dexternew home

the unavowed secret of a man is that he wants to be confirmed in his being and his existence by his fellow men and that he wishes them to make it possible for him to confirm them, and . . .not merely in the family, in the party assembly or in the public house, but also in the course of neighborly encounters, perhaps when he or the other steps out of the door of his house or to the window of his house and the greeting with which they greet each other will be accompanied by a glance of well-wishing, a glance in which curiosity , mistrust, and routine will have been overcome by a mutual sympathy: the one gives the other to understand that he affirms his presence. this is the indispensable minimum of humanity.
[house cluster:towns:pattern language]

For some odd reason, I like moving. Yes, organizing, boxing, transporting, de-boxing, and re-organizing. I think it is the modest idea of simplifying your possessions that i am most attracted to. and disgustingly enough, we as humans are a representation of our possessions. well, as it goes moving means that you are relocating to a new place. we all know how i feel about new places; new place is synonymous with fresh adventure. park hill is the setting and sweet is the vibe. the developmental high for park hill was during the City Beautiful movement creating tree lined streets up and down. this is where you feel like everyday is that perfect sundays drive.
i can't wait to live and venture through out the streets and into the local flavor of this historic district.

here's the house. come visit! vegetation to come.

haikus are funrunning is fun

cold night, treadmill sucks.
temperature means nothing.
running from the porch.

up hill. fox sighting.
enduring promenade stretch.
snow paved. downtown glimpse.

sketchy sweep onward
liquor store frenzy. dead lot.
dog walkers, relieved.

a pace to the beats.
problematic. deep long breath.
last lap. refreshed bit.

as winter set in, any running i was doing came to an abrupt halt. there were less sunshine hours in the day and it was near black when i came out of work. my options were: wake up earlier to run... not happening. i tried it, nothing was accomplished. option 2: run indoors on the treadmill while trying to keep my mind on anything besides the fact that i was moving on a lame piece of anchored equipment. while this lasted for like two workouts i was slowly opting to not run at all and were definitely feeling the side effects. to me, you either run because you have a lot of extra time so you decide to fill it with long running/walking excursions [at least how i thinkof them] or you MAKE time for it because you feel its a part of who you are. i might be crazy but i missed running. so i did the unthinkable and signed up for a half marathon. wowzers, i better get my butt in gear. shortly after, my last and final option popped into my head: i will have to run at night after any other obligatory happenings are over for the day, no excuses, and this will have to happen in a safe environment since running at night, alone, near train tracks and being female is never smart.

so i got in the groove and choose my trail. it is just a loop that keeps you on the perimeter of the development i live in and i'm guessing is roughly a mile. but who's keeping measure anyways? it allows me to get out and be free for an hour right within a few steps of my own residence. this small adventure i take before turning in for the night lets me digest the day or wander about nothingness. nothing but my feet hitting the gound and my body in motion. maybe i'll visit sometime during the day, i'm sure it will be notably different and maybe even unfamiliar.

eldoradocanyon
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there are so many places to climb in colorado it's out of your mind. even all the 'close' places haven't seen my eyes. or better yet, my eyes have not yet feasted on and my mouth hasn't drooled upon. ALL saturday [unintentionally, but sweetly] was spent climbing at eldorado canyon. i honestly had no idea how close i was living to such great climbing. driving there was nothing too exciting, just through the dry brown colored hills of the denver outskirts. then, as approaching the foothills the base of the mountains just seems to open right up and just enough for you and your vehicle to slip on inside. and then... wa-la.bam.boom.bam. you're there and it would be crazy to look back because there is so much ahead.
that day we were placing our own gear into fissures in the rock and hoping that the decision made every 8' or so was a good choice. more simply, we were traditional climbing. however, i was just following so the pressure laid very lightly on my chest. still, such a great first experience trad climbing and in the magical slippery sandstone world of eldo, i couldn't ask for much more.

set alarms. get there early. kinda. hike to crag. climb. mind wanders into bliss. reach summit. check out view. descend. gather gear. ride home. eat lots. happy.

i like this scenario. but i forgot to throw in there that you are always meeting new people and making friends, even if you will never see them again. two sets of guys were following us on the 6 pitch climb we were getting after and one pair was climbing slightly like morons. what can you do? so we climb on, reach the top and do check out the view with a sublime sunset. the two, non moron climbing guys arrive and we all hang out. then the others follow shortly and beg us not to leave since they won't make it out with enough light to guide the way and are unfortunately headlamp less. once his partner makes it up and over he informs us that he left a piece of gear that he couldn't take out. i think this guy was a second time climber, err maybe third. so we wait some more and get to check out all the lights coming on across the city which is always cool from some 300 feet up. oh dear. we have to get down some how and suddenly its not so cool. stories of people having to often camp out up there is coming out and it makes sense if you don't know the way only marked by carins. but we set off ever so cautiously and arrive, who knows when later, injury-free. lucky us. very lucky us. no more traveling without my headlamp from here on out.

