the stormy blues, part 2

i had contemplated climbing deer ridge (8,700’) but it was getting late in the day and my gps batteries were on their death beds. i would have made the return into the night and would have absolutely needed my gps to make the safe trip. the ridge would have to wait until morning. in order to pass the time, i meandered around bb's campsite and found some awesome rock outcroppings to scramble. there never seems to be a shortage of giant boulders to scramble around whenever i decide to sleep in my car. the views were incredible from the point i climbed; better than any of the ranked peaks i’d been on recently. the scramble up required some attention and was good practice for the real deal 14ers on the horizon. but of course right when the money shot is happening over meeker, my camera battery dies. i don’t think you can imagine how pissed i was. back down.

some obstacles are actually fun!

last shot before the camera died

i bedded down in the back of bb by around 7:30 or 8:00 and fell fast asleep, but i tossed and turned, switching from hot and cool, paranoid i was being eaten alive by deer ticks. however i never did notice the rain in the night. i “slept in” until about 6:00 and promptly got on the trail to finish out the weekend on top of deer ridge. crossing the same “no crossing” sign as the day prior, i headed sse up deer ridge. there were some wet spots, some dense spots, some rocky spots, some scrambling spots, some steep spots, some airy spots, and some flat spots, though not many. there was a register and turns out no one had been up there since november of last year. not only that, but only 2 folks signed the register in all of last year. i marveled at the great land that we are so blessed to live near, then headed back to my car and civilization. another stop at meadow mountain café and then it was back on to denver just in time as it started to snow. all in all, 15.25 miles, 4,640’ elevation gain. phew, what a weekend. and bb survived, barely. i need to get her in if i’m going to be out there next weekend. no more of this 2.5k rpm crap. come on bb! come on ethan!

deer ridge - 8,700'



 

sign me up!



summit!



so now i sit here on my balcony, listening to sad indie music and buzzin’ from my pipe (my dad used a pipe, not that it justifies it), on a cool colorado spring evening, reminiscing a time when someone stood here next to me and said “i’m right here”. why can’t time stand still? why can’t a moment just live on? it did, for a while. maybe that is what heaven is, that one moment in life, repeating and repeating over and over. that would be a fine way to spend eternity, even if my body is in the mountain soil. not that there’s anything wrong with that either. please, if anyone is reading this, make sure my physical remains are placed in the earth of a cemetery deep in the mountains. somewhere where 4wd is recommended and preferably next to a pine in the shade. gilpin, boulder or summit counties please. someday i’ll have the time and money to arrange a location for my body to become one with the earth, but in the meantime i’m counting on you. suppose i should just update my will. but in the meantime…

in the meantime, i blog. my “arts and creativity” board member is shining bright. i recently took katie to the music man jr., put on by the kids at the studio school where she attends. it was very well done, although the set changes were a little annoying. they’d take a few minutes and one occurred every 20 minutes or so. the lead and most of the lead girls were awesome and made me forget that they were only 11. the “music man” had many lines and was so animated. i wouldn’t be surprised to see him on broadway someday. not that I’d ever see a show on broadway but maybe you will, and he will probably be there. katie wanted to sit in the absolute highest row up so the volume of the actors was poor. that, along with all the big words in the script, made for a slightly confusing story. i got the gist of what was going on but couldn’t follow the finer points of the story. i’m not sure if katie got it but loved it regardless. she especially liked when a bunch of the townsfolk came out dressed as indians and started dancing around. she said they look like choctaw. i’ve been reading john muir’s works (thanks ma!) and a couple others off and on. of course i’m still watching movies but lack the time or motivation to review them. recent watches: scanners (1981); elephant man (1980) – david lynch, anthony hopkins; sling blade (1996), delicatessen (1991), and un chien andalou (1928). i recommend all of them!

and of course i blog. it’s nice to have the time for it. having the internet would be nice but i make due. i think it would be more of a distraction and burn another hole in my wallet more than anything. i have nothing else looming for this particular member of the boardroom, unless you count my growing collection of outdoor signage. in fact i collected up two unnecessary signs this past week. i only take ones that are littered on the ground, or hanging to the tree by a thread and pointless in purpose in my opinion. for example, the one mentioned earlier where there were five of the same sign on one fence, within 30 feet of each other. there was one laying on the ground in jeffco on the way up coal creek peak that i wish i had taken. just think of the damage it is doing right now on the grass trying to grow right there. and in 200 years the tree root that won’t be able to penetrate the 8 inch metal plate. plants will die if i don’t do my part. i will never not take another worthless sign that i come across on my rambles. and plus what an inexpensive way to decorate my place! they’ll look good right next to the moose hide i just picked up. i wish.

so i should have known. those stormy blue eyes. a vacant seat is now open in the boardroom. i terminated a longstanding member, and then the seat was promptly and unexpectedly filled. then that board member up and terminated me. my partner left due to loss of interest in the ceo, his operation, and his other board members. she became unimpressed with him. it was a cold resignation. and then again, too many times had i been in her spot, delivering an emotionless request that the relationship seize from being. this was karma at its best. how my brother was right, karma came back around and broke my other leg. that’s how it feels. worse actually. i would rather have had my other leg break than lose this board member. so now the board is down to 9 members. i’m not looking to fill that seat any time soon, however the most latter member will have a longstanding invitation to return to the table. anyone else will have near impossible shoes to fill. qualifications: accepts ceo and other board members wholeheartedly, and is easily impressed.

my former partner still has some stuff of mine, despite two exchanges already. magazines, pillow, hoodie, mittens, and perhaps map and gps. it’s been made clear that i’ll probably never see these things again. i was told that maybe we’d meet again on the trail. perhaps. i can think of a few opportunities for that to happen. we’ll see. it’s bizarre how cruel i was treated, being kicked aside and cut off, when i’d given so much. punishment for nearly doing the same to the last chairman of the board. it still hurts like a mofo.

as an attempt to press on, i can report little success. the mexi joint’s 18 year old hostess is, well, she’s 18. there’s another little seniorita but she’s left for the day. a particular at work has caught my eye these past few weeks, although hardly anything catches hers. she’s quiet and seems to have no interest in forming relationships at work. she looks my age and out of my league. then again, so was my former partner in crime i thought. guess i had been right about that. there will be nothing like her again.

mtn girl

mtn man