Halloween. The time of year when everything macabre, scary, ghastly, frightening and terrifying is given a welcome leave of absence from the tortured depths of our subconscious and allowed free reign in the real world. It's the season when ghosts, goblins, monsters and spectres mingle casually with superheroes, princesses, aliens and robots. The imagination shifts into overdrive, finding new and creative ways to scare, thrill and sometimes nauseate. As with every other facet of life, celebrations of All Hallow's Eve range from cute to whimsical, from funny to horrifying.
I love dressing up for Halloween. I always have. I never had a favorite costume, though; each year saw something new, something different. I've been an Elliot Ness-style federal agent, a fly and an accident victim. The last time I went to a Halloween party, it was a 1930s theme, so I went as a mobster. Even had a pencil-thin mustache and slicked-back black hair. The violin case really made it work. It's always fun dressing up and being someone else; or rather, your interpretation of someone else. It's role play, a chance to try on another life, personality or facade for just a day.
Unfortunately, a good portion of my friends and family don't share my love of Halloween. They're too cool for school, as it were. It's almost beneath them. To each their own, I guess, but it makes finding something fun to do difficult. My friends that do enjoy it are, like me, not always able to, be it scheduling conflicts or monetary considerations. It's tough sometimes, but we always try to make the best of it.
This year, since Halloween falls on a Sunday, it's a football theme party we're doing, complete with a tailgate chili cook-off contest. This guarantees that even the people who don't love Halloween show up in costume - let's face it, this is Broncos Country, so everyone has a jersey, T-shirt, sweatshirt or hat in their closet. It's a law.
It is, really. Look it up.
My friends Doug and Trisha are kindly opening their home to the festivities. The game, and therefore the party, kicks off at 11 am, so it's either going to be a short event or it'll turn into an all-day gathering. You never know; could go either way with this crowd.
Trisha's sister Dianna is in town for her annual visit. To celebrate, a group of us went to this dive bar called MVP's for karaoke last night. It was my first time out in a while, so needless to say I'm still kinda nursing the hangover. Ugh. Too old for this crap...but damn it was fun!
So this year, my Halloween plans are a little tame. Still going to be a great time, but I'm missing the costumes and parties. Definitely next year. There's a plan. So what about you guys? What are your plans for this most spooky of holidays? Any parties to attend? Trick & treating with the kids, or by yourself? Or are you going to be like my parents and turn off the outside lights and hide in the family room? What are your favorite Halloween memories, your favorite costumes or stories?
Share and share alike. Happy Halloween!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Spoke Too Soon...
Leave it to Fate to make a liar out of me.
I wrote in an entry here at the beginning of the month that Colorado generally doesn't have the same kind of autumn season other regions seem to have. While everything east of Colorado's border with Kansas blossoms into shades of green, yellow, brown, red and purple come September and October, the trees and shrubs in the Centennial State typically go from green to yellow to dead. Well, not this season, apparently.
When I wrote the entry, the trees around here were just starting their change. It was pretty, just as it always is, but nothing new seemed about to happen. Now, two weeks and change later, everywhere I go I'm surrounded by a cornucopia of autumnal hues. Driving along the main road outside my housing area, the landscape down the median is a veritable rainbow of color. The same colors I've talked about missing before are now transplanted to Colorado; a traveling exhibition of the East Coast's greatest hits has come to the Mile High City, and the result is nothing so much as exhilirating.
To see such a grand change in the low-oxygen air - or, perhaps, just noticing it for the first time, which makes me look bad - serves to remind me even more why I love fall. Summer's nice, especially when you're a kid, but fall is something special. Something...more. I mean, any season that has both Oktoberfest and Halloween just has to be better, right?
Glad you're coming with me on this.
Of course, Halloween is just around the corner. And for those of you living in Colorado, you know what that means: Figuring out how to maneuver a hooded parka over your kid's costume. It's regular as clockwork - come Halloween, it's gonna snow. A White Christmas? Nah, that's too easy. Here, at the gateway to the Rocky Mountains, we have to do things a little differently. We're not going to snow on Christmas...or even New Year's, for that matter. We're going to do you one better. We're going to snow on Hallo-frickin'-ween and April Fool's Day! Hah! Didn't see that comin', did ya?
It's already starting this year too. Temperatures have dropped quite a bit the last couple of days, the wind's just about ready to drop someone's house on a poor, unsuspecting witch, and snow can be seen all along the peaks of those beautiful mountains. A freeze warning was in effect for parts of the state, so it's going to happen. Will it happen here in Denver? Not sure yet. And it doesn't matter what the weather "forecasters" say, either; they predicted it would rain last Monday (it didn't) and last Saturday (nope, try again...), so we won't even try to locate their "predictions."
We're in the final stretch of October, and overall it's been a good month. Still haven't found a job, but that's about the only real problem I've got right now. I've been looking for full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal; I've considered every possibility from clerical and administrative to warehouse and logistics to groundskeeping and landscaping. Nothing. No nibbles, no phone calls, no emails. I've driven to malls and office buildings, dropped off or emailed resume after resume, and I'm lucky to even get an acknowledgement. Such is the state of things right now, but it's still frustrating as all hell.
Good thing I've got a video to be proud of, huh?
The application video I submitted to The Canyons resort in Park City, Utah, is up on their website. As things currently stand, mine is the third most popular, but the second most voted. Not too shabby considering the guy in first place has more than twice the views I do, and the lady in second place is five spots behind me in the "most voted" category. It looks like you can only vote once, unless you're craftier than I am in figuring out ways around that. If you've already voted, thanks a million. If you've passed the link along and told all your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, etc., about it and asked them to vote, then thanks a billion. That's right, passing it along gets more thanks than just voting. Circle of Life, dude. Hike up them Iron Man underoos and deal with it, okay?
In case you're interested, all of the posted videos, including mine, can be found at this lovely website. Mine is titled "How I Mountain." Not terribly original, I know, but it was late at night when I finished editing it and I wasn't entirely sure how they were going to set those up. Hindsight may be 20/20, but my butt's still wearing glasses. I mean, my eyes need glasses, not my butt. Cuz, y'know, my eyes are...
sigh
Never mind. Moving on...
The thumbnail for my video has the title "How I want to camp..." on it. Like I said, it's currently #3 in the Most Popular category, or #2 in the Most Voted category, so it's easy to spot. You could check out the competition, if you're so inclined, but bear in mind that any viewing adds to their total. Don't want to let your curiosity ruin my chances, do you? Thought not.
Now then...it's early afternoon, the sun's shining, and the outdoors are calling my name. Of course, the wind's blowin' something fierce, so I may just be hearing things. Regardless, I'm done for the day. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em, just not anywhere near me.
