More Forest Canyon Overlook

Tundra

I took these pictures at the Forest Canyon Overlook. At about 11,700 feet, it's above the treeline, and there's only the wildflowers and slow-growing mosses and lichens of a tundra.

Lily Lake

A perfect mountain lake. There's a trail all the way around it so you can take a calming walk after fending off the chipmunks trying to steal your lunch.

Sunday bird blogging

I'm not certain, but I believe this is a female brewer's blackbird, singing her appreciation of the gorgeous day at Lily Lake.

The excursion was almost completely lacking in large animal sightings; our sole glimpse of Colorado's version of the Big Five -- bears, moose, elk, bighorn sheep and deer -- consisted of a couple of deer deep in the shadows of the trees. But if you liked smaller critters, Lily Lake was perfect. In addition to the chipmunks and the blackbirds, there were muskrats, snakes, salamanders, lots of birds and clouds of dragonflies. I've already seen all of the Big Five, but I'd never seen dragonflies in such brilliant colors, so I didn't really miss the bears.

Saturday reflections

Here's one from Denver.

I hope to at least get the Rocky Mountain pictures up this weekend, but there is a longer than usual list of chores to get through, and top of the list is Take Several Naps, so we'll see.

Urban poetry

The fountains in front of Union Station on Sunday morning. It was very early -- not much past seven am -- and not that warm, but these kids wanted to get an early start on beating the heat.

Cuteness alert

Here's a chipmunk at Lily Lake, who was clearly hoping that I hadn't seen any of the signs warning against feeding the animals and might be willing to share my sandwich.

The Chapel on the Rock

This was another stop on the way to the park: the Chapel of Saint Catherine of Siena, also known as the Chapel on the Rock, near Allenspark.

It's just too perfect.

Rocky Mountain High, part 2

A dispensary in Lyons, Colorado, passed on the way to the National Park yesterday.

I'm a little sorry now that I didn't add a visit to one of these businesses to my Colorado itinerary. I'm sitting in Denver airport, waiting to hear if my flight home will only be delayed by six hours or if they'll decide to bump it a few more times. Drugs might at least make the time pass in a more interesting fashion, since it doesn't look like I'll make it home before midnight.

This is the business right next door to the dispensary -- not only do they sell a variety of munchies, they offer free samples.

I'm guessing business is booming.

Rocky Mountain High

I was too tired last night to deal with photos, and I want to go out for one last walk in Denver before I have to leave for the airport, but here's a small taste of yesterday's splendors: a view of Rocky Mountain National Park, taken from an overlook near the treeline.

Unsinkable

I missed the worst of the current heat wave by flying right through it; by the time it got to New York, I was gone and Denver has cooled down significantly from the 106 degrees it hit last week.

It was still pretty damn hot though, so as planned I spent most of the afternoon inside museums -- a wonderful landscape photography exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, and the Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art, which is a little gem crammed with exquisite furnishings from all the 20th Century masters.

When I was wandering through the Capitol Hill neighborhood on my way to the museums I passed this -- Molly Brown's house, which is also now a museum.

Many years ago a man I was deeply, painfully, in love with sent me a postcard of this house. We'd never talked about feelings, never shared more than a couple of hasty kisses, but he signed the postcard Love it. Love you. 

It ended badly, of course, and he died tragically young, but when I saw the house yesterday, I saw that postcard, saw the loopy slant of his handwriting, and it brought tears to my eyes. I hope that wherever he is, he heard me whisper hello to him in front of the Molly Brown house, and knew that I was thinking about him.

Sunday bird blogging

This is a crappy picture, but it's all you're going to get this morning -- a Brewer's blackbird in Riverfront Park in Denver earlier today.

After writing earlier this week that I sometimes wondered why I want to be anywhere other than New York as often as I do, it was ironic that I spent so much of yesterday wishing that I'd just stayed there. I was supposed to get to Denver at 11:45 am; I actually arrived almost eleven hours late, after mechanical problems on the first plane, having to go standby on the second, and terrible storms over Denver that had us circling in turbulence for an hour until our fuel was dangerously low and we were diverted to Albuquerque to wait out the weather and refuel.

I'd woken up at 3 am to test servers for work so I was tired before I even left for the airport, and by the time I found myself wandering blearily through the baggage claim area looking in vain for the suitcase I'd been forced to check because I was the last one they let on the plane, I'd been awake for close to 24 hours and my last meal had been an inadequate salad at Newark airport in what felt like a different lifetime.

I didn't sleep long or well, which is why I'm having trouble writing coherent sentences. I've had one breakfast, but I think I could use another one. Then I'm going to visit some museums and go to bed early. Tomorrow I'm spending the day in the mountains.