A Weekend in July

The hot weather seems to be taking a break this weekend. It's not the heat as much as the irritation of listening to fans and the air conditioner. Still, I remember when we didn't have any of the rooms air conditioned and it was awful.

It's Steve's 63rd birthday today. We've made a lot of trips around the sun together. He is choosing to spend his birthday puttering around the house, after drinking coffee and reading the New York Times on the front porch.

Some of the family are at a resort swimming and going to the local zoo, others are going to the Carousel  of Happiness in Nederland, and some of the more distant relatives are camping. Summer.

A neighbor came by and introduced herself. She has placed a "Little Free Library" in her front yard. The Grand Opening is today and we're invited. The library has a train theme seeing as she lives a very short distance from the train track.

I had an almost impromptu coffee with my friend, Nana, yesterday. The beautiful copies of her latest book arrived and I was privileged to received a copy. If you love memoirs or history, this is a fine read.

Tei: A Memoir of the End of War and Beginning of Peace

Translated by Nana V. Mizushima

Somebody crawls now. A big game-changer.

A trip to the market. Those are tattoos on her arms and legs.

The R & R Writing Retreat

Five of us went to the cabin last weekend to have a writing retreat of sorts. I dutifully prepared exercises and writing prompts, as did the other people, but the allure of the mountains seemed to sap our resolve. The most disciplined person there couldn't corral us into doing much writing. For the record, though, we did some writing.

I'd like to know where this place is. We could go there next time.

A new addition to our cabin decor. It was in uncovered while removing the flood debris.

Writerly trappings.

The Rainbow Family of Living Light: Live and Let LIve?

I just heard 30 to 50 Rainbow Family members are in the forest up by Red Feather Lakes in Colorado. They just had their annual July gathering in Utah with about 8,000 people in attendance. The group up at Red Feather Lakes has already had one stabbing when a guy with a knife attacked a guy with an ax. I've seen the kids panhandling in Boulder when the RF comes to the area, and they're rude and very aggressive. They carry knives and axes, for instance.

I decided to read a few webpages devoted to The Rainbow Family of Living Light. They look good on paper but their reality doesn't seem to match someone's good intentions.

Here's some of the vast amount written by members:

"Another interesting thing is that there is no formal organizational structure. There are no membership qualifications, no fees or dues, no leaders, and virtually no rules other than the one of 'peaceful respect.'
...Participation, communication, and cooperation are how things get done."

"Picture twenty thousand people in a sunlit meadow, standing silent in prayer, holding hands in one huge, unbroken circle. Picture a parade of children approaching, singing songs, their countenances bright with enthusiasm and face paint, balloons and banners waving in the breeze..."

 I'd say, "Sign me up," except I hate crowds and the Rainbow Family is famous for environmental damage. Medical facilities get stuck with unpaid bills, animal control was stiffed in 2006 after treating a parvovirus outbreak among the numerous dogs, trash is often left behind as well as human waste and compost, and there always seems to be some violence. The U.S. Forest Service in got stuck with a $573,000 expense after the gathering in Montana in 2013.

The area they are gathering in this time is next to where our horrific High Park Fire occurred two years ago. The mountainsides are still dangerous in many areas with flash floods and trees falling down. The land and the people are not healed, and monetary resources are stretched thin. The county doesn't need 8,000 wild cards building their campfires and damaging the fragile forests.

I am minutely encouraged to hear that an advance team of nonmembers arrive to organize kitchens, water treatment, latrines, first-aid, a children's area, and a place for the "troublesome" drinkers.

I don't know why these gatherings intrigue me. I am similarly fascinated by the Burning Man event that occurs regularly. Burning Man also pays its way with the local government and tries to get along. If anyone knows of someone who has written a book about the Rainbow Family, please send along the title. There is obviously a good, idealistic core to this cultural phenomena, but has it gotten to the point where it is attracting the wrong people? Is the destruction of the land is making it untenable?

I want to know more but, more importantly, I don't want to see hide nor hair of any Rainbows when I'm up at the cabin in August.

Time & Hamster Wheels

Time's a Wastin' is a Johnny Cash & June Carter song title. "Time's a Wastin'" is also a somewhat dated, yet common, expression. Life is precious, life is short,  blah, blah, blah, and we should be ashamed to waste so many good hours. This is not to say that every waking minute should be spent working, repairing, thinking great thoughts, and creating great works of art for posterity. There is a lot to be said for kicking back and living in the moment. (a cliche yet so very difficult to do) What is so wrong with living the life you desire as long as it doesn't hurt anyone, and your lifestyle is within the bounds of personal responsibility?

Allison Ballantine says:

We become so accustomed to life on the hamster wheel of achievement and approval that we just forget. We scamper on and on, chasing the ephemeral promises of “someday…” or “if only I…”

I have a terrible desire to find myself hanging out on a white sand beach in the Caribbean, drinking Coronas and staring into the soft waves as they break on the shore. Nothing practical would be accomplished by this change of my life's course. It would represent the attainment of pure relaxation and personal pleasure. There would be a tiki hut and umbrellas made of palm fronds, and a luscious breeze and fresh, ripe fruit. As soon as I learn to like the taste of beer, I'm buying that plane ticket.

As hard as I'm trying today to write this post, I am also taking care of two children. I wish I had a bubble full of silence I could stick over my head. I picture wearing an old diving helmet. I finally have the 7-month old asleep, but the 4-year old is happy and singing away with gusto. It's bad karma to tell someone they can't sing with gusto, so I won't. Being a silly person, I also have three parakeets who are belting out their own musica ficta. (in early contrapuntal music, it was the introduction by a performer of sharps, flats, or other accidentals to avoid unacceptable intervals) Parakeets just hate unacceptable intervals. The train rumbles and honks its way through the neighborhood at irregular intervals (the only acceptable kind).

