Cocooned

I will be the first to admit that unofficial polls often go lacking in the science department. But Pal Boonie asked me to respond to his exploratory RV Caravan idea through the lens of my Box Canyon binoculars. In order to do comply with his request, I "need input," as SAINT, the cute little robot from the movie Short Circuit would say. "Need input!"

Remembering Mom... A Mother's Day Tribute

I’m staring at a priceless and befitting photograph for a Mother’s Day tribute... gleaned from eight millimeter home movie frames shot by my Spielberg dad, Everett. Mom’s beautiful face and smile fills the lens of Dad’s wind-up Bell and Howell camera, a snapshot slice of Hilda Mable Johnson parading against the backdrop of a ’55 Chevy… both destined to be “classics.”

Visions of Sugar Plums and Treading Water In Lovely Ouray

We have been taking advantage of a mild spring by trying to finish up landscaping tasks around Mine Shack II, the ones that got shucked last summer in favor of scampering about mountains and wildflowers... and, of course, working. It cripples nowadays, landscaping. I sure do miss that disc in my lower back.

Fine Wine and Flowers

Rounding a sun beaten switchback, near the tail end of a tail-between-legs failed assault on Twin Peaks, Bobbie led me off the beaten path to a discovery she made a few days prior. These are preseason hikes; not two miles ago we were rejected by mounds of deep soft snow. But there, growing out of rock as solid as Gibraltar's, were mounds of Claret Cup cacti, blossoming like Fourth of July.

White On Red Under Blue... Corkscrew Gulch

We coffee'd up in the alpine glow of predawn. Lovely Ouray twinkled below, fast asleep except for a groggy dough kneader at Artisan Bakery. A double shot of caffeine jolted a few belly butterflies awake. I began to second-guess the previous nights plan, conceived over a bottle of California Merlot while staring into a dream inspiring Super Moon. It seemed ambitious now... bordering on dumb.

Another Car-less Adventure From Lovely Ouray

Such beautiful obstacles, Spring Pasque Flowers, they sure can hamper a hikers progress along Sutton Mine Trail. It's just one of many car-free adventures Lovely Ouray offers up to residents and tourists alike. This year's crop of Pasque Flowers is bumper and defies our unusually dry spring. "Mother" is a mystery sometimes.

"And In The End, The Love You Make..."

Lovely Ouray from Horse Thief Trail

I can nearly throw a rock to Horse Thief Trail from our deck. It splits from Lovely Ouray's Perimeter Trail, which takes you on a delightful spin around the wooded fringes of our well-nestled Swiss village. Horse Thief Trail, on the other hand, ushers Crevice Dwellers all the way up to Bridge of Heaven... an honest-to-goodness unvarnished innuendo if there ever was one. Until recently, we couldn't hike Horse Thief to Heaven's Bridge because of an antiquated federal law passed in 1872; something that always ruffled this old bird's feathers.