these days

the days are simply cascading around me. i dont feel like i have been gone that long, but the natural end to my journey seems to be ever nearing, and i dont know if i will make it everywhere i want before the natural end comes. i will keep my fingers crossed and continue at my slow pace enjoying every moment of this life.

so, where did i leave off. i recognize that the last few blog posts have been mostly about what i have been doing and not about what i have been thinking. since i have been in colorado springs i havent had much time to write, the times that i take are generally semi-stolen (mostly from my sleeping hours) and often not enough. that got me thinking today about the writing and whether i should take time out of experiencing and devote more time to writing.

the conundrum being is it better to remember what happens and miss out on what doesnt, or experience everything i can and maybe forget about it before i can commit it to writing. i think that i have concluded the latter.

so, back to the story. today was a change from the past two days being here, today i was on my own. and i was happy for it. i got up around 9:am and frances was just coming down to let me know what was going on. she was taking travis to work and then picking up a babysitter, coming back and then going to work herself. i was a bit disoriented, but took the time to shower and prepare for the day. when she got back, she told me that i could stay and hang out with the babysitter, but i announced that i was leaving.

then the sad face came, and i realized that i said i was leaving the same way i said it when i was leaving tucson or san diego or la. abrupt and without warning, however this time i meant that i was only leaving to explore the city, not leaving the springs altogether and never coming back. situation under control, we chatted for a minute and went on to experience our days.

i wanted to go back to the garden of the gods becasue i liked the look of the place and wanted to learn more. so i made my way towards there, i didnt know precisely how to get there but there was a street named after the place so i found it and followed the signs. when i arrived it was 10:30ish and hot. it is hotter at altitude becasue you are closer to the sun.

i walked down the path, similar to what we had done the previous time and wondered why i was taken by it, the path wasnt that interesting and the plaques didnt offer much information. then i remembered. i wanted to climb these magnificent rocks! i dont know if this is something i have always been enraptured by but since the grand canyon i have really wanted to be more daring in relation to climbing rocks and exploring natural spaces. trees arent that interesting for climbing, the ocean wasnt beckoning to me, but these rocks...

and, i guess this has been simmering for awhile. even in portland for the past few years i had been drawn to the indoor rock wall and wanted to take a class or just go climb it. i had a plan to do just that, however i was laid off and my world crumbled around me. instead i am doing this. this is better.

so, ignoring the signs, i scrambled up the biggest rock with the intention of getting to the top where the "kissing camels" formation was. i made it a little over a quarter of the way up, maybe 50 feet, and hit a wall. i felt that i could scramble up more, but wasnt as sure about getting down. then i allowed myself to remember that what i was doing was illegal and carried a $500 fine, i could die, etc etc. so i went back down. not totally defeated, but a little.

then there was a rock climbing demonstration a little down the path and went and watched a "professional" climb a sheer face. it justified the stupidity i would have engaged climbing higher on the big rock. but it did shift my focus to smaller formations around me. i walked toward the parking lot and spotted the formation i wanted. it was directly across from kissing camels overshadowing the main path and only about 75-100 feet up. i could do it!

i found a path and with some fancy foot maneuvering and some quick decisions i made it to the flat-ish top part. i stood and lorded over the crowd for a moment, then went higher. i took some pictures, and enjoyed the view for a few moments, then i started my descent. as i thought, the descent was harder, and i got lost a bit looking for my proper path, but eventually found it and was satisfied with my garden of the gods experience.

i was ready to leave and driving away when i came upon the visitors center. i decided to stop in and see what kind of information it had, especially since the plaques were lacking. first, however, i had to get to the entrance. it wasnt blocked, but a crowd was gathered for some angelic intonations. a traveling bell choir was performing outside the entrance and i was intrigued.

i had never seen anything like it or really ever even known something like it existed. they loved god, and i took a video. i went inside after listening to a few songs, explored, read some facts and then watched a movie about the formation of the place. it was interesting, but not worth the $5 they were charging to those that werent as sly as me (that means i sneaked in).

after that i was really done and went off looking for new adventures. i didnt find one, but decided to go back to the bar travis and i went to a few nights ago. tony's. it had wi-fi and i could use some computer time/beer time/alone time indoors. the lady there talked me into a mini-pitcher, but i had only planned on a pint. her logic won me over and a little pitcher came.

i typed and surfed and drank and generally enjoyed myself. frances called me while was there and we made plans to meet up in a bit. i finished up my beer, the story i was weaving, and packed up to go. and when i got to my car, disaster! but not bad disaster, since i hadnt planned on a mini-pitcher i didnt feed the meter properly and was the victim of another parking ticket. another $20 down the drain, but at least my law/truck experiences are always happening when i am not around!

frances and i met up back at her house and had planned to go to a park, but got to talking again. then i went and bougght some beers and we just kept on chatting. it is really nice to have friends that you can just pick back up with. we talked alot about growing up, our family lives and such, how we got from there to here and also about books and music and movies. then she went to get travis from work and when they got back we all sat outside and drank beers and talked more. apparently, this is the life.

then she and i walked to the store. it was a nice leisurely walk, about ten blocks. most of the way frances was talking about one of the books she had to read for a class. basically it was about how poor people think differently than not-poor people and need to be treated differently in a counseling situation to account for their economic deficiencies. she was calling bullshit on it and explaining the ways. i was mostly listening.

then we got to the store and shortly she ran into her librarian friend and resumed her discussion about the book, the librarian caught on and all of a sudden they were embroiled in a meaningful conversation. it was amazing. i felt like i was living the movie waking life.

we got back to the house and watched the movie man on wire i had talked about the book to frances earlier and she was intrigued. travis was intrigued when i explained it to him, and i had recently finished reading the book so a fresh watching of live action could do no harm. they both seemed to enjoy the film even through natalies demands for attention.

and, as per usual, the night demands a penance and we decided to pay it then with our eyes shut and our minds open. i am going to that devil now. sleep, welcome me!