interlude

Tuesday's writing class at The Concord Art Association

flowers from Emily

I am really enjoying my iPhone. The camera is the best part. That and texting.
I don't always have time to compose a full blog post so from time to time I will display my latest iPhone photos. Here are a few from last week.

I hope you all enjoyed the Harvest Moon on Saturday night. The Harvest moon is the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox. It is fall for sure.

The mind at home in the heart.

Pearl Street pedestrian mall 

THE MIND BEING MOSTLY A WEATHER OF LANGUAGE

For any of my students out there, time to get cracking! This teacher is home from vacation and expects you all to be practicing, warming up for class next week! This guy is out there writing on a Friday night in Boulder, Colorado!

When he asked me what  to write about, I said "writing." He admitted that he was a bit stumped. He really took his time on this one. Like a kid in an exam. My sister in law, Susie, and I waited around while he worked. His foot was shaking, he was biting his lip. His large hands hovered over the small key board of his hundred year old Corona typewriter.  It even has a wooden space bar.
When done, he stood and performed his poem aloud to us with pride.
Take the time to read it, it is lovely.

So, folks, remember.... writing can happen anytime, anywhere. You just have to show up.

It is a wondrous world
 when the music of your living
finds the whirl of words
traveling the page
to ring true.

Boulder Farmer's Market

Boulder reaches to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Bike sharing! Of course this is happening in Boulder. Need to get across town?  Grab a bike, ride it and leave it there. 

A local Boulder resident enjoying the Farmer's Market!

I can't begin to describe the depth and width of this market. The prepared food of all ethnicities was top notch. I had a vietnamese spring roll, vegetable crepe and ginger iced tea. The art, craft, bread, jam, honey, produce, granola, hand made wooden objects for sale were too much to take in in one visit. The music, the authentic russian tea house unsurpassed.  We almost lost David to the Marimba Band! He was ready to sign up as a permanent member! 

And a booth about writing? This I could not believe. "Spread the Words" is an organization that leads writing classes for all ages. They even run a summer camp for kids!

There was too much to absorb in one visit!
With my welcoming brother and sister in law in residence and Eliza a few hours away, I have a feeling we will be back!

Rocky Mountain National Park

Our trip began in Boulder visiting Donny and Susie.  Donny took us on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. No snow here yet! It was hot. We were flatlanders adjusting to altitude. Boulder is only 5,430 feet! This trail to the north even higher. We walked slowly.

The travelers.

leadville

Our favorite coffee shop in town.

I especially like the two above photos because one is the entrance to Eliza's place of work and the  other is the view from the road as you make the ten minute drive from town. 

 Turquoise Lake is right near HMI. The water level indicates how dry it is out here. The water line on all the lakes we have seen is many feet below normal. Drought conditions out here.

Aspen in full color. We have seen so many great views from the road but driving in the mountains takes a lot of concentration so I have not pulled over to record the sheer radiance of the aspen at this time of year. The views everywhere you turn are amazing. Big country!

Does this photo give you an idea of how strong the sun is here at 10,000 feet? The ultraviolet light in the mountains is stronger because there is less atmosphere for the sunlight to pass through. I sure wish I hadn't misplaced my sunglasses along the way! A hat helps.

Ball Mt. 12,000 ft.

We climbed Ball Mt in Leadville with Eliza. It was a short steep scramble at the end preceded by a long gradual approach. The view was hazy due to fires in the west but the 360 degree view of mountains was magnificent.

In the Rockies!

Eliza isn't the only one living at high altitude! We are visiting her in Leadville, Colorado. While she was hard at work on Monday, David and I took a drive over the "scenic byway" from Leadville to Aspen.

In Leadville, it is still fall with aspens in full fall color brilliant next to the dark of evergreens. The Sawatch Range (Mt. Massive and Mt. Elbert are the main ones we see from here) is snow covered. As we drove along Rt 84, we came to winter at Independence Pass. I have always wanted to stand on the Continental Divide.  Rt. 84 is the highest point in Colorado traversed by a paved road. There are places on the road that are single lane and it is closed in the winter. There are many switchbacks and steep overlooks. We stumbled on something amazing. We started out on a drive to Twin Lakes and before we knew it we were having a snow ball fight. It was a great day.

The Continental Divide is the main series of mountain ridges in North America, chiefly the crests of the Rocky Mountains that form a watershed that separates the rivers flowing east into the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico from those flowing west into the Pacific Ocean.

Mt Yale 14,199 feet

Reading

Reading

"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines......."