“The Cloud” by Percy Shelley is one of my all-time favorite poems. Partly because of its sound. Just read the opening lines aloud: I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers, From the seas and the streams; I bear light shade for the leaves when laid In their noonday dreams. (1-4) Not only do the […]
Bears. I sometimes think about them when hiking. No need to. Colorado and New Mexico – where I go – have black bears, who almost never attack. Unless. It’s the “unless” part that gets my attention. Unless you startle one. Unless you separate a she-bear from her cubs. Unless the creature is having a bad […]
In the late 1800s, a spunky teenaged girl goes after her father’s killer. To bring him to justice she hires a crusty U. S. Marshall known for his habit of returning prisoners dead, tied to the back of his pack horse. The marshall’s name is Rooster Cogburn, and he has grit, True Grit. You know […]
If I believed in reincarnation, I would say I must have once been a Ute Apache. That would explain the connection my spirit has with this former hunting ground of Chief Ouray and company. For me, it was love at second sight. I first came here with the fam in the 80s to swim in […]
Omaha to Denver. Was a long day – 8 hours. Would have taken a wagon train two months. I thought of them yesterday, those tough, hopeful pioneers aboard Conestoga wagons pulled by oxen, who maybe would cover 10 miles in a day. That is if things went well: no wheels breaking down, no Indian attacks, […]
When my brother Craig was in his 20s, he ran a Christian coffee house on a seedy street in inner-city Dallas. I remember stories of self-proclaimed warlocks with whom he boldly shared the Good News of Jesus. Not long after, Craig moved to Arizona where he lived most of his adult life, much of it […]
Saw fireflies last night. We were walking in Crag’s Omaha neighborhood, shortly after sundown, and there they were: a small greenish blinking light in the yard to our left, two others closer and brighter in the street in front of us. Can’t remember seeing fireflies as an adult, nor in West Texas. My sightings were […]
I’m not often disappointed by tourist traps because I rarely visit them. Maybe it’s the skeptic in me, but if the sign says Billy the Kid slept here, I’m pretty sure he didn’t. And even if he might have, I’ll not visit because I know how local promoters tend to corrupt genuine history by making […]
In less than two hours will be on the road. Woohoo! Our 2010 vacation in Ouray, Colorado is about to begin. Will make a side trip first. To Omaha, Nebraska where my brother Craig now lives. Haven’t seen him since June 1 – the day after Dad died. Am bringing Craig some of Mom’s and […]