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

A girl with a song and a boy with a story.

 

 A Christmas full moon. What joy life brings these days! I hope to live long enough to see the next full moon Christmas in 2034 and will be able to celebrate it with as much health joy and happiness as I have today. The simple words in this writing have truly become the words in my life to live by. All I have in my life, my joy, my happiness, my home, health, and love are because of living these truths. I guess everything in life happens for a reason and I know that everyone always says that they wouldn't change anything in their life and I am one of them. If I hadn't found my sobriety and come to my own truth in life I wouldn't be with my beautiful wife today or have the life I have. When we met I was a wandering writer with a story to tell and she was a girl with a song and so goes the happy ending. I truly have found my destiny and am at great peace in my world. I hope that for this Christmas and New Year you find the joy and happiness that you deserve.


Today's Song: Diamonds and Rust, Joan Baez

Create Your Future

     I know it sounds simple. It is not. Controlling your negative thoughts and emotions is extremely hard. They will pull you from your centeredness. Meditation in any form will help. There are many forms of meditation and I suggest you study and follow a path. It was simple for me my Guru, Paramahansa Yogananda, found me. He found me in the form of his book Autobiography of a Yogi. ( The only book Steve Jobs downloaded to his IPad.) I saw his face on a book on the end cap of a shelf in a book store in Telluride, Colorado after a writing conference. I was inexplicably drawn to the radiance of his face and immediately became a devotee.  I read his book, starting taking his lessons and was initiated in Kria Yoga and became a Yogi of the Self-Realization Fellowship a few short years later. It has changed my thoughts and my life for the better. You do not have to become a Yogi. It is how I am wired, I have always taken everything to the extreme. I can honestly say that my extremes are a thing of the past. I live and exist in the moment and the day. It doesn't mean that I don't have the highs and lows of life as you live it, they are just shorter and I always return to my mediation and energization exercises daily in the morning and the evening. It has allowed me the freedom in Life to finally pursue the goals and dreams I have always longed to pursue but have never applied myself to becoming. It is a long journey, and one that I am committed to with my entire heart and soul. I hope that you find your happiness and joy your world.

A Song For The Day;
"In Your Eyes," Peter Gabriel

 Rad Piper

Finding the Portal

   When you find the portal that you are seeking it is important to step through and to not look back. Change is inevitable and necessary for growth. Understanding your dreams and aspirations are important to seeing them through to fruition. If you do not have alignment with your vision than you cannot achieve your goals. Through centeredness and concentration enlightenment is attainable.

   Allow yourself the time to dream. Allow the Universe to provide the opportunity to move forward. Recognize the time when decisions must be made and make them focusing on God's Will and leave yours out of it.

   These day's my White Dreams of youth have melted away. The Equine Dreams of my Adulthood have galloped away. The Teaching Dreams of Old Age are alive and living in Simple Peace Hermitage in Assisi, Italy. The link appeared in our e-mail and presented itself as property for sale. We have dreamed of a new school and grounds to teach from and this was heaven sent. Since it has been presented, I trust in the the Lord to provide the means to attain it. Just when you think you are making all the decisions in your life, life presents the next domain for attainment. You must move forward and accept the challenge when it arises.

Today's Song;
The Allman Brothers, Blue Sky

Welcoming The Winter Winds Of Change

   You feel it on your neck, across your skin, in your eyes, through your hair. The soft whispering winds of change. You look up and around and you suddenly realize that from that moment on something in life has changed. You move forward and understand that there has been a shift. Sometimes very small sometimes very big. These days I welcome the change with open arms.
 
   I thought that perhaps the title might be "Barbarians at the Gate." A title already used but one that needs to be taken seriously. I feel as if we are living in the last day's of the Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire. We as a Nation are trying trying to sustain major wars not within our borders and with the rise of Isil are making a major commitment to long term wars draining our young men and women and our financial well being as a nation.

   The change in my life is the realization of the commitment I need to make to move forward. I welcome the Winds of Change with open arms and heart.

   A Moving Song:
Justin Timberlake, "Hallelujah"

Looking For The Answers

The Hippie Movement was a search for truth, a search for answers to questions, The biggest question was, Why am I here? I guess every individual has to find that answer for themselves. I know I did. Everything in it's own time. Life will reveal itself to you if you don't force your will on it. I know that all the times in my life that I attempted to force my will on the world, the world showed me it's own will. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't strive for your goals and attempt to attain your dreams. You have to stop and let the world unfold before you. For me, the realization that the world doesn't revolve around my wants and desires was enlightening. It sounds simple, but the truth is it doesn't. I have had to figure out how best I fit in and how to move forward with my personal dreams and aspirations. O.K. so you want to write! So why are you not spending more time in actually writing than talking about it. I know that life gets in the way, but embrace the fact that you are unique and your perspectives are worthy of being shared. So share your life and your dreams!

Everything But The Girl, "Driving."
Everything But The Girl, "I Don't Want To Talk About It"