cold nightsshelf road

pitching your tent on a 4" layer of snow doesn't always give someone the comfort that it's going to be a cozy night sleeping. things that make this thought go away. . . the stars, someone to curl up next to, climbing in 60 degree sunshiny weather, burnt food tasting like pure campfire [yummm] and knowing that you are in the middle of a knockout landscape. a little shivering in your sleeping bag is minor compared to these luxuries. i've been to shelf. rd. three times since i've moved to colorado and it is pretty much an awesome place to spend a weekend climbing camping and hanging out with friends. it's a relatively short drive from denver and takes you right into the heart of the Wet Mountains. a perfect get-away location for the weekend. the whole idea of being far away but not too far to drive for two days, but just far enough sort of thing. it's the whole process of getting in your car and moving yourself to a new far off location that sets your mind right. i don't feel that this could be achieved by spending the night in your local park or wooded backyard. but maybe that is the imagination i've lost since i was six =( i believe the authenticity in people have the opportunity to come out when placed in nature. this is outside of our everyday environment [or so the majority] and allows the soul to open up to new heights. at least this is true for me and i love it. and for the bonus, the shower you get to take once you get home is always and over again 'the best thing'.
so we camped. climbed to our hearts content. burnt our own food and ate it. star-gazed. drank some snow-chilled beer. had a blast. and least of which tried to stay warm.

on another note, but still in the frame of mind. i've been thinking about urban camping and all that entails. urban dictionary defines it as camping in an urban setting by sleeping on rooftops, under bushes, and in public parks.hmmm...looks like fun.

skieldora

this past weekend was quite an wonderful one which involved a new city scene for a night, a new skiing town for the adventuresome and new humor for the soul. my friend got this killer of a deal where we could stay the night in boulder and ski our hearts out at eldora mountain. off we go..

words that come to mind when i think of boulder is energetic, esoteric, hippie but not hipster and flatirons [that i want to climb]. such a gem of a city that i think dearly of and love living within a short drive to. i admire its density mostly achieved by the 1960's 'no growth policy' and the innate desire for locals to transport themselves via bike or foot from here to there. the balance of college town thrown into the mix is always one that confuses me. maybe it's because boulder is just not fayetteville [my college town], so i try not to dwell on that too much. i think if i ever moved to boulder i would HAVE to go to school. if only they had a paramount masters program for urban design i would be moving tomorrow and enrolling yesterday. so it goes, i will just visit.
well, pearl street was a blast, people watching mostly and strangely enough it was a little dead for a friday night. then the hour struck 11 p.m. and from every which way crowds of vibrant people filled the streets. it was activated and showing its true colors.

skiing on minimal sleep is not recommended...ever. lazy and skier are not a good combo. surprisingly, the small amount of sleep i got sufficed for the day, lucky me. my skiing experience goes no further than steamboat so getting to adventure around a new mountain was great. the runs were much more hidden than i was used to which allowed my mind to wander and thoughts just took off as the snow fell around us. i love how a place can do this to the mind. new places evokes new thoughts and stifles unwanted ones. [even though i'm not having many of those these days] i guess that proves that adventuring into uncharted lands, for the individual of course, is stellar for the soul.

move overgolden

the ability to get in my car and drive 10 minutes west and be at the base of a climbing destination is remarkable! the best part of this particular destination is that even though how close it is to 'home' you still get the feeling that you are out of the city. which ever town you are coming from it doesn't matter. only thing important is that you are up and away for a warm winter sunday afternoon. the town almost directly below is Golden. home to coors beer, intelligent Mines students and apparently jolly rancher candy that i am ironically eating right now [weird]. then looking southeast you see denver and all its flat glory. if you look hard enough you might see the kansas state line. okay maybe not. it really is a great view onto all of the infrastructure and even the sad and ridiculous amounts of suburbia sprawl. this concept of the 90's never ceases to fascinate me. anyways, golden is fun, its cute but i whole-heartily think that it should be denver. now if you just close your eyes and think for a second [i understand this might be hard if you have never been to colorado and more specifically denver and even more specifically golden and most specifically north table mountain] that we super-impose the urban city of denver and i suppose a few of the metropolitan surroundings of my liking, right there at the foothills of the rockies. i can see it now.

