May 16th, 2012 at 8:00AM
GPOYW: Horseback riding with friends near Mount Sopris. Not pictured: the giant hole I ripped in the seat of my favorite, old (2001) jeans getting onto the horse…whose name was Freedom. [Crown Mountain, El Jebel, Colorado, May 13, 2012]

GPOYW: Horseback riding with friends near Mount Sopris.

Not pictured: the giant hole I ripped in the seat of my favorite, old (2001) jeans getting onto the horse…whose name was Freedom.

[Crown Mountain, El Jebel, Colorado, May 13, 2012]

2 notes #horses#jeans#mountains#Colorado
May 12th, 2012 at 6:24PM
Weather: the conversation that never gets old… [Mt. Sopris as seen from Carbondale, Colorado, May 10, 2012]

Weather: the conversation that never gets old…

[Mt. Sopris as seen from Carbondale, Colorado, May 10, 2012]

2 notes #Mt Sopris#Colorado#weather#mountain#clouds
April 30th, 2012 at 11:32AM
In Denver doing cheese research…tough gig, I know. [Sauternes-soaked Fourme aux Moelleux: crispy layers of lavender feuilleté de brick, Sauternes grape gelée, micro basil edible flower salad, local honey, at Rioja, Denver, Colorado]

In Denver doing cheese research…tough gig, I know.

[Sauternes-soaked Fourme aux Moelleux: crispy layers of lavender feuilleté de brick, Sauternes grape gelée, micro basil edible flower salad, local honey, at Rioja, Denver, Colorado]

#Denver#Colorado#cheese#wine#food porn
April 26th, 2012 at 11:34AM

Practicing the Art of Patience

scaled.IMG_3939

It was a challenge to type that sentence without allowing an overwhelming sense of self-loathing to rush over, rap my knuckles with a ruler, and make me delete it. First of all, I can’t stand statements like that (or the people who say them), so, uh, that’s hypocritical.

Viewing this photo, shot on Sunday while I waited for a friend to pick me up to embark on a bicycle-buying adventure, I can almost see my brain spitting neurofury: Where the hell is she already? We spoke almost an hour ago! Urgghhhh this patio is like a convection oven—and this down jacket was a really bad idea!

Eventually, of course, she arrived. I bit my tongue, even when I noticed traffic zooming past us on the highway. For miles. But I reminded myself: Chill. She’s from a country where drivers use opposite sides of the road. Besides, she’s really funny. It would have been a somber, silent excursion otherwise, and I’ve had my fair share of those. Time to break the cycle.

Mud Season in Aspen begins with the seemingly abrupt closure of the four ski areas followed by a swift mass exodus to warmer climes, which provokes lots of local businesses to shut down for about six weeks, rendering this place a veritable ghost town until June. So I’ve spent a lot of time recently planting seeds, figuratively speaking, some of which may yield to exciting/challenging/lucrative summertime gigs. I’m focused on waiting for these outfits, not jumping the gun and accepting some banal timesuck scenario that is less fulfilling/financially mediocre in the interim. Patience.

Now, like a gust of alpine air meant to be sipped in slowly, not gulped down in dramatic gasps, I’m wrapping up a few good projects and I’m planning a big spring road trip. I might accomplish two things: extinguish my nagging wanderlust and, maybe, just maybe, suppress that imaginary foot-tapping lurking around every corner.

[Front Porch, Aspen, Colorado, April 21, 2012]

1 note #patience#Aspen#Colorado
April 20th, 2012 at 4:37PM
This afternoon I took the most invigorating tour of the Maroon Bells in the White River National Forest and smelled the melting snow that is trickling into a mountaintop pond, where I watched the season’s first fisherman cast longingly into crystalline waters. Cyclists whizzed downhill in fluorescent flashes, and though the trail maps hadn’t been stocked yet, welcome signs were up, with handscrawled smiley faces. More images to come….

This afternoon I took the most invigorating tour of the Maroon Bells in the White River National Forest and smelled the melting snow that is trickling into a mountaintop pond, where I watched the season’s first fisherman cast longingly into crystalline waters. Cyclists whizzed downhill in fluorescent flashes, and though the trail maps hadn’t been stocked yet, welcome signs were up, with handscrawled smiley faces. More images to come….

