Home is Where Your Heart Sings

   I never thought that moving to the City would make me feel like I have come home. There are a lot of similarities to Grand Junction, Colorado and Albany, New York. The area here sets in a Basin between the mountains. This area is much smaller than Albany but it reminds me of it. Albany has the Heldeberg Mountains and the Adirondacks. Junction has the Grand Mesa, Colorado National Monument, and the Book Cliffs.

 The Book Cliffs are a series of desert mountains and cliffs in Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. They are Cretaceous Sandstone and they cap many of the South-facing buttes and appear similar to a shelf of books. Perhaps the most famous is Mount Garfield at the edge of Palisade, in the Grand Valley known for it peach orchards, and the City of Grand Junction. The cliffs range for nearly two hundred miles, and begin where the Colorado River descends South through Debeque canyon into the Grand Valley to Price Utah. On a very clear day off on the horizon to the south you can see the snowcaps of the San Juans and the Telluride ski area.

   The Grand Mesa is a large mesa in Western Colorado. Having an area of about 500 square miles, it stretches for about 40 miles. It is the largest flat-topped mountain in the entire world. The Mesa ranges about 6000 ft. above the surrounding river valleys, including the Grand Valley to the west at about 11,000 feet, and reaching a maximum elevation of 11,333 feet at Crater Lake. It is a home to  Wild Colorado Mustangs.

     We are currently under contract for a home almost in the shadow of Mount Garfield. It has been so many years since I have lived in a City. At first I was very tentative to the idea and even skeptical, for the majority of my life I have been extremely anti-society. A loner, not a joiner. Don't get me wrong I still prefer the wilderness to gatherings of people. However we are attempting to integrate into life a bit more. The only thing that being a loner gets you is solitude and loneliness. It has it's place, the wilderness in Colorado is clean, crisp, concise an clear. Cities are noisy, congested, polluted, and often dirty. The new us is finding river walks, hiking trails, and adventure almost in the city limits.

   A sleepy University town in it's awakening stages. The similarities to Eugene, Oregon are striking. Only this town is in it's early stages of growth, and soon will blossom into the Big College town it is destined to become. It has the normal growing pains. The need for an extensive trail system looping the town, with designated bike paths. They will have to figure out how to deal with the students, traffic and bikes all together in the downtown core. I hope they work it out. The area has promise and can grow into an exciting place.

   Did I ever think that it would awaken feelings of my hometown? The answer is a resounding No! Don't know how these feelings crept up on me. I know when I was young I spent time around colleges, taking creative writing classes and wearing big thick sweaters in the fall. It made me feel more writerish. Funny how we all have our way of envisioning our success. It is good to be older than younger. House hunting has recently put us in some situations where we have had to drop in on college students and their living arrangements. It reminds me of ski towns and crash pads of ski enthusiasts (a reverent term for ski bums.) While being exciting and fun, living day to day to chase sunsets and snowflakes, doesn't lend to retirement or security in life very well. I guess you trade off everything in life. These days I wear a uniform and work at a large Plumbing and Heating business to afford my dream retirement home. Gone are the days of my many backpacks and sleeping bags in search of adventure. My adventure comes from my pages and seeing where they will take me. I hope that this adventure is a promising as those of my youth. I guess you will just have to stick around and see.

   I'm excited for the new beginning and to think that this respite in life comes out of the concern for our Goldie, Golden, Gracie. Since moving here she has settled in well and has her routine of chasing the local cats who parade through our yard. We have promised to get her a kittie, her very own tiger cat to match her color, when we move into our new home. Since real estate deals fall apart at a whim, I am hoping this one goes through. I  have just the spot for my motor home that will take us to the ocean. I will have a balcony to have morning tea on and watch the sun light up Mount Garfield and to scheme about writing adventures. A much mellower and mild rebel of sorts. I have yet to explore the writing scene in Grand Junction, a bit too busy getting established. Never enough time to do the things you really love.

My Girl Gracie!

 
 

 A Song that Evokes Home For Me.
"Coming Up Close," 'Til Tuesday'

Where Eagles Soar (A Brief History of Colorado Ski History and Genesis of My Historical Work)

     I believe the key or pivotal turning point to my story is based on the Denver Water Board purchasing the deeds to most of the town of Dillon during the depression. This allowed them to eventually force the residents out of the town for the purpose of flooding it to create the Dillion Reservoir. I liken it to the film script Chinatown. It is based on the Rape of the Owens Valley by the city of Los Angeles for their water rights. There is a deeper truth here and I have yet to uncover it. It however sets up the stage for the development of the ski areas. If it wasn't for World War II there would not be ski areas in Colorado. The Tenth Mountain Division trained at Camp Hale for their skiing troops who were responsible to spearhead an advance in Italy for the Army. It included Riva Ridge, Mt. Belvedere, and helped breach the impregnable Gothic Line in the Apennines.  It secured the Po River Valley and liberated northern Italy.
 
When the ski troops returned to the United States a large number migrated back to Colorado and established Arapahoe Basin that set the tone for the development of Keystone and the Valley. It laid the ground work for Ralston Purina to buy Keystone and eventually the Basin.

The growth of the Dillon valley exploded in the sixties and seventies and then massive development of the multitude of town homes appeared.


   You will find two of my short stories on the My Stories link. One is of Vail Mountain and the other is of Arapahoe Basin. White Dreams was a recipient of an Honorable Mention in a Writer's Digest writing contest. I hope you enjoy them.

What is the Monument?

   The Colorado National Monument is a part of the National Park Service and is located near the city of Grand Junction, Colorado.  It hosts incredibly spectacular views with deep canyons carved into the limestone and granite-gneiss-schist, rock formations. It is desert land high on the Colorado Plateau, with pinion and juniper forests on the plateau. You can watch golden eagles, desert big horn sheep, coyotes, and red tail hawks. Rim Rock Drive winds along the plateau with magnificent views. The Book Cliffs are the largest flat-topped mountains in the world, the Grand Mesa awaits your viewing enjoyment. Some activities are road biking, hiking, horseback riding and scenic views, with a visitor center on the west side containing a natural history museum and a gift shop.

   The Monument Canyon, which runs the entire width of the park, and includes rock formation such as Independence Monument, the Coke Ovens and the Kissing Cousins are some of its main features. It has been recommended to Congress for designation as a wilderness. The monument includes 20,500 acres (32 square miles).

   The beauty of the Monument is unsurpassed in its grandeur and breadth. It is truly a unique place on Earth.

A Song from the surrealistic rock group Yes from the 1970's.
Roundabout
"Roundabout" Yes
 
Go out on a walkabout.
Enjoy the American Wilderness!