denverrides

this city i live in, denver, makes me happy all the time. yes, i receive good vibes and a charismatic touch from the city. it is alive.
it also decided to start [with thanks to Hickenlooper and his green outlook on denver] the nations largest bike sharing cooperative to date. it's been a few years coming and hard work but now, today :earth day: it's making the launch. there are 40 or so kiosks with 8 meticulously crafted bikes at each station around the inner city limits of denver. the trek designed bike has a basket, gps tracker, fenders, chain guards, built in lock and automatic lights [awhat?] included in the cruiser style fit for any person. i know this because i went to a v0lunteer training where it took two men to hold up the 45 lb bike in all its glory.
though i think the rides are a little expensive there is really no way around the "cost" of using the bikes. austin tried this initiative with yellow Lance bikes and they were repeatedly stolen and found damaged. it would be a beautiful thing to share with out price and rely on our fellow neighbor to return the toy but alas it's not looking promising. but that is not here nor there and a fare there must be. i can't wait to see these bikes cruising around town and will get to jump on one tomorrow for a test ride and promote what this is all about. if you are a denverite go check it out!

[designs and branding by crispin porter + bogusky]

gettinglost

so back to adventuring.....ahhh yes
i know sometimes it's great fun and all to get lost and even healthy to wander without knowing where you are going but i got sickly lost at cherry creek state park the other day. now, this place is 4,200 acres of hugeness. i did all the things i thought i should: scoped out a trail map prior, rigged the entrance fee by "walking in," set out a few hours before dark and even had high hopes of running the whole time. i did not intend on asking for directions but after meandering for a good 1.2 hours i opted for the second runner i saw of the night. whew! i turned around and started running with him and into the semi correct direction. thank you kind sir. the only frustration was that it was getting dark and i also had somewhere to be getting to. if it wasn't for these two factors, this is with out a doubt the best way to explore an unfamiliar place: get deeply hidden and discover your way out. if this poses some dangerous threat[in a light hearted way], all the better.
i used to run at a fabulous place in fayetteville that was an escape, if you will, to school and the whirlwinds of life. the ability to go there and move to nothing but the sound of the adjacent lake or the leaves bustling around you was great time spent. i've longed for a place like this in denver and think i may have discovered just this, it only took me 1.7 years, sheesh. being an urban park, cherry creek state park gives fascinating views of the cityscape, the chance to run through and near herds of mule deer [not the skinny kind of deer you see in san antonio because they are literally locked within the city neighborhoods] but free roaming and startling huge animals, plus some beautiful mallards in the water. i could go on about animals, but then again even a bunny will get me all giddy.
i'm not a fan of getting in your vehicle to drive yourself to a location to run. it just seems silly. problem is this is not a prime location from my house but i suppose neither was lake fayetteville and seemed like a treat when i got the chance to go. not being readily available is maybe what adds to the attraction of a place. well, next time i'll hopefully not ask for help with reckoning.

thoughtsalongtheway

sometimes the need to break free is so overwhelming that i'm not ever fully convinced what it would look like.
is it teaching english in another country, is it an extended road trip, is it moving into a colorado mountain town, or is it conforming and going to grad school to seek the life of being a student again? i think that this takes the words right out of my mouth:

"There is a secret set within each of our hearts. It often goes unnoticed, we rarely can put words to it, and yet it guides us throughout the days of our lives. This secret remains hidden for the most part in our deepest selves. It is simply the desire for life as it was meant to be. Isn’t there a life you have been searching for all your days? You may not always be aware of your search, and there are times when you seem to have abandoned looking altogether. But again and again it returns to us, this yearning that cries out for the life we prize. It is elusive, to be sure. It seems to come and go at will. Seasons may pass until it surfaces again. And though it seems to taunt us, and may at times cause us great pain, we know when it returns that it is priceless. For if we could recover this desire, unearth it from beneath all other distractions and embrace it as our deepest treasure, we would discover the secret of our existence.

- we long for life and we’re not sure where to find it. We wonder if we ever do find it, can we make it last? The longing for life within us seems incongruent with the life we find around us. What is available seems at times close to what we want, but never quite a fit. We must journey to find the life we prize. And the guide we have been given is the desire set deep within, the desire we often overlook, or mistake for something else or even choose to ignore. The greatest human tragedy is simply to give up the search. There is nothing of greater importance than the life of our deep heart. To lose heart is to lose everything. And if we are to bring our hearts along in our life’s journey, we simply must not, we cannot abandon this desire."

The clue as to who we really are and why we are here comes to us through our heart’s desire.

[desire:eldridge]

the closest things i've got to what i envision simply contains more than one ardor. i believe, the real secret to any one's existence will run dry if it is one passion singly deep. passions [not to be confused with fascinations], to name a few or the real few to be more honest [in absolutely no order whatsoever]are: architecture, soccer, jesus, climbing, jewelry design, cities and how they function. i would be inclined to say traveling, but who doesn't like traveling, its a luxury and a great deal of fun and though liked more by some than others, it just doesn't seem fit. i would put traveling as a means to pursue my passions. and sometimes that is just as so traveling to the nearest hobby lobby for supplies and goodies.
isn't this blog supposed to be about embarking on adventure and going new places?
i think i got a little off topic on this one but felt compelled and would hope you are out there doing the same thing, using your means accessible to cultivate living passionately as there is no other way to be.