Ciao
I wrote in an entry here at the beginning of the month that Colorado generally doesn't have the same kind of autumn season other regions seem to have. While everything east of Colorado's border with Kansas blossoms into shades of green, yellow, brown, red and purple come September and October, the trees and shrubs in the Centennial State typically go from green to yellow to dead. Well, not this season, apparently.
When I wrote the entry, the trees around here were just starting their change. It was pretty, just as it always is, but nothing new seemed about to happen. Now, two weeks and change later, everywhere I go I'm surrounded by a cornucopia of autumnal hues. Driving along the main road outside my housing area, the landscape down the median is a veritable rainbow of color. The same colors I've talked about missing before are now transplanted to Colorado; a traveling exhibition of the East Coast's greatest hits has come to the Mile High City, and the result is nothing so much as exhilirating.
To see such a grand change in the low-oxygen air - or, perhaps, just noticing it for the first time, which makes me look bad - serves to remind me even more why I love fall. Summer's nice, especially when you're a kid, but fall is something special. Something...more. I mean, any season that has both Oktoberfest and Halloween just has to be better, right?
Glad you're coming with me on this.
Of course, Halloween is just around the corner. And for those of you living in Colorado, you know what that means: Figuring out how to maneuver a hooded parka over your kid's costume. It's regular as clockwork - come Halloween, it's gonna snow. A White Christmas? Nah, that's too easy. Here, at the gateway to the Rocky Mountains, we have to do things a little differently. We're not going to snow on Christmas...or even New Year's, for that matter. We're going to do you one better. We're going to snow on Hallo-frickin'-ween and April Fool's Day! Hah! Didn't see that comin', did ya?
It's already starting this year too. Temperatures have dropped quite a bit the last couple of days, the wind's just about ready to drop someone's house on a poor, unsuspecting witch, and snow can be seen all along the peaks of those beautiful mountains. A freeze warning was in effect for parts of the state, so it's going to happen. Will it happen here in Denver? Not sure yet. And it doesn't matter what the weather "forecasters" say, either; they predicted it would rain last Monday (it didn't) and last Saturday (nope, try again...), so we won't even try to locate their "predictions."
We're in the final stretch of October, and overall it's been a good month. Still haven't found a job, but that's about the only real problem I've got right now. I've been looking for full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal; I've considered every possibility from clerical and administrative to warehouse and logistics to groundskeeping and landscaping. Nothing. No nibbles, no phone calls, no emails. I've driven to malls and office buildings, dropped off or emailed resume after resume, and I'm lucky to even get an acknowledgement. Such is the state of things right now, but it's still frustrating as all hell.
Good thing I've got a video to be proud of, huh?
The application video I submitted to The Canyons resort in Park City, Utah, is up on their website. As things currently stand, mine is the third most popular, but the second most voted. Not too shabby considering the guy in first place has more than twice the views I do, and the lady in second place is five spots behind me in the "most voted" category. It looks like you can only vote once, unless you're craftier than I am in figuring out ways around that. If you've already voted, thanks a million. If you've passed the link along and told all your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, etc., about it and asked them to vote, then thanks a billion. That's right, passing it along gets more thanks than just voting. Circle of Life, dude. Hike up them Iron Man underoos and deal with it, okay?
In case you're interested, all of the posted videos, including mine, can be found at this lovely website. Mine is titled "How I Mountain." Not terribly original, I know, but it was late at night when I finished editing it and I wasn't entirely sure how they were going to set those up. Hindsight may be 20/20, but my butt's still wearing glasses. I mean, my eyes need glasses, not my butt. Cuz, y'know, my eyes are...
sigh
Never mind. Moving on...
The thumbnail for my video has the title "How I want to camp..." on it. Like I said, it's currently #3 in the Most Popular category, or #2 in the Most Voted category, so it's easy to spot. You could check out the competition, if you're so inclined, but bear in mind that any viewing adds to their total. Don't want to let your curiosity ruin my chances, do you? Thought not.
Now then...it's early afternoon, the sun's shining, and the outdoors are calling my name. Of course, the wind's blowin' something fierce, so I may just be hearing things. Regardless, I'm done for the day. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em, just not anywhere near me.
Ciao
Monday, October 18, 2010
Gettin' Overhauled...Hopefully
Anyone out here into cars or trucks in a big way? I'm more into the aesthetics - the lines, curves and stylings - than the engineering. I love them as pieces of art, yearning to slide behind the wheel, play with the switches, knobs and compartments, then finding an open autobahn somewhere and letting it off the chain. But sliding underneath them and digging into their inner workings? Not so much. That's why mechanics were invented; and really, who am I to take away American jobs just to get my hands a little dirty?
That's how patriotic I am. Don't want the terrorists winning, do I?
That's not to say I can't do things with a car. I've changed tires, spark plugs, batteries, oil filters and even a headlight or two. I don't mind doing small mechanical stuff, but I'm neither a gearhead nor a grease monkey. What I am, of course, is a writer and burgeoning video editor. So when someone comes to me with a project that involves his love of all things cars and trucks - but requires him to write and make videos of himself, which he disdains - I naturally jump at the chance. The fact that it's a blood relative is pure coincidence, I swear.
My brother, Greg, is my polar opposite in many regards, but my doppelganger in many others. We both have the same sense of humor, like the same movies and TV shows, and played with the same toys growing up. (We both loved G.I. Joe and Tranformers, but he was more into He-Man than I was, while I had more Legos.) We have the same mannerisms, the same shit-eating grin, and occasionally say the exact same thing at the exact same time. Drives my sister-in-law crazy; the rest of us just laugh our Harper asses off. One thing we definitely disagree on: He loves working on cars and trucks; I just like driving them.
About four years ago, Greg bought a 1976 Jeep Cherokee as a rebuild project. It's a monster, and even in its less-than-mint condition, the thing's pretty damn cool. It's got rust everywhere, the side mirrors flop down limply, and if things aren't actually falling off they're still barely working; despite all that, it's a beautiful truck with great bones and lots of potential. He managed to put a Gladiator grill on the front (if you don't know, then I can't tell you) and a lift kit underneath, as well as larger tires. Then he got racing seats from a salvage yard. Four years later, that's really about the extent of it. Not for lack of trying, mind you. Roughly two months after he bought it, he met and started dating the woman who would eventually become his bride. She's a perfect fit for my brother, and loves the Jeep almost as much as he does. Still, their desire to have a life and do things with friends and family left little time or money for the Jeep. So it sat, like a hulking piece of automotive art, first in a driveway, then in a garage, while he tried to find time and money to work on it.
