. I have lot to be thankful for.

The holiday season is here.