Category Archives: Mountains

Colorado, Mountains

The Haloed Moon

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Winter                                                       Settling Moon

Out for the paper this morning at six. The full settling moon hung low in the western sky, framed between a couple of lodgepole pines, a corona around it, bluish gray fading to white gold. Above it and a bit to the left, a bright Jupiter stood, a jewel somehow shaken loose from the moon’s morning crown.

The immersion in settling has begun to diminish enough for us to begin noticing, really seeing, our surroundings. The haloed moon, for example, standing over the dark bulk of Black Mountain.

This also means my thoughts can begin to turn to Latin, which I miss. To writing, which, apart from this blog, I miss. Novel ideas keep pushing their way forward and I push them back down. Not ready. Well, I’m getting ready. And then there are those Edx and Coursera MOOCs. Ready for another one, soon. Exercise, too. Have to turn the treadmill, mount the TV, connect it.

There are yet more boxes, but they now fall into two main categories: our private spaces and the garage. We will, for the most part, put together our own spaces and the garage won’t take too long once we focus on it. That doesn’t mean we have all of our clothes, kitchen things, furniture, art (another, and last, matter altogether) where we want them, but they are all, with the exception of the art, out of their boxes.

 

 

Colorado, Mountains

Closest Restaurant

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Winter                                                      Settling Moon

Kate and I ate an early dinner at Brooks Forest Inn in their pub where the Broncos were on TV and several jerseys were worn: the gray haired bartender with a large blue comb in her hair, the owner, an ex-rodeo star, and a blonde on the arm of a man with a stetson and a black western shirt.

I mentioned this place a few weeks back, founded by Swiss immigrants who found the place like home. It’s been in continuous operation since 1907.

The road there, Black Mountain Drive (our road), becomes Brook Forest Road, but it’s always Colorado 78. A narrow two-lane it winds through the Arapaho National Forest. Its curves, especially going down, are dangerous and force a reasonable rate of speed.

I have a feeling the Brooks Forest Inn will become a regular place for us, a place where we will get to know folks and get to be known.

Colorado, Mountains, Weather +Climate

A Blast of White Smoke

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Winter                                                           Settling Moon

Bacon and cheese omelette this morning. Eating out has begun to diminish in its attraction, but we still need to unbox most of the kitchen things. Why? Because Kate’s putting together Swedish shelving. It will hold the pots and pans and bulky cooking accessories.

We walked the aisles of a darkened (really, not yet shopping day lit) Safeway, an iconic Western grocery store chain after our business meeting ate Aspen Perks. This one seemed even nicer than the King Sooper, more like a Lunds or a Byerlys. You can work out the demographics of Conifer from this information.

On a recent day I propped my head on a window ledge and looked out the window at lodgepole pine. Their branches droop toward the ground and I wondered why. After the recent snowfall, I learned the answer, at least part of it. These branches bend, but do not break. As the snow grows heavy on their needles, a certain load threshold is reached and puff, a blast of white smoke. Many more revelations to come.

I learned a long time ago that a revelation of your own, even if well known to others, is worth a lot.

 

Colorado, Dogs, Mountains

Stars and Galaxies

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Winter                                                       Settling Moon

Jon came out and assembled our new snow blower. It’s a yellow cub cadet with power steering (no kidding), a big light and a joystick controller for the blower. We’re ready now.

We’ve already unloaded many boxes, with many, many more to go. Kate’s focusing on the kitchen and I’m helping her move boxes and arrange them for ease of work. The loft space over the garage has received some early attention since it has the computer with all my passwords. I will post pictures when we get a bit further along.

The dogs have claimed our back yard, running and sniffing, testing the boundaries. No attempts to escape as yet. This is a five foot fence and will provide a challenge even to Gertie. A challenge, unfortunately, that she’s probably able to surmount. But not yet.

Last night driving back from Evergreen, headed toward Conifer, Orion stood, tilted to his side, just above the mountains. The sky itself was black, pricked with stars and galaxies. Yesterday, too, a family of mule deer buck, doe, and two fawns crossed Shadow Mountain Drive ahead of us.

 

Colorado, Mountains, The Move

Home

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Winter                                                   New (Settling) Moon

The cargo van has been unloaded and returned, a day early, to the Denver airport. A bit of confusion there, as there was when we picked it up. Cargo vans do not normally leave the local Enterprise fleet. This one did. They knew it, too. $300 fee to cover re-registration and licensing, plus a taste for corporate.

Kate and I had supper at Tres Los Garcias in Aspen Park. Aspen Park is the largest of three retail centers along 285 located in Conifer. As you might expect in a state with a longstanding Latino community, the food is pretty good.

As we drove up Shadow Mountain Drive tonight, there was snow coming down. I hope it’s a small snow since the van comes tomorrow. After that, let it snow!

Still a measure of unreality here, the I feel like I’m on vacation feeling. Though not in the house. The dogs have all found spots on the living room’s radiantly heated tile. They’re going to have the run of this level, the one with the kitchen and Kate’s sewing room. (at until they prove our trust is not warranted.) We’ve found our own spot. Home.

Colorado, Mountains, The Move, The West

A Little Hard to Grasp

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Samain                                                        Moving Moon

Jon came and cleared out a path for the movers. Ruth worked at it, too, with a plastic avalanche shovel. Even Jon, living in Denver, got winded shoveling snow up here, another 3,600 feet higher. Throughout this whole process, people have been kind and sweet. Tom’s driving. Jon’s shoveling. The docents partying. Even Eric, the kennel master at Armstrong Kennels told us we were good dog people and he was sorry to see us go. That’s real praise.