Alas, we've all been around enough to know how that story unfolded...
Last December, shortly after their wedding, my sister-in-law became pregnant. Since then, money matters have shifted to their future child, as, of course, they should. When little Ava was born last month, one of the things Greg wanted as a father was to share his passion for cars and trucks with his daughter. He wants to teach her to be able to work on her own vehicle, using the Jeep as their bonding experience. Then, when she's 16, he'll give it to her as her first car. (That's his claim - I have my doubts about his sincerity in giving his most prized non-living possession away to anyone. But time wil tell...)
Last week, I got a call from Greg asking for a favor. During one of the many truck and car shows he watches on Sundays, he saw a clip calling for viewers to send in videos or pictures of their vehicles for a chance to get them overhauled. Since he's much more comfortable with a socket wrench than a pen, he asked if I'd be willing to help him get something together for the Jeep. What was I going to say? No? I mean, c'mon, I want to see this things all tricked out and beefed up as much as he does. Forget that he's my brother, darn it. This is as much for those of us who have to look at that eyesore and shake our heads at the hidden potential as it is for the guy who's dreams are bigger than his wallet.
Yes, that's true of all of us, but since you haven't asked me to help you make a video to get that promotion or win the lottery, I can't really speak for you, now can I?
So on Friday, my 37th birthday, I went to his place to help him get the Jeep put back together so we could pull it out of the garage and film it. We got as far as "put it back together." Apparently, it's easier to destroy than rebuild. True story. By the time we were ready to roll it out of the garage - I say roll because it wasn't in enough working condition to be driven (and still isn't) - we still had several pieces that needed to go back on. Y'know, like the radiator. But hey, at least it was kinda fun to push...
After a day off, we went back to his place yesterday to shoot video. The application required two: One of him, and one of the Jeep. If you know Greg, you know why this is amusing. Most of the pictures we have of him in his adult years are either of the side of his head because he turned away before the picture was snapped, or of him with an "I'm going to jump over this coffee table and strangle you with that strand of Christmas lights" glare aimed directly at the camera. Saying he doesn't like having his picture taken is an understatement. Same applies to video. So knowing that my brother not only needed to be in the video, but also had to talk about himself, his dreams, and his motivations...well, that has given me a series of hearty chuckles over the last week.
Hey, if you can't laugh at your brother's discomfort, what can you laugh at?
To his credit, it only required two takes to get footage we were both comfortable submitting. We came back home and shot some additional footage. Then I sat down to start editing. The video about him showed Greg sitting on the hood of the Jeep talking about why he bought it, what he wanted to do to it, and what his plans for it were after. Then I put in shots of him holding Ava, and of he and his wife in a park with their daughter. All told, it ran about two minutes and looked really good. Then came the Jeep video. I did that one myself, walking around it and climbing inside while sharing anecdotes about it. That one ran about two-and-a-half minutes. We got them finished, then I got online to fill out the application.
Turned out they were both too long. By a lot. Max file size was 10 MB - our shortest video was well over 20 MB.
Oops. Back to the drawing board.
So that's what I did this morning. Went back to the videos and re-edited them to sizes that would fit. I lost a lot of good stuff, but was still happy with the finished products. Finally got the application filled out and sent off around lunchtime.
All kidding aside, I want this to work for him. I would love nothing more than for someone to come to my door and tell me that my brother's Jeep was picked for this project. To be able to tell him that something we did together worked out for him would be incredible. Knowing that he would get his wish of seeing it fully fixed-up and driveable, knowing that he would get to share that with my niece, what could be better? I'm not sure if there's going to be any public voting on these applications, but if there is, I would be grateful for any assistance in getting him picked. I know Greg would, too. Until I know more, at least you get to sit back and enjoy the footage we shot.
As always, comments and feedback are welcome. Any well wishes will be passed along accordingly. And once it's all done and road-worthy, he swore he'd let me drive it.
Trust me, I have video of that too...and I'll be holding him to it.
That's how patriotic I am. Don't want the terrorists winning, do I?
That's not to say I can't do things with a car. I've changed tires, spark plugs, batteries, oil filters and even a headlight or two. I don't mind doing small mechanical stuff, but I'm neither a gearhead nor a grease monkey. What I am, of course, is a writer and burgeoning video editor. So when someone comes to me with a project that involves his love of all things cars and trucks - but requires him to write and make videos of himself, which he disdains - I naturally jump at the chance. The fact that it's a blood relative is pure coincidence, I swear.
My brother, Greg, is my polar opposite in many regards, but my doppelganger in many others. We both have the same sense of humor, like the same movies and TV shows, and played with the same toys growing up. (We both loved G.I. Joe and Tranformers, but he was more into He-Man than I was, while I had more Legos.) We have the same mannerisms, the same shit-eating grin, and occasionally say the exact same thing at the exact same time. Drives my sister-in-law crazy; the rest of us just laugh our Harper asses off. One thing we definitely disagree on: He loves working on cars and trucks; I just like driving them.
About four years ago, Greg bought a 1976 Jeep Cherokee as a rebuild project. It's a monster, and even in its less-than-mint condition, the thing's pretty damn cool. It's got rust everywhere, the side mirrors flop down limply, and if things aren't actually falling off they're still barely working; despite all that, it's a beautiful truck with great bones and lots of potential. He managed to put a Gladiator grill on the front (if you don't know, then I can't tell you) and a lift kit underneath, as well as larger tires. Then he got racing seats from a salvage yard. Four years later, that's really about the extent of it. Not for lack of trying, mind you. Roughly two months after he bought it, he met and started dating the woman who would eventually become his bride. She's a perfect fit for my brother, and loves the Jeep almost as much as he does. Still, their desire to have a life and do things with friends and family left little time or money for the Jeep. So it sat, like a hulking piece of automotive art, first in a driveway, then in a garage, while he tried to find time and money to work on it.
Alas, we've all been around enough to know how that story unfolded...
Last December, shortly after their wedding, my sister-in-law became pregnant. Since then, money matters have shifted to their future child, as, of course, they should. When little Ava was born last month, one of the things Greg wanted as a father was to share his passion for cars and trucks with his daughter. He wants to teach her to be able to work on her own vehicle, using the Jeep as their bonding experience. Then, when she's 16, he'll give it to her as her first car. (That's his claim - I have my doubts about his sincerity in giving his most prized non-living possession away to anyone. But time wil tell...)
