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dawndreaming
It feels early before 7 am, like I’m pedaling through the remains of my dreams to reach wakefulness once more. The misty air smells damp, and creatures who prefer to do business in the gentle morning light fade in and out of it. Even the sun has to work its way through the mist in…
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Crystal Wall Evening
I finally manage a clean ascent of the 5.10b I’ve been working on. I do it first, slipping into just the right meditative state of mind. It feels really good. Ann has a hard time with this one due to a big reach at the bottom, but we sample some of the new route to…
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A Vedauwoo Adieu
Vedauwoo bids us adieu with a jaw-dropping sunset. It feels like an unexpected gift. You just never know what waits for you here. We have our last dinner with Clare and Dennis back in Fort Collins, and bid them a fond farewell and safe journeys for the rest of their trip.
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Vedauwoo – Valley Massif
We’re eager to show Dennis and Clare our favorite climbs at our favorite place, so we take them to Valley Massif at Vedauwoo, and put Clare on Soft Touch 5.5. She’s solid, but it’s tough to dive into leading Vedauwoo cracks, which is why I’ve been proudly leading the lowest grades I can find here…
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Big Thompson Canyon – Combat Rock
We set out to give Dennis and Clare a little climbing introduction and tour of the Estes Park area. I haven’t been to Combat Rock before, but I see there are bolts in the guide and figure it’s a sport crag. Not quite. Clare is thankful for some extra gear on Rambo Santa 5.7, and…
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Saved by dumb luck
We’ve never been so indecisive going into a three day weekend. We can’t decide on any of half a dozen plans. We pick up Sean to take him to the airport at 7:10, car packed for camping and climbing, still no idea where we’re going. And no closer after dropping Sean off. We nearly go…
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Movie: Paris, Texas (1984)
Once again, the opening scene in the Sonoran desert lanscape of the Mexico border absolutely grips me. I think it’s my favorite scene of the movie. Though the characters are good and Wim Wenders is capable of milking the most from a character, he might be milking too much in this film. But maybe I’m…
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Movie: 13 Conversations About the Same Thing (2001)
This film is like a sonata, where the characters and stories are like carefully composed themes and motives that recur and interact to form a whole work. It felt a little rigid to me at points, but it ultimately shuns the clichés it flirts with and effectively expresses the elusiveness of the one thing we’re…
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Movie: Syriana (2005)
This is an exposition on some facets of global oil power struggles. It seems to revel a bit in the complexities of the issue, but ends up presenting some interesting perspectives. It’s written by the same author as Traffic, and follows a similar format. It was interesting enough to make me curious about the book…
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Mist in rouge
It’s sunrise season again! This morning is the first of the summer that I leave before sunrise on my commute. Heron Lake is enchanting, reflecting the pale dawn rouge through a layer mist created by the cold, dry air.