365 Days in Aspen

Rocky Mountain High

2016-06-24 06.49.49As you drive west from Kansas and  a few hours beyond into Colorado the landscape is pretty much the same – flat, open fields with varying crops like wheat, soybeans and corn and cattle pastures.  The even terrain allows for views of incredible distance.  The Who's title "I Can See For Miles" describes it perfectly.  

As you get closer to Denver, you start to see something in the distance.  At first it looks like it could be clouds.  Or maybe a trick of the eyes.  I can't imagine how the early American settlers felt when they took in this sight.  Were they croppeddelusional from their long trip?  Was it a mirage?  

Thankfully, it didn't take me nearly as long to see the majestic reality.  A few of the mountains still had snow on top. While that may be surprising to some for June, it's even more fantastical when you realize they were skiing up until just a few weeks ago.  Yes, skiing on Memorial Day.  I can't think of a better way to pay tribute to our magnificent country and those who fought to protect it.  

John Denver's lyrics, "…coming home to to a place he'd never been before" are some of the most powerful lyrics ever written.  (To read the full lyrics, click here).  This life-affirming feeling of purpose, of destiny, whether it is a person, place or thing, is what compels each of us.  It could be the arms of a soulmate, the first grasp of a newborn, the completion of an inspired book or song or the vision of a place that feels like "home." 

Whether Aspen is my forever home or just a one-year journey, I don't know.  I do know that I could relate to Denver's lyrics:

Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake

And his prophecy:  "He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again. You might say he found a key for every door."  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts?  Comments?  Check out my Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/365DaysinAspen/

facebookpage