The Ever Changing World in Which We Live In.

 

 Maybe you can't understand the ever changing world if you have never had and inner Vagabond. A traveler, possessing a wayward soul. Perhaps it came from the 1960's the personal freedoms that we all dreamed about. The freedoms that were expressed in the writing and the music. I have always appeased my inner Vagabond by wandering. Never really ever settling down. Oh for a few years my wife and I have lived happily in certain areas. I think I have been the happiest in my soul with Kathleen because she is a traveling hippie also. In her youth living in a commune in Oregon, and traveling on grants with her hippie friends in renovated buses have made her exploits dear to my wandering heart and soul. Our lives have spanned Ski Towns, to Ocean Beaches, and the Boom and recently the Bust Towns of Colorado. Our current Home in Grand Junction, Colorado is certainly one to have pride in. It has a lovely healing massage room that is completely separate from our living space where we can listen to beautiful healing music while working on one another. It has kept us young and vibrant. I suppose as young and vibrant as 60 year olds can be who get regular body work.


   This home, we agreed after bringing the last remaining member of our Equine Massage School Ranch, our baby Golden, Gracie to rest here, was to be the one. The big retirement one. It wasn't at the beach, yet it was affordable for our retirement purposes. Blessed with a lovely dining room for entertaining and a wonderful separate office space for each of us and a ( I deplore the term, )Man Cave Garage for me, this house has it all. Well not exactly, you see or rather don't see the sea. I overheard Kathy talking to her girlfriend this evening saying, "All I really want to do is walk on the beach!" I guess I would like to add to that sentiment, "Walk on the beach with Kathy, and Piper our poodle, and write." We have recently renewed our interest in her novel Appaloosa Lake that stalled out at the love scene in the Lake. The healing waters of Appaloosa Lake where for generations the young Appaloosa's have been taken to be trained in the healing sulphur water of the Lake, Ah what to do about Abbey in the Lake and the arrival of Joseph, Flora's dark gorgeous son. Yes Vagabonds all of us.

   Life does change. I will survive my minor battle with skin cancer and some invasive surgery and come out relatively unscathed on the other side. Although I really seem to care more about completing the novel of Appaloosa Lake and the ensuing screen play and walking on the Beach with Kathleen and my little Pi than I do to finish out my career in my beautiful home nestled in the Grand Valley of Colorado.

   I suppose if I were writing the scenes of our lives, I might write in Capitals, Beach Scene: Enter Happy Travelers! The thing about Vagabonds. You never know what they will decide to do next. Both Kathy and I have revived our Motor Home/ Bus Beach dream and one never knows what a True Vagabond will do. By the way, Appaloosa Lake is a Great Story!

Today's Song; "Over The Hills And Far Away," Led Zeppellin

I"m on Fire

Did you ever have periods of time where you could feel yourself glowing? You were resonating so well with the universe that you almost thought that you were on fire! What were you doing? What were you thinking? Where were you living? No matter where you are now remember back to that time, clear your mind and allow yourself to rekindle that flame. It is hard to look past your daily sorrows or suffering to find that place where you are free and alive. Allow yourself time in the mornings to clear your mind and give praise to all the good things you have. Learn to meditate and to calm you inner dialogue and negative self talk. Read positive literature and listen to uplifting music and songs.

   Once you were a child and laid on the ground and looked at the clouds and dreamed of all the great things you were going to accomplish in your life. Rekindle that friendship with your inner child and again dream great dreams. The key is not to stay where you are. Move forward, become a part of something greater than yourself. Write a love poem. Start a short story! Finally begin that great American Novel you were always going to write. Make the pieces of April into a Tapestry for May!

TODAY'S MUSIC

Seven Chakras Activation & Healing Meditation Music

Uncle Albert's Mountain

 Just yesterday I received a blog from Al's Blog at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. It was this picture of the East Wall of the Basin that reaches an elevation of 13,050 ft.  We always called it the wall. It is accessed from the Lenawee Mountain Lift and is a heart pounding climb through the North Pole Hiking Gate. The terrain is Expert skiing and opens up to some of the steepest and deepest mountain snows I have skied in Colorado. Endless turns of the incredible White Gold that one searches for in the ultimate quest for deep powder turns. It is incredible in the spring with the late spring storms of that precious soft white stuff. We have had some nice late storms and the skiing must be outrageous there now. I couldn't help but repost this picture of The East Wall and The Tree Chutes, Willy's Wide, and North Pole Staircases. Hope you enjoy the moment. Have and enjoyable full moon Wednesday.