why did this not happen? isin't it all about 'location, location, location'? don't get me wrong, i like denver, i love denver. i just think if it got up and ran 8 miles west it would be a dream city. and we would go climb during the week at lunch and rarely return. the boundaries would be the mountains and also our backyard, quite literally.

why do cities land where they do? duh. because of gold and such discoveries. but if i was the founder of denver colorado i would have chosen the mountains over the gold.

taa-da. the city.

an old locationfor a new year


who doesn't love the newness of anything? one can easily argue that broken-in and familiar is the best way to be, but there is just something great about the beginning of anything. so after an awesome new year's eve in denver i headed out new years day morningish to steamboat springs; a breathtaking mountain town that holds ALL of my colorado, prior to living in colorado, memories. a familiar place for the newness of this year: perfect. steamboat is the only place I had spent more than a layover in and is no doubt a sensational town. I hadn't visited in 5 years and even while every inch was capped in shining snow it all still felt so familiar. There is nothing like coming back to a place and your senses awaken through a nostalgic heart. The same view on the main street upon entering the town, one of two lone grocery stores was still standing firm in the same place I had remembered, and why wouldn't it be? the swimming pool with the giant slides that mark the right hand turn to my aunt and uncles house had changed. WHAT!? no more sweet slides. though do not worry, i soon found out there was just a renovation. a little sad at first, but after a visit to relax in the hot tubs, it still held its original presence that i could recall. there was one wonderful addition, a climbing wall that sat at the edge of a monstrous hot tub and when you could no longer hang on or rang the bell of victory you could just take the plunge. miraculous! brilliant invention of hot-tubbing and bouldering. i hope to see some of this in Heaven. okay, back to the city. ahhh yes, steamboat, so quaint and still capable of soaking up some 12,000 visitors on any given winter weekend. the skiing- remarkable and in the summer there are endless adventures to get lost in. hopefully i will make a few more trips before the snow melts.

"In that world, you'll be able to rise in the morning with the spirit you had known in your childhood: that spirit of eagerness, adventure and certainty which comes from dealing with a rational universe"
ayn.rand

[how i felt 97.9% of the time waking up in Rome]

to all a season

i have got to say that any city or place where 'four seasons' reaches to is simply that much better of a place. growing up i seriously didn't know that tree's leaves turned any other color in the fall than green or dead brown. i kid you not; sad i know. fall time in fayetteville is another story and is appreciated endlessly though is not the reason for these words. however, it occupies deliriously happy thoughts. but colorado and its natural beauty is something that amazes me to new heights each day i spend in it. this past weekend being in the mountains was breathtaking. instead of the green i was so used to seeing since arriving this summer, white had taken over and made its unapologetic mark. it was so great to see the transformation into the winter season and how it was affecting all that was touched. lately there has been thought to the seasons of life and how there is a time for each of us to accept those seasons. seasons of alteration, growth, reflection, fade, consistency, and revolutionary change and the list goes on. the toughest part is acknowledging what the season is for your life and inviting it in with open arms. the season for my life as of late has been a slow fade with a side dish of transformation. these things are not only affecting my outlook on the everyday duties but a further look into life and how much of a great journey it truly is. there is little i or anyone can do to alter the season they are in. just because the weather changes doesn't mean the seasons of our lives does the same. i love this about life.
im waiting for the revolutionary season.

there's always time

the drive home from albuquerque after thanksgiving was nothing less than majoryly eventful. the not too bad 6 hour drive quickly turned into a days worth of driving, yes 12 hours of time spent in my car. the smartest thing I did, besides pulling off to get gas when i did was stopping to adventure up to the Cadet Chapel at the air force base in colorado springs. I had been wanting to see it, but was always passing in the dark, so now, when it would be covered in fresh snow was going to be my best chance yet..and i took it. the guard was hesitant on letting me in as the snow was coming down hard and the streets were barely visible, but i was lucky and he let me slide in. it was a winding way up to the chapel and with steep hills and sharp curves my anticipation only grew. soon in front of me was a gorgeous steel and glass structure that sat perfect within the

mountain side. a very modern chapel with 17 spires to resemble jets soaring up to the sky. i was of course the only one there, but i did not mind. it was wonderfully peaceful and wish i could have stayed longer to relax in its beauty, unfortunately it was getting dark and the snow had only picked up, though i must say that the all the extra time spent in the car didn't even put a damper on the side stop that led me to such joy.