2 notes #hiking#Aspen#Colorado#outside
April 20th, 2012 at 12:12PM
Friday the 13th in Denver, Colorado: The day was off to a great start: I set off for Denver, and my housemate Alan hopped along for a ride to the airport. Since he’s lived in Colorado for more than a decade, the trip turned into a fascinating tour though local history. I saw “Refrigerator Rock” on the seriously low Colorado River and the remains of the Chinese Wall built along the side of the railroad, and we enjoyed some deep conversation about work and life. The theme: enjoy life to the fullest. He offered to build me a sweet mountain bike for cheap from parts he has laying around the garage. I was psyched. Then I got to Denver, and things got weird. After a lackluster salon visit that made me question my faith in Allure magazine’s annual Best Of list and set me late to meet my friends, we arrived at Denver Beer Company. It was windy, cloudy, and cold, but our group included a motley crew of friends, many of whom had ties to Massachusetts. Some went to college together, some lived in the same towns unbeknownst to each other, and the more we chatted, the more we realized that each of us had about one degree of separation. Like, myself and the the longtime ex-girlfriend of a guy I went to sophomore semi-formal with back in high school or the guy who managed the diner down the street from where I worked in Great Barrington or a fellow female journalist from the Berkshires who just so happened to be visiting her friend who moved to town recently. And on and on. Then, tragedy: the next morning, my girlfriend finds out that her sister’s brother-in-law died suddenly in a freak ATV accident on vacation in West Virginia on Friday. Well, his brain died; his heart continued to beat, but doctors were certain that he would not survive. So the race was on to harvest his organs and find donors. And then, this: Tom was hilarious; always the prankster…so handsome with so much love to give. Amazingly, a miracle has come out of this tragedy: after deciding to donate his organs my sister had the doctors look into donating Tom’s heart to her friend’s father, [who] has a very rare blood type and had been waiting for months for a new heart. Tom’s heart was match; the blood types, the tissues, the antigens…the works. Tom’s heart now beats on, giving someone else the special gift of life. If you know my sister, her sweet husband Peter please write a message of condolence this memorial site for Tom. Tom is angel, a wild crazy totally awesome angel. [Denver, Colorado, April 13, 2012]

Friday the 13th in Denver, Colorado:

The day was off to a great start: I set off for Denver, and my housemate Alan hopped along for a ride to the airport. Since he’s lived in Colorado for more than a decade, the trip turned into a fascinating tour though local history. I saw “Refrigerator Rock” on the seriously low Colorado River and the remains of the Chinese Wall built along the side of the railroad, and we enjoyed some deep conversation about work and life. The theme: enjoy life to the fullest. He offered to build me a sweet mountain bike for cheap from parts he has laying around the garage. I was psyched.

Then I got to Denver, and things got weird.

After a lackluster salon visit that made me question my faith in Allure magazine’s annual Best Of list and set me late to meet my friends, we arrived at Denver Beer Company. It was windy, cloudy, and cold, but our group included a motley crew of friends, many of whom had ties to Massachusetts. Some went to college together, some lived in the same towns unbeknownst to each other, and the more we chatted, the more we realized that each of us had about one degree of separation. Like, myself and the the longtime ex-girlfriend of a guy I went to sophomore semi-formal with back in high school or the guy who managed the diner down the street from where I worked in Great Barrington or a fellow female journalist from the Berkshires who just so happened to be visiting her friend who moved to town recently. And on and on.

Then, tragedy: the next morning, my girlfriend finds out that her sister’s brother-in-law died suddenly in a freak ATV accident on vacation in West Virginia on Friday. Well, his brain died; his heart continued to beat, but doctors were certain that he would not survive. So the race was on to harvest his organs and find donors. And then, this:

Tom was hilarious; always the prankster…so handsome with so much love to give. Amazingly, a miracle has come out of this tragedy: after deciding to donate his organs my sister had the doctors look into donating Tom’s heart to her friend’s father, [who] has a very rare blood type and had been waiting for months for a new heart. Tom’s heart was match; the blood types, the tissues, the antigens…the works. Tom’s heart now beats on, giving someone else the special gift of life. If you know my sister, her sweet husband Peter please write a message of condolence this memorial site for Tom. Tom is angel, a wild crazy totally awesome angel.

[Denver, Colorado, April 13, 2012]

1 note #bad luck#Friday 13th#Denver#Colorado
April 17th, 2012 at 10:29AM
SKI SEASON IS OVER. BRB. [Base Camp, Snowmass, Colorado, April 16, 2012]

SKI SEASON IS OVER. BRB.

[Base Camp, Snowmass, Colorado, April 16, 2012]

#Snowmass#Colorado#snowboarding#skiing#party
April 11th, 2012 at 7:36PM
Snacking on some excellent bite-size films for the next few nights at Aspen Shortsfest. [Aspen, Colorado, April 10-15, 2012]

Snacking on some excellent bite-size films for the next few nights at Aspen Shortsfest.

[Aspen, Colorado, April 10-15, 2012]

1 note #Aspen#Colorado#Shortsfest#film festival#movies
April 11th, 2012 at 10:58AM
18,000 miles since July 1. Which, when I think about it, seems right on track for the final count to be only slightly above average for a year of driving. I don’t drive much in Aspen, only to get out, to run errands and take trips to other towns. This weekend, I’m going back to Denver. Oh, and even though there was a physical barrier to keep owners like me from hovering, the mechanic had eyes in the back of his head. Better than being headless, I suppose… [Glenwood Springs, Colorado, April 10, 2012]

18,000 miles since July 1.

Which, when I think about it, seems right on track for the final count to be only slightly above average for a year of driving. I don’t drive much in Aspen, only to get out, to run errands and take trips to other towns. This weekend, I’m going back to Denver.

Oh, and even though there was a physical barrier to keep owners like me from hovering, the mechanic had eyes in the back of his head.

Better than being headless, I suppose…

scaled.IMG_4827

[Glenwood Springs, Colorado, April 10, 2012]

#oil change#VW#Colorado#cars
March 27th, 2012 at 8:55PM
Proceed with Caution: Serious Snowmelt in Effect. [Aspen, Colorado, March 14, 2012]

Proceed with Caution: Serious Snowmelt in Effect.


[Aspen, Colorado, March 14, 2012]

#spring#Colorado