The only move part left of the move is the van coming on Monday. After that we’ll be settling. Oh, there are plenty of sequelae like selling that other house we own, paying the movers, doing some reconfiguring in the kitchen, getting acclimatized, but the move itself will be over on Monday once our stuff returns to us. That’s a big deal in my mind and I will retire the Move category from the posts.

The enormity of this change is still a little hard to grasp. We’re no longer Minnesotans, but Coloradans. We’re no longer flatlanders but mountain dwellers. We’re no longer Midwesterners. Now we are of the West, that arid, open, empty space. These changes will change us and I look forward to that. The possibility of becoming new in the West has long been part of the American psyche, now I’ll test it for myself.

Colorado, Mountains, The Move

A Taste of Finality

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Samain                                                                                  Moving Moon

Another day of packing but this one. Is different. It has that taste of finality. The things that I had waited to pack, waited until the last minute, all of those are in boxes except this computer and its accessories like the printer.

That’s not to say the room is empty. The file cabinet is still here, a bookcase tall and two bookcases short, a cabinet with glass doors, two desks and the disassembled IKEA shelving, a chair, a rug. There are, too, documents related to finishing up a book for the new owners, various papers about Black Mountain Drive, my laptop and its accessories.

But, if you came in here now you would know the current resident was on his way out.

Headed, he might say if asked, to the mountains.

Colorado, Holidays, Mountains, The Move

What We’re Getting For Christmas

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Samain                                                                                Moving Moon

It’s quiet. Thankfully. Some guys are running cable along the utility easement on our property and the dogs don’t like that. At all. Lots of warning, warning, warning barks. Lots.

Kate got yet another load of boxes. How many she’s gotten over the course of the last few months I don’t know. A large number. Gives me hope for the AA chapters up here. She also got a barrier for the front seats to prevent the dogs from climbing up for a better view. There’s definitely something better about sitting where the humans are sitting.

It’s like Christmas is coming only in the form of an A1 moving van. If the driver’s a rotund guy in red with ermine trim, I’ll know holiseason has come on full strength.

We’re getting a new life for the holidays. Just what we wanted!

Colorado, Mountains, The Move, The West

Higher, Dryer, Thinner

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Samain                                                                               Moving Moon

The new header photograph is the King Sooper parking lot in Aspen Park, about four miles away from our house on Black Mountain Drive. This King Sooper has a Lund’s type supermarket feel to it though it’s much larger than any of the Lund’s stores I’ve shopped.

We’re moving from an Oak Savannah eco-system, one growing on the Great Anoka Sandplain, the remnant of a glacial river Warren, which cut the bed for the Mississippi, to a montane eco-system, growing on pulverized rock and dominated by lodgepole pine, moss and small alpine plants.

Here the links run east to the Big Woods, north to the Boreal Forest and west to the Great Plains. In the Rockies the eco-systems link north and south along this mountain range, a tall, stone spine which extends far into Canada.

Our lot in Andover is about 900 feet above sea level and the highest point in our immediate area. Black Mountain Drive is at 8,800 feet on Shadow Mountain, approximately 9,200 feet. So the air will be considerably thinner and the nights cooler year round.

The West is arid, being west of the line which separates the humid east, 20+ inches of rain a year, from the arid West, less than 20 inches of rain per year. That means water will be a dominant environmental and political issue in Colorado.

We’ll be in a higher, dryer and far less biologically diverse eco-system. A distinct change.

 

Colorado, Faith and Spirituality, Mountains, Reimagine. Reconstruct. Reenchant., The Move, The West

Hmmm.

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Samain                                                                             Moving Moon

Here is an interesting conundrum. Should I let my Colorado self emerge out of the casual interactions inherent in moving to a new location: talking to mechanics, visiting the grocery store, dining at the 285 cafe? Or, should I try to shape it, finding like minded folks through obvious clusterings such Sierra Club, the Denver Art Museum, the Democratic party? Sure, it will be a bit of both, I know, but where I should place my emphasis?

As I have been discussing the move, I’ve emphasized the loss of the Woollies, my docent friends, the sheepshead guys and the thick web of history here after 40 plus years. One straight line of thinking is to investigate the sociology of Denver for nodes of persons whom I might meet with similar tastes and interests. That’s why I’ve mentioned politics and the Sierra Club as likely sources for new friends.

And yet. Another part of me, reinforced by some reading in Kierkegaard and an article by a professor on why he has left politics behind (politics or productivity in his mind), have given me pause. Not to mention the onrushing reality of the move. No, I don’t have to make a decision soon, or ever for that matter, but I want to.

Why? Because I don’t want to create a sticky fly trap for my self. I don’t want to make commitments in order to meet people that will result in my needing to pull back later. Right now I’m thinking that politics, though a strong and thrumming wire wound throughout my life, is just such a fly trap. As would be volunteering at one of the museums. Long drives. Winter weather. I dropped both Sierra Club and the MIA for those reasons and, to underscore the professor’s logic, to enable my productivity.

A Colorado, a mountain, a western, a grandpop self will come into being if I live my life, flowing from here to there as events take me. I want the productivity that I find so dependent on having my own time and my own space. Guess that’s my answer for right now.