Last week, I got a call from Greg asking for a favor. During one of the many truck and car shows he watches on Sundays, he saw a clip calling for viewers to send in videos or pictures of their vehicles for a chance to get them overhauled. Since he's much more comfortable with a socket wrench than a pen, he asked if I'd be willing to help him get something together for the Jeep. What was I going to say? No? I mean, c'mon, I want to see this things all tricked out and beefed up as much as he does. Forget that he's my brother, darn it. This is as much for those of us who have to look at that eyesore and shake our heads at the hidden potential as it is for the guy who's dreams are bigger than his wallet.
Yes, that's true of all of us, but since you haven't asked me to help you make a video to get that promotion or win the lottery, I can't really speak for you, now can I?
So on Friday, my 37th birthday, I went to his place to help him get the Jeep put back together so we could pull it out of the garage and film it. We got as far as "put it back together." Apparently, it's easier to destroy than rebuild. True story. By the time we were ready to roll it out of the garage - I say roll because it wasn't in enough working condition to be driven (and still isn't) - we still had several pieces that needed to go back on. Y'know, like the radiator. But hey, at least it was kinda fun to push...
After a day off, we went back to his place yesterday to shoot video. The application required two: One of him, and one of the Jeep. If you know Greg, you know why this is amusing. Most of the pictures we have of him in his adult years are either of the side of his head because he turned away before the picture was snapped, or of him with an "I'm going to jump over this coffee table and strangle you with that strand of Christmas lights" glare aimed directly at the camera. Saying he doesn't like having his picture taken is an understatement. Same applies to video. So knowing that my brother not only needed to be in the video, but also had to talk about himself, his dreams, and his motivations...well, that has given me a series of hearty chuckles over the last week.
Hey, if you can't laugh at your brother's discomfort, what can you laugh at?
Greg: The "Director's Cut" - the one too big to show.
To his credit, it only required two takes to get footage we were both comfortable submitting. We came back home and shot some additional footage. Then I sat down to start editing. The video about him showed Greg sitting on the hood of the Jeep talking about why he bought it, what he wanted to do to it, and what his plans for it were after. Then I put in shots of him holding Ava, and of he and his wife in a park with their daughter. All told, it ran about two minutes and looked really good. Then came the Jeep video. I did that one myself, walking around it and climbing inside while sharing anecdotes about it. That one ran about two-and-a-half minutes. We got them finished, then I got online to fill out the application.
The Theatrical Release - watered down and PG-rated
Turned out they were both too long. By a lot. Max file size was 10 MB - our shortest video was well over 20 MB.
Oops. Back to the drawing board.
So that's what I did this morning. Went back to the videos and re-edited them to sizes that would fit. I lost a lot of good stuff, but was still happy with the finished products. Finally got the application filled out and sent off around lunchtime.
Selling the Jeep - The original footage
All kidding aside, I want this to work for him. I would love nothing more than for someone to come to my door and tell me that my brother's Jeep was picked for this project. To be able to tell him that something we did together worked out for him would be incredible. Knowing that he would get his wish of seeing it fully fixed-up and driveable, knowing that he would get to share that with my niece, what could be better? I'm not sure if there's going to be any public voting on these applications, but if there is, I would be grateful for any assistance in getting him picked. I know Greg would, too. Until I know more, at least you get to sit back and enjoy the footage we shot.
As always, comments and feedback are welcome. Any well wishes will be passed along accordingly. And once it's all done and road-worthy, he swore he'd let me drive it.
Trust me, I have video of that too...and I'll be holding him to it.
Friday, October 15, 2010
37 Years Later...
On this day, 37 years ago, I entered this world. In the year 1973, the cost of a new house was around $32,000, while a gallon of gas would set you back a whopping 40 cents. Ironically, those numbers seem to have switched in recent years. Weird. The year I was born, a bill was signed to allow the construction of an oil pipeline in Alaska, while another was signed to make abortion a constitutional right. (Please, no politics...I'm just saying it happened in 1973. That's all.) The Sydney Opera House opened, and Richard Nixon tried convincing us he was "not a crook" as the Watergate hearings began. Skylab was launched into space, and the Sears Tower opened in Chicago. The year I was born also saw the "birth" of barcodes, optic fibers, and jetskis.
It was the year that gave us the films The Exorcist, Deliverance, Live and Let Die, American Graffiti and The Sting, among others. On the "boob tube" we were introduced to The Odd Couple, The Partridge Family, Columbo ("One more thing..."), M*A*S*H, Sanford and Son, and The Price is Right. On those glorious AM radio stations we (well, not US, per se, but people...) grooved to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Elton John's Crocodile Rock, and the Rolling Stones' Angie. Among the celebrities born in 1973: Tyra Banks, Kate Beckinsale (hellooo, Nurse!), Paul Walker, and Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin & Hobbes...the BEST comic strip EVER!!!).
It's strange, really. Every once in a while I sit back and think about the last 37 years. Not the stuff that I did, or didn't do, or wish I could do again. I'm talking about the things that happened around me. Things I didn't think about at the time, or didn't think I'd remember by the time 2010 rolled around. I never thought I'd live through a space shuttle exploding, a war in which my father - or myself - might have to participate, domestic bombings, a terrorist attack that destroyed a landmark and nearly a nation, a devestating storm that leveled a city and threw a giant spotlight on our government's inadequacies, or a black president. When I was a kid, Transformers were brand new and hadn't yet been ruined by Michael Bay, G.I. Joe introduced "swivel-arm battle grip" instead of "points of articulation", and my Star Wars action figures couldn't even bend at the arms because of the light saber you had to MANUALLY push through the slot. Hell, even their legs didn't bend...do you know how LAME those fights were?
Seriously, these kids today don't know just how good they have it...
Ahem. But I digress...
Some things haven't changed all that much. Thirty years ago I couldn't imagine living without my TV; today, I can't imagine living without my cell phone. (Though part of me realizes I'd be better off had neither invention come into my life.) I still play with Legos; or I would, if they weren't so bloody expensive now. I still read comic books, even if they feel the need to call them "graphic novels". Hell, I've even lived long enough to see new versions of Knight Rider, The Bionic Woman, The A Team, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Clash of the Titans. Some things, however, have definitely changed for the better. I can watch hundreds of channels on TV in gloriously clear high definition, I can listen to music on the go without having to flip a cassette over every 30 minutes, and I can watch a movie or read a book practically anywhere.
Without being too nostalgic, I find myself looking back at the first 37 years of my life and realizing just how much it all blurs together after a while. Not in a bad way, but definitely in a glossed-over amalgam of bittersweet flashbacks. I've heard that "life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Turns out that's true. Who knew? (Aside from John Lennon, of course...the man was a friggin' genius, after all.) You spend all your childhood days wanting to crisscross the galaxy in the Millennium Falcon looking for ancient civilizations, and instead you end up writing a blog about how much gas cost back when you were jumping unbuckled in the back seat as opposed to actually driving the car.