The baby will be waking up any time now so I'd better quit thinking about beaches and beer, and more about hamster wheels.

  

The Cabin

There are a lot of books titled : Cabin or The Cabin, with hundreds upon hundreds more with some variation on the word "cabin". When I speak of "The Cabin" I mean our little brown cabin up at 6,000 feet. When we bought it, we tried to come up with some sort of appropriate, meaningful name, so we could say something like, "We went up to "The Squirrel's Bow" or "The Bat Cave", but nothing ever stuck. Corny names don't work for my kind of brain. Too dignified of a name is also too onerous. So we let the name come about naturally, ending up with The Cabin.

We went to the cabin last weekend. There were some repairs to be made and cleaning up to do. The guy with the Bobcat made a huge difference in removing the concrete-like dirt that has been encasing half the cabin since just after the High Park Fire in June of 2012. The removal of the majority of the dirt has given us some hope that we may be able to call the cabin "finished" once again someday.

A neighbor's cabin sits right on a creek that flows to the Poudre River. A flash flood must have hit the creek last Monday. The cabin had a lot of water flow to each side of it and almost washed out the road leading to the cabins at the end of the lane. Their bridge to a little island was damaged, and lots of debris piled up on their back porch. Still, none of the cabins have been destroyed despite the continued onslaught of mountain water with no way to sink in to the soil since the fire. Let's hope our luck holds and that the flash floods don't become any larger.

I have never seen such a profusion of wildflowers in the meadow.

The trail to the meadow has tall grass. Little snakes zip across the trail as you walk.

A Lotta Nada

I had coffee with a friend this morning. Very brief compared to our usual coffee marathons, but it was still well worth it. He had read three pages of my new book, but still found words of encouragement for me. I came home and wrote on the sweltering heat on the shady porch while my granddaughter had a spirited picnic next to me. It's amazing how a little encouragement helps my writerly intentions.

I complained about my difficulties learning a software program, telling him that our mutual friend, V, told me I had a psychological problem with technology. After I bitched about the program, he said, "You have a psychological problem with technology."

I'd like to be kayaking today. No technology required.

Crows and Bunnies: The Circle of Life

At Jeremy's workplace, a rabbit made a nest for her six babies under the portico, just inches from the curb in a busy area. Yesterday, when I got to see the nest, there were four bunnies left, and a very interested crow watching from the top of a light pole. A brave little bunny, barely large enough to fit into the palm of a hand, was out in the driveway on the scorching hot pavement.  Jeremy returned it to its nest and it snuggled in and fell asleep. Today, no bunnies in the nest. It seems that they wander out of the nest when their eyes open. Or...?

A Pleasantly Unsettled Day

I just had the luxury of having four days without my usual routine. Because every day was different, it was like a little vacation. I say "little" because there was also work involved. It was too hot to work outside, but I went to the ranch three times and enjoyed the peace and quiet out there.

A big storm hit last night around 11 PM. It was a torrential downpour so I don't have to water our yard or our neighbor's yard today. It's overcast this morning with a clean, cool breeze. The coolness won't survive the day, still it's a nice respite after so much heat.

The baby could barely scoot around the floor when I saw him last Thursday. Today he's a perpetual motion machine with the ability to travel around the room on his own now. It's amazing what can happen in four days with a child.

I didn't get much writing done during the long weekend because I was focusing on learning the Scrivener software. I've come to the realization that I expect it to be more complicated than it is and, thus, confuse myself.

The Day After July 4th

I've been in need of some unstructured time for myself and finally got the opportunity this weekend. Four whole days off of the routine grid. Hallelujah! I'm visiting my horse every morning, and getting some chores accomplished at home despite the July heat.

I stood at the end of my driveway last night and watched the fireworks being launched at the fairgrounds. It was an abundance of beautiful formations with brilliant colors. The clouds were almost spectral as they crossed the moon above the bursts of fireworks, with the clouds finally clearing and revealing a crescent that was almost a true half. Then I came inside to read before trying to sleep. This is when it became very clear that a major party was happening down the block. The thunderous noise, and intermittent high-pitched whistling, went on until 2 AM.

I finally fell asleep, but dreamed the baby was lying next to me and about to fall off the bed. The cat took it pretty well when I yelled and grabbed her with both hands. She couldn't have been any more shocked than me when I grabbed a furry infant. I quickly woke up and realized my mistake. Anyone who knows my cat will be surprised that the next stop wasn't the medicine cabinet to get bandaids.

#

I succumbed after reading an article about how wonderful a series of books by Karl Ove Knausgaard are. Book 1, My Struggle, arrived late this afternoon. I've read the first several pages, then flipped through it, reading a few pages at random. It is a rare bird that appears to be as wonderful as promised.
Oh happy day.

Hazy Day in Boulder County

This morning, the hot air balloons we see almost every morning, looked ghostly even while close to our road. The mountains were also barely visible, all because of smoke from a fire burning in Alberta, Canada. This is so obvious to me but I'll point out that what we do to the environment affects others all over the world.

The kids enjoyed watching one hot air balloon land at the edge of Longmont this morning. E now believes me when I say there are people riding in the basket. She can be pretty skeptical for a four-year-old. Another balloon was very close to the treetops in the neighborhood across the highway. The newspaper reports that it landed safely in an elementary school playground.

The 4th of July is almost upon us. Should be a toasty weekend. I plan to finish learning Scrivener, which is software that helps disorganized writers like me become organized. At least that's the dream. I also want to do some writing, but that's what I tell myself every day.

A bird is in this kinetic sculpture, taking a free ride. It's near the top.

A working man's sculpture.