   Here are a couple of good songs to put you on your way.

Simon and Garfunkel, "The Sounds of Silence"

Paul Mc Cartney and Wings "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey

Deep Mid Winter Blues

 So My Friend Captain Zooms has been sending me pictures on Messenger. He works as a lift-op for Canon Mountain in New Hampshire. The last of the old time hold outs. I admire his tenacity. He recently sent a picture of himself with his 205 Skis. They are probably the longest on the mountain. These days the move has been for shorter shaped skis. Have never skied on them but I'm sure the technology is great and they are excellent. We grew up in the times where you raised your arm in the air as high as you could and that was the length of ski you used. We were daring, we went further, I owned a pair of 215 Rossignol Stratto 105's. They were my steel beams to hell as I referred to them. We rarely skied in mogul fields because they were too long. Your tips would bridge the mogul in front while your tail would still be on the one in back. They were very difficult to turn sharply. It wasn't what they were for. They were for long Giant GS turns. You know, right after a snow cat has rolled a big steep trail and there is about two to three inches of thick vanilla ice cream on the trail. You would carve long Arcing turns and scream down the hill at break neck speeds.
 
   Younger day's my friends. Captain Zooms sent me a message last evening. He took those big babies out for a few turns and had fun. Walking back to the Lift he fell on his long ass skis and bruised three of his ribs. Just walking. Needless to say those boards are in the retirement rack. Yes it does suck getting old. Who ever said that your elder years would be spent trying to recapture your youth was correct. In our minds we are all still kids. I guess some more than others.

   It's hard coming on to spring. March was always the time that, Touloose, Captain Zooms, Creme-King, and Fast Eddy and I made our big trips to the fine powder in Utah. Only in our minds these days boys.

   Life is good, take up meditating or practice Kiya Yoga. It soothes the savage soul!

   I will leave you with a couple of old rock tunes.

"Dear Mr. Fantasy," Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood

"Low Spark of High Heeled Boys," Traffic, On The Road

Twenty Years A Horse Virgin

   Where do I begin? I had always liked horses. I grew up in New York State near Saratoga and always made the summer sojourn to the track in August. I learned from Touloose's Dad that a crisp one hundred dollar bill would get you a table in the Clubhouse when you where told there weren't any. Another Benjamin Franklin slipped to the Bartender would insure you would always be recognized and a wet gin and tonic would promptly appear. A trip to the Paddock to eyeball my choice for the next race and a sprint to the windows to place my bet. This was my exposure to the Ponies as we called them.

   Flash forward a half of a lifetime to Lake Tahoe, California on February 14, 1996 the afternoon of my wedding day. An elevated wooden boardwalk with a string of pleasure horses alongside the boardwalk, and my beautiful Bride smiling and saying, "Surprise, I booked a toy trot for us, and we get to ride across the Truckee River." I remember looking down at the horses backs and mumbling something like, " I didn't realize that they were this big." Second mistake, the first was acting like a landlocked Eastern man and not wanting to take my socks and shoes off at the beach in Encinitas. After all my wife was Western, so western they filmed all the western horse movies next to where she grew up. All the movies I grew up watching and wished I was out West were at her finger tips, places like Vasquez Rocks, and the Western Town of Calico. The ride was a real experience and we rode our horses almost belly deep in water across the Truckee River. Years later, after gaining much horse experience I would marvel at the audacity of the outfitters to take a pack string of inexperienced riders across a major river.

   It was the very beginning of my horse career. I would later work with hundreds if not thousands of horses through our Massage School and gain invaluable knowledge and have incredible adventures. I learned very important lessons.

    Lesson # 1. Never tie a horse or horses to a movable object. I tied three horses that I was grooming for the school to an empty round bale feeder. Everything thing was O.K. until I tried spraying them with fly spray. When one of the horses spooked, I suddenly had a whirling dervish of horses spinning across the field like a top. Lucky for me, Kathy and the students showed up on cue to help rescue me from this predicament.