In the end, I guess, it's the memories, not the events themselves, that make this existence so much fun. We remember how much fun we had, and find new ways to recapture that excitement. Sometimes it works (looking at you, high def!) and sometimes it doesn't (cuz Clash of the Titans 2010 sucked!!!).
I hope my time down the timeline brought up some fun memories for you as well. I'd love to hear about the things you remember - good or bad. Maybe you'd like to elaborate on something I mentioned; maybe you thought of something I didn't. Either way, comments are always welcome. Grab your friends and family, bring 'em on over here, and let's have a big ol' memory fest.
C'mon...you know you wanna...
It was the year that gave us the films The Exorcist, Deliverance, Live and Let Die, American Graffiti and The Sting, among others. On the "boob tube" we were introduced to The Odd Couple, The Partridge Family, Columbo ("One more thing..."), M*A*S*H, Sanford and Son, and The Price is Right. On those glorious AM radio stations we (well, not US, per se, but people...) grooved to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Elton John's Crocodile Rock, and the Rolling Stones' Angie. Among the celebrities born in 1973: Tyra Banks, Kate Beckinsale (hellooo, Nurse!), Paul Walker, and Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin & Hobbes...the BEST comic strip EVER!!!).
It's strange, really. Every once in a while I sit back and think about the last 37 years. Not the stuff that I did, or didn't do, or wish I could do again. I'm talking about the things that happened around me. Things I didn't think about at the time, or didn't think I'd remember by the time 2010 rolled around. I never thought I'd live through a space shuttle exploding, a war in which my father - or myself - might have to participate, domestic bombings, a terrorist attack that destroyed a landmark and nearly a nation, a devestating storm that leveled a city and threw a giant spotlight on our government's inadequacies, or a black president. When I was a kid, Transformers were brand new and hadn't yet been ruined by Michael Bay, G.I. Joe introduced "swivel-arm battle grip" instead of "points of articulation", and my Star Wars action figures couldn't even bend at the arms because of the light saber you had to MANUALLY push through the slot. Hell, even their legs didn't bend...do you know how LAME those fights were?
Seriously, these kids today don't know just how good they have it...
Ahem. But I digress...
Some things haven't changed all that much. Thirty years ago I couldn't imagine living without my TV; today, I can't imagine living without my cell phone. (Though part of me realizes I'd be better off had neither invention come into my life.) I still play with Legos; or I would, if they weren't so bloody expensive now. I still read comic books, even if they feel the need to call them "graphic novels". Hell, I've even lived long enough to see new versions of Knight Rider, The Bionic Woman, The A Team, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Clash of the Titans. Some things, however, have definitely changed for the better. I can watch hundreds of channels on TV in gloriously clear high definition, I can listen to music on the go without having to flip a cassette over every 30 minutes, and I can watch a movie or read a book practically anywhere.
Without being too nostalgic, I find myself looking back at the first 37 years of my life and realizing just how much it all blurs together after a while. Not in a bad way, but definitely in a glossed-over amalgam of bittersweet flashbacks. I've heard that "life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Turns out that's true. Who knew? (Aside from John Lennon, of course...the man was a friggin' genius, after all.) You spend all your childhood days wanting to crisscross the galaxy in the Millennium Falcon looking for ancient civilizations, and instead you end up writing a blog about how much gas cost back when you were jumping unbuckled in the back seat as opposed to actually driving the car.
In the end, I guess, it's the memories, not the events themselves, that make this existence so much fun. We remember how much fun we had, and find new ways to recapture that excitement. Sometimes it works (looking at you, high def!) and sometimes it doesn't (cuz Clash of the Titans 2010 sucked!!!).
I hope my time down the timeline brought up some fun memories for you as well. I'd love to hear about the things you remember - good or bad. Maybe you'd like to elaborate on something I mentioned; maybe you thought of something I didn't. Either way, comments are always welcome. Grab your friends and family, bring 'em on over here, and let's have a big ol' memory fest.
C'mon...you know you wanna...
Thursday, October 14, 2010
It's All Over But The Waiting...And I Hate Waiting!!!
Ok, so there's this job I want. No, check that...there's this job I really, really want. I got a heads-up from a former instructor/occasional employer about this dream gig in Utah. The Canyons Resort in Park City is hiring a blogger for a four-month tour of duty starting January 1. Basically, I would go to the resort, experience everything they have to offer (on their dime...too cool), and write about my adventures at least four times a week.
Sounds easy, no?
I think it sounds awesome. Not just, "You're coming to the party, right? That's awesome!" I mean truly, deeply, on a fundamental level AWESOME. This is the kind of job a writer waits for his entire life. Or her entire life. I'm not sexist, really. All someone has to do to apply (aside from proving they can write entertaining articles) is submit a 2-minute video and a written travel blog. Piece of cake. Already finished, already sent off. But here's the gremlin in the blender: The interview process doesn't begin for another six weeks.
Groan.
But have faith, true believers. There is something you can do in the meantime. This small little task, this teeny, tiny favor, solves two problems. The first is how someone like yourself can view the aforementioned video; once I submitted mine, it became the property of the resort. But since I know you're dying to see what your ol' buddy Shawn can come up with to sell himself, like I said, this favor helps you find out.
The second problem is one of recognition. In order to help land the job, I'll need people (like you) to raise their hands and scream at the heavens, "We want Shawn Harper to have this job and no one else!!!!" (Trust me, if you're shouting to the heavens, you need that many exclamation points.) So how, the beloved followers of this humble blog may well ask, can we both accept the duty of this favor AND see Shawn make a fool of himself for a gloriously wonderful job?
Simple. Tell them I should have the job. As I understand it, at some point they will be posting the application videos on their website for people to see and vote on. Not sure when that's going to happen, but when it does, all y'all will be about the 9,000th to know. For now, just go here if you're interested in seeing and learning more about the resort itself. There's a ton of great stuff there, so be sure to hit all the nooks & crannies. This will also give you a better idea of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I'll be getting myself into when I get the job. (Think positive, think positive, think positive...)
So that's what I need. When the time comes, I'd appreciate your vote. And your friend's vote. And your doctor's vote, and your dry cleaner's vote, and your...well, you get the idea. The deadline for submission is Nov. 15, so there's still a lot of time left before I'll know anything for certain. After that, it'll be a couple of weeks before I get an interview (still thinking positive...), and a couple more after that before I'm told I got the job.
Like I said earlier...groan.
