i have to say, it is great being back. two weeks away was fun, but it was getting hard to be around so many people. the crowds of people in denver are everywhere. sometimes its fun being lost in the crowd, however, the crowds i'm used to here, consist mostly of cattle. the store is once again beginning to smell like chocolate. i finally have figured out how to make sea salt caramel. its like a full meal in one bite. sweet, salty, buttery and chocolate all at once. i have eaten a ton of them so far today. getting back to denver. the stock show wraps up its 102nd year tomorrow. the good news is that there are only 50 weeks left until the 103rd stock show! i have a lot to do between now and then... the weather this year was really nice. only a few days in the negative or single digits. plus, when the sun is out, the stockyards stayed "warmer".  the big news this year is the grand champion steer fetched $110,000 at friday's auction. how great is that? its been several years since the auction went into 6 figures. speaking of 6 figures, my two ton morgan is not starving this winter. he knows how to put on his winter weight. i may have to run a few pounds off him this spring. hopefully we will move the cows down to spring creek, and rowdy can get some good exercise. when you spend the better part of two weeks in the denver stockyards, your boots tend to look the same as they do at the ranch. needless to say, anytime i went somewhere, any dog in the area was attracted to me in a flash. i went into a store in lodo, and the owners dog was glued to me the entire time. the owner kept apologising. i didnt care, i thought it was funny. i dont think that dog would know what a cow was if it saw one. but he was a really nice lab.  its amazing how many great bars sprouted up  in that area, especially since  10 years ago lodo was not a nice area. a buddy of mine owns a bar across from coor's field. talk about location! its always nice to have a friendly bartender in a foreign town. i should get back to work. chocolate withdrawl has made my regulars hungry and i cant keep my cases empty any longer.