   Lesson # 2. Never bring more than one Stallion into a enclosed pen with lead ropes. I accompanied three young stallions into a small pen. Once the gate closed behind them they decided to play lets all stand on our hind legs and paw at each other and the air while this dumb cowboy stands in the middle with no where to go.

   Lesson # 3. If you are going to work with show animals you need to ask if they have any special cue movements they respond to. While a group of students were massaging several brood mares in a row of stalls. I was in the pasture in front of the stalls with Bo, The Buckskin Stallion. He was being a pest and stalking the mares. I immediately rushed toward him and began shooing him away from the mares. Unbeknownst to this cowboy, I was giving him the cue to rear up and to strike at the sky. Not a pretty picture of safety.

   I could fill the pages here with inexperienced horse virgin stories. I choose to remember all the wonderful miracles of the horses lives we touched and helped through the years. I am working on a collection of horse stories about our years on our ranch and work with Horse Rescue and Teaching Equine Massage. They are stories of joy, triumph, tragedy, and sorrow. I wouldn't have traded one moment on the ski slopes for a second of wonderment of my time with horses.

Today's Song
"Wild Horses," Gram Parsons and The Flying Burrito Brothers
 

Ski Colorado!

   So I am biased, I do believe that the order of ski adventure is rated, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and New Mexico. Many people would dispute my opinion but after thousands of hours and runs on the mountains of America I feel qualified to make that statement. I love them all each and every one, each and every state, each and every mountain, slopes and runs not to mention the quality of the high mountain snow. They all vary in size shape and technical difficulty. Unfortunately in Ski Area Management the designation of the difficulty of the runs vary tremendously. A Blue Run in Utah might be considered a Double Black Diamond in Colorado. They have the need to sell the experience to the consumer. I have learned to live with it. It is O.K. each and every mountain has their unique experience as well as the quality of snow. Some are groomed to perfection, the brush is removed on the sides of the trails and in places like Deer Valley in Utah and Beaver Creek in Colorado the tracks of the snow cats are sidestepped by the Ski Patrol so that the area is impeccable. No ridges left in the trails. It is all good. You learn to glean and appreciate each and every area for it's unique claim to fame.

   It brings me back to my reason for wanting you to Ski Colorado. This evening I was browsing through Facebook and I saw a post from someone who worked at the chain stores called The Ski Market. They were stores I grew up with in the East. The majority of my friends were managers or employees. They were a discount store for quality ski apparel and equipment. If you were a serious Ski Bum, you bought your gear there. Any way, they were posting to other former employees about a Ski Reunion in Aspen, Colorado, during the 2016 U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame Induction & Skiing History Week, April 5-10. Aspen is a good mountain and it would be great to see the former managers and ski friends from this great chain and to maybe make future contacts to research the History of Arapahoe Basin. It has become a former hobby turned serious pursuit for my upcoming retirement years. I personally haven't skied in over twenty years. Retiring my sticks for saddles and spurs in my married life. Colorado has been getting very good snow and if you have never turned a ski downhill here you need to.

   The coming full moon has reminded me of my youth and climbing in the back country on Loveland Pass to Ski the abandoned mine dumps by the light of the full moon. Wow! is all I can say and remember about it. A kid from the East climbing mountain sides and skiing the wilderness by the light of the moon. Talk about gut wrenching and heart pounding stuff, these days a brisk walk with our toy poodle is my heart pounding endeavor. Don't feel sorry for me, I had my turns when I was young and could climb and ski these places. I have no regrets. I look forward to the work. In my future, I have researching and completing my Historical Novel. My motto is Retyre 2018. Then full pursuit of my writing dreams. All good things come to those who plan and prepare.  Hope you enjoy the pics of A-Basin and of skiing on Monarch Pass. Love the Verticals. While I miss the thrill of skiing, I find just as much joy from a well written piece. I have a lot to write about and a long future, I pray, in which to pursue it.
A Song for Colorado
"Colorado," Flying Burrito Brothers

My buddy Piper with her good friends.

White Christmas

   Here it is a wonderful White Christmas! I still can't believe how light and airy the snow is here. Five inches of fresh powder snow. To me it is a joy to even shovel. I do not often miss skiing but I do today.

Today's Song Tears For Fears, Woman in Chains