I figure since I'm done with the application, and because I've been talking about it like mad to everyone around me until they're ready to strangle me with a busted shoelace, I should go ahead and tell folks what's going on. Appreciate the support, as always. And please, you can see who's following me here and who's not. If you would spread the word and get all those slackers to come over here and join up, I would be eternally grateful. Well, maybe not 'eternally.' How about "I'll be grateful until the end of the year, then you're on your own?" True, that's a wee bit shorter than eternity, but it is more realistic. If you can think of someone else who might get a chuckle out of my ramblin's, send them over too.
Later, gators
P.S. - You're still picturing the "gremlin in the blender" bit, aren't you?
Sounds easy, no?
I think it sounds awesome. Not just, "You're coming to the party, right? That's awesome!" I mean truly, deeply, on a fundamental level AWESOME. This is the kind of job a writer waits for his entire life. Or her entire life. I'm not sexist, really. All someone has to do to apply (aside from proving they can write entertaining articles) is submit a 2-minute video and a written travel blog. Piece of cake. Already finished, already sent off. But here's the gremlin in the blender: The interview process doesn't begin for another six weeks.
Groan.
But have faith, true believers. There is something you can do in the meantime. This small little task, this teeny, tiny favor, solves two problems. The first is how someone like yourself can view the aforementioned video; once I submitted mine, it became the property of the resort. But since I know you're dying to see what your ol' buddy Shawn can come up with to sell himself, like I said, this favor helps you find out.
The second problem is one of recognition. In order to help land the job, I'll need people (like you) to raise their hands and scream at the heavens, "We want Shawn Harper to have this job and no one else!!!!" (Trust me, if you're shouting to the heavens, you need that many exclamation points.) So how, the beloved followers of this humble blog may well ask, can we both accept the duty of this favor AND see Shawn make a fool of himself for a gloriously wonderful job?
Simple. Tell them I should have the job. As I understand it, at some point they will be posting the application videos on their website for people to see and vote on. Not sure when that's going to happen, but when it does, all y'all will be about the 9,000th to know. For now, just go here if you're interested in seeing and learning more about the resort itself. There's a ton of great stuff there, so be sure to hit all the nooks & crannies. This will also give you a better idea of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I'll be getting myself into when I get the job. (Think positive, think positive, think positive...)
So that's what I need. When the time comes, I'd appreciate your vote. And your friend's vote. And your doctor's vote, and your dry cleaner's vote, and your...well, you get the idea. The deadline for submission is Nov. 15, so there's still a lot of time left before I'll know anything for certain. After that, it'll be a couple of weeks before I get an interview (still thinking positive...), and a couple more after that before I'm told I got the job.
Like I said earlier...groan.
I figure since I'm done with the application, and because I've been talking about it like mad to everyone around me until they're ready to strangle me with a busted shoelace, I should go ahead and tell folks what's going on. Appreciate the support, as always. And please, you can see who's following me here and who's not. If you would spread the word and get all those slackers to come over here and join up, I would be eternally grateful. Well, maybe not 'eternally.' How about "I'll be grateful until the end of the year, then you're on your own?" True, that's a wee bit shorter than eternity, but it is more realistic. If you can think of someone else who might get a chuckle out of my ramblin's, send them over too.
Later, gators
P.S. - You're still picturing the "gremlin in the blender" bit, aren't you?
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Now This Is What I'm Talking About!
I love days like this.
For the first real time this season, the temperature has dropped to fall-like norms. There's a cool breeze in the air, and on it rides the same smells and sounds of the Mile High City I've come to anticipate over the course of 20 love-hate years. The air conditioning is off, the windows are thrown open, and the trees lazily yield their branches to the wind rustling through them even as the leaves begin their metamorphosis from dark greens to pale yellows.
It's fall in Colorado, and today is the day I've waited for all year.
Going away are the shorts, and in their pace come the jeans. (Yes, I wear jeans all the time but dammit, I'm trying to be all imagery-y here...) To the bottom of the drawer go the T-shirts, replaced by long-sleeved henleys and pullovers. Hooded sweatshirts are moved from their pile of shame in the back of the closet and given the Shelf of Honor for easy access. Sweat pants and thick socks are the new shorts and barefoot. Come laundry day, those cotton and satin sheets don't go back on the bed; instead, the blissfully warm and cuddly flannel ones have made their way onto that pillow-top mattress.
Pretty soon cold lemonade and iced tea will be a memory fondly recalled over steaming mugs of hot chocolate and spiced cider. Air fresheners that once caressed the air of your home with the fragrances of linen, mountain air and summer beaches are now tempting you with the pull of fireplaces, falling leaves and pumpkin.
Mmm...pumpkin.
The days may be getting shorter, but the appeal of fall - with its cooler temps, leaf-scattered yards and impending threat of the first snowfall - has, to me, always triumphed over the hot and sweaty "dog days" of summer. Everything blooms in the summer, but I've always felt that the fall is when everything comes alive. Like the last desperate gasp of a dying man, Nature knows she's on her last legs of the year, so she tries valiantly to remind you what beauty she's capable of. Yeah, that may seem a bit too poetic, but admit it, you kinda feel the same way sometimes.
I've lived in a lot of different places in my 37 years. Most of them fall into two categories where the seasons are concerned: They have them or they don't. Colorado usually doesn't have a fall, truth be told. Not like back east, anyway. Here, we don't get the turning of the leaves; the greens, the yellows, the reds, the purples and the browns don't really exist in our semi-arid desert environment. We get the aspens going from green to gold, and though they are a truly beautiful sight to see when you're standing on a mountainside in the middle of them, it's not the same as watching the big maple leaves fall to the ground in a haphazard jumble of rich hues. My family is originally from Ohio, and I spent time in both Virginia and Kentucky (GO EAGLES!!!), so I know what I'm talking about. Even Portland, Oregon, the one incredible time I went there in late October, had some beautifully exciting scenery thanks to the trees. But not Colorado. I miss that, but not enough to make me want to live in God-awful humidity during the summer months. I'll take Colorado's no-colors-when-the-trees-change fall to anywhere else's I'm-sweating-like-a-pig-and-all-I-did-was-blink summer, thank you very much.
So today is one of the really great days. It's the weekend, which always helps, and the pigskin is getting tossed around both on my television set (tomorrow too...bonus!) and in the park behind the house. Spring may be the start of the life cycle for our planet, but fall is the start of something more profound for me. Something more basic. It's a return to days long gone, but perfectly remembered; a gateway to the joys of childhood and the innocence we find ourselves striving to recapture again as we get older. It's the alpha and the omega - the beginning and the end - of something hardwired into our psyche and updated every year.
It's the first real day of fall, and it's only going to get better from here. At least until the blizzard comes...
For the first real time this season, the temperature has dropped to fall-like norms. There's a cool breeze in the air, and on it rides the same smells and sounds of the Mile High City I've come to anticipate over the course of 20 love-hate years. The air conditioning is off, the windows are thrown open, and the trees lazily yield their branches to the wind rustling through them even as the leaves begin their metamorphosis from dark greens to pale yellows.
It's fall in Colorado, and today is the day I've waited for all year.
Going away are the shorts, and in their pace come the jeans. (Yes, I wear jeans all the time but dammit, I'm trying to be all imagery-y here...) To the bottom of the drawer go the T-shirts, replaced by long-sleeved henleys and pullovers. Hooded sweatshirts are moved from their pile of shame in the back of the closet and given the Shelf of Honor for easy access. Sweat pants and thick socks are the new shorts and barefoot. Come laundry day, those cotton and satin sheets don't go back on the bed; instead, the blissfully warm and cuddly flannel ones have made their way onto that pillow-top mattress.
Pretty soon cold lemonade and iced tea will be a memory fondly recalled over steaming mugs of hot chocolate and spiced cider. Air fresheners that once caressed the air of your home with the fragrances of linen, mountain air and summer beaches are now tempting you with the pull of fireplaces, falling leaves and pumpkin.
Mmm...pumpkin.
The days may be getting shorter, but the appeal of fall - with its cooler temps, leaf-scattered yards and impending threat of the first snowfall - has, to me, always triumphed over the hot and sweaty "dog days" of summer. Everything blooms in the summer, but I've always felt that the fall is when everything comes alive. Like the last desperate gasp of a dying man, Nature knows she's on her last legs of the year, so she tries valiantly to remind you what beauty she's capable of. Yeah, that may seem a bit too poetic, but admit it, you kinda feel the same way sometimes.
I've lived in a lot of different places in my 37 years. Most of them fall into two categories where the seasons are concerned: They have them or they don't. Colorado usually doesn't have a fall, truth be told. Not like back east, anyway. Here, we don't get the turning of the leaves; the greens, the yellows, the reds, the purples and the browns don't really exist in our semi-arid desert environment. We get the aspens going from green to gold, and though they are a truly beautiful sight to see when you're standing on a mountainside in the middle of them, it's not the same as watching the big maple leaves fall to the ground in a haphazard jumble of rich hues. My family is originally from Ohio, and I spent time in both Virginia and Kentucky (GO EAGLES!!!), so I know what I'm talking about. Even Portland, Oregon, the one incredible time I went there in late October, had some beautifully exciting scenery thanks to the trees. But not Colorado. I miss that, but not enough to make me want to live in God-awful humidity during the summer months. I'll take Colorado's no-colors-when-the-trees-change fall to anywhere else's I'm-sweating-like-a-pig-and-all-I-did-was-blink summer, thank you very much.
A neighbor's tree against the bright blue sky
The view down my street - everything from green to gold to dead
So today is one of the really great days. It's the weekend, which always helps, and the pigskin is getting tossed around both on my television set (tomorrow too...bonus!) and in the park behind the house. Spring may be the start of the life cycle for our planet, but fall is the start of something more profound for me. Something more basic. It's a return to days long gone, but perfectly remembered; a gateway to the joys of childhood and the innocence we find ourselves striving to recapture again as we get older. It's the alpha and the omega - the beginning and the end - of something hardwired into our psyche and updated every year.
It's the first real day of fall, and it's only going to get better from here. At least until the blizzard comes...
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Ran-dumb Stuff
Don't really have a lot to talk about today, but I felt the need to put something up. There are a couple of things I'd like to start adding to this, and today's as good a day as any to get the ball rolling. This isn't going to be a daily thing, but they will appear every time I post something, usually at the end. They're just stuff that I like, but if you've got some of your own, I'd love to see them in the comments. So without any ado whatsoever:
Today's Movie Quote: "I've often speculated on why you don't return to America. Did you abscond with the church funds? Did you run off with a senator's wife? I like to think that you killed a man, it's the romantic in me." - Capt. Renault (Claude Rains) to Rick (Humphrey Bogart), Casablanca, 1942.
Today's Upcoming Event: Denver Zombie Crawl, 2 p.m., Saturday, October 23, Skyline Park (16th & Arapahoe). A free event (not counting the cost of dressing up like a zombie and getting downtown) to celebrate all things living dead. I'm going to be there taking pics and getting quotes, so look for that blog probably on the 24th. Visit the official website here.
Today's Snow Advisory: Not yet. (Hey, it's Colorado, it's really just a matter of time...)
Yeah, that's really all for today. Thanks for checking in, even if it took longer to load the page than it did to read the post. Til next time...
Today's Movie Quote: "I've often speculated on why you don't return to America. Did you abscond with the church funds? Did you run off with a senator's wife? I like to think that you killed a man, it's the romantic in me." - Capt. Renault (Claude Rains) to Rick (Humphrey Bogart), Casablanca, 1942.
Today's Upcoming Event: Denver Zombie Crawl, 2 p.m., Saturday, October 23, Skyline Park (16th & Arapahoe). A free event (not counting the cost of dressing up like a zombie and getting downtown) to celebrate all things living dead. I'm going to be there taking pics and getting quotes, so look for that blog probably on the 24th. Visit the official website here.
Today's Snow Advisory: Not yet. (Hey, it's Colorado, it's really just a matter of time...)
Yeah, that's really all for today. Thanks for checking in, even if it took longer to load the page than it did to read the post. Til next time...
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Never Too Old For This Shi...Stuff
I love to hike and camp. Loved them from the first moment I tried them. Being outside, away from the city, cold morning air and crisp afternoon skies...there really is something cleansing and invigorating about it. It just feels comforting to me; it feels like I'm where I should be.
The earliest experiences with hiking I can remember were going Volksmarching with my dad when he was stationed in Augsburg, West Germany, in the mid- to late-80s. (Yes, it's just Germany now, but back then you definitely specified the "west" part.) Volksmarching, for those unaware, is basically hiking, but you get stamps in a little book and a neat little souvenir to take home as a prize. My dad and I would get up at o'dark-thirty, drive upwards of two hours to some small German town in Bavaria (highly recommended, btw...), and pay a very nice person for the privelege of walking around their forests on a nicely-marked trail. You're usually given the option of either a 10k hike (about 6.2 mi) or a 20k hike (12.4 mi). We always did the 10k. (It was early, we still had a 2-hour drive home, and I was, like, 12. Don't judge us.) Checkpoints are set up along the trail so someone can stamp your Volksmarching book, proving that you did, in fact, walk the hike. This is important if you want the little souvenir prize, and we always did. C'mon, you didn't think we were doing this for the pleasure, did you? Silly goose. Then came the rest area at the halfway point where you could sit, drink and eat before moving on to the end. Those were great times. It didn't matter how early it was, how cold it was, or how many people were there; it was always an incredibly fun time. Camping, of course, was a big thing for the Boy Scouts, so I got to do a lot of that as a kid too.
As an adult, not so much. Especially this year. Yesterday was my first hike of the year, and it'll probably be my only one. It was my first because I - and the people I like to hike with - were just too busy over the summer. It happens. It's probably my only hike because this time of year is hectic for my friends and family. Lots of birthdays, then the holidays. And it goes without saying that most of us are fair-weather hikers. Donning snow gear and snow shoes to walk a trail we can't even see to the top of a friggin' mountain? Um, no thanks. Just gimme a beer and let me watch football.
So I finally went hiking yesterday. My friend Doug and I went to a place near Breckenridge called Mohawk Lake Trail - a beautiful area all year long. It was gorgeous; in the 50s during the early morning but up to the high 60s by mid-day. The clouds didn't show up until early afternoon, and by then we'd already started our trek back down. It was also quiet. I know what you're thinking: Of course it was quiet, you dolt! You were away from civilization! And that's true, but the thing about Colorado is that civilization has a tendency to show itself in the wild on days like that. The cool thing, though, is that most of the time civilization's not an early riser. So, if you don't mind losing a few hours sleep and getting an early start, like we did, you can get a good deal of hiking in before meeting another person.
Mohawk Lake trail is a 7-mile round-tripper, if you go all the way to the top. Mohawk Lake is actually divided into an upper and lower lake area. I've taken this trail four times now, and I've only ever managed to make it to Lower Mohawk Lake. For one reason or another, none of my friends or I have made it to the upper lake. But Doug and I have a plan...for next year.
We got to the trailhead around 9 a.m. There were four other cars parked there, but no one was around. We hiked in peace and quiet for a good hour, hour-and-a-half. In the trees, the sun blocked out by evergreens, in early October, up in the mountains...yeah, it was a little brisk. But by the time we broke through into the first clearing, it was warm and sunny. And that's how it stayed.
The earliest experiences with hiking I can remember were going Volksmarching with my dad when he was stationed in Augsburg, West Germany, in the mid- to late-80s. (Yes, it's just Germany now, but back then you definitely specified the "west" part.) Volksmarching, for those unaware, is basically hiking, but you get stamps in a little book and a neat little souvenir to take home as a prize. My dad and I would get up at o'dark-thirty, drive upwards of two hours to some small German town in Bavaria (highly recommended, btw...), and pay a very nice person for the privelege of walking around their forests on a nicely-marked trail. You're usually given the option of either a 10k hike (about 6.2 mi) or a 20k hike (12.4 mi). We always did the 10k. (It was early, we still had a 2-hour drive home, and I was, like, 12. Don't judge us.) Checkpoints are set up along the trail so someone can stamp your Volksmarching book, proving that you did, in fact, walk the hike. This is important if you want the little souvenir prize, and we always did. C'mon, you didn't think we were doing this for the pleasure, did you? Silly goose. Then came the rest area at the halfway point where you could sit, drink and eat before moving on to the end. Those were great times. It didn't matter how early it was, how cold it was, or how many people were there; it was always an incredibly fun time. Camping, of course, was a big thing for the Boy Scouts, so I got to do a lot of that as a kid too.
As an adult, not so much. Especially this year. Yesterday was my first hike of the year, and it'll probably be my only one. It was my first because I - and the people I like to hike with - were just too busy over the summer. It happens. It's probably my only hike because this time of year is hectic for my friends and family. Lots of birthdays, then the holidays. And it goes without saying that most of us are fair-weather hikers. Donning snow gear and snow shoes to walk a trail we can't even see to the top of a friggin' mountain? Um, no thanks. Just gimme a beer and let me watch football.
So I finally went hiking yesterday. My friend Doug and I went to a place near Breckenridge called Mohawk Lake Trail - a beautiful area all year long. It was gorgeous; in the 50s during the early morning but up to the high 60s by mid-day. The clouds didn't show up until early afternoon, and by then we'd already started our trek back down. It was also quiet. I know what you're thinking: Of course it was quiet, you dolt! You were away from civilization! And that's true, but the thing about Colorado is that civilization has a tendency to show itself in the wild on days like that. The cool thing, though, is that most of the time civilization's not an early riser. So, if you don't mind losing a few hours sleep and getting an early start, like we did, you can get a good deal of hiking in before meeting another person.
Coming through the first break in the trees, this is the view that awaits us.
Mohawk Lake trail is a 7-mile round-tripper, if you go all the way to the top. Mohawk Lake is actually divided into an upper and lower lake area. I've taken this trail four times now, and I've only ever managed to make it to Lower Mohawk Lake. For one reason or another, none of my friends or I have made it to the upper lake. But Doug and I have a plan...for next year.
We got to the trailhead around 9 a.m. There were four other cars parked there, but no one was around. We hiked in peace and quiet for a good hour, hour-and-a-half. In the trees, the sun blocked out by evergreens, in early October, up in the mountains...yeah, it was a little brisk. But by the time we broke through into the first clearing, it was warm and sunny. And that's how it stayed.
Taken near a beaver dam - the foreground shows the "lake" formed by it.
We would have made better time up the trail, but Doug and I also wanted to take pictures as we hiked. That meant stopping every time a beautiful scene revealed itself to us. And it did. A lot. Between that and Doug getting over being sick all week, we didn't have a lot of energy left by the time we reached the lower lake. Still, it was an awesome end to a mediocre week, which makes it just about perfect. Enjoy the pictures. These and others are also up on Facebook, so check me out there: www.facebook.com/oxygendepraved.
For more information on this and other trails in the Breckenridge area, I suggest you check out http://www.breckenridgecolorado.travel/index.html or http://www.summitcountyexplorer.com/summithikingtrails.htm. Both sites have some great information and maps for your perusal.
This one's a short post. It's Sunday, so football's starting in about 30 minutes. I'm sure y'all understand...
At the top of the Jeep trail, second half of the hike.
The more photogenic half of Lower Monarch Lake.
Remants of an old pulley system. The wheel is behind me, and you can see
the cable in the center of the pic going down the mountain.
The view from the ledge where the pulley sits.
It's to my left.
Clouds coming in as we walk down the Jeep trail.
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