A month or so ago, I finally came up with a "Miller-Renfro Colorado Bucket List for 2013" after many months of losing the focus of the original intent of this blog. It was a list of ten items that I thought I could accomplish sometime within the next few months way out here along the Western Slopes of Colorado. I did the first part of one a few weeks back when Mike and I drove to the top of Cerro Summit to watch a beautiful sunset atop a landmark that is not far from our home here in Montrose. It really was pretty and a sight to behold.
Yesterday, Mike and I drove to a community that as the "crow flies" is about 60 miles south from us called Telluride. Mike had been wanting for me to see it ever since we got back here this summer. With yesterday's absolutely perfect weather here in south western Colorado, it seemed like a great day to do that. Since one of the items on my bucket list is "to take photos of the beautiful Aspen trees in the fall", I figured it was a great day to "kill those two proverbial birds with one stone". So off we went and the journey was not a disappointing one. The drive truly was majestic. Here are a few of the images that we saw along the way to share with you now.
The trees were gorgeous and their bright fall leaves stuck out all over the landscape, mixed in with the "evergreens" and dark red rocky mountainside. I saw the beautiful Aspen trees all decked out in their autumn finery. The golden colour is a most brilliant one and the leaves seem to shimmer in the sunlight. The Cottonwood will always be my favourite tree, and not just because I am from Kansas either, but the Aspen now occupies the #2 spot on my "I like this tree" list.
You know, yesterday's trip to Telluride actually served a two-fold purpose for me. It gave us a chance to get out of the house and for the price of a few gallons of gasoline and the time it took to get there and back, we had a pretty nice afternoon. I got to take a picture of some beautiful Aspens and mark it off of my current bucket list. Yet, another very good purpose was served for me and it was one of importance as I adjust to life here in a place so very far away from Kansas.
Mike and I visited along the way yesterday about the early days here for me, beginning in late May after we were married and came back here from Kansas. My initial days and weeks of life in Colorado were filled with extreme homesickness and sadness and I'm just now realizing nearly 5 months later that it was quite a shock to my system. I was so busy being homesick, just trying to get through the days without crying and missing my family and friends back in Kansas that I ended up "missing" everything that was all around me. For instance, that kinda big hill called the Grand Mesa that I see every morning as I drive north to Olathe? Well for crying out loud, I just realized this week that I see it as well each time that I stop at the four-way corner at Hillside and Locust Road, only 3/4 of a mile from home. ( I know, that's sad isn't it?) I have become aware of the fact that a whole lot of people put their swamp coolers atop their roofs here and geesch, I drive past these neighbourhoods all the time and never once noticed it until a few weeks back. It took a second-grade boy at Olathe Elementary to set me straight on the fact that there are no farms here, only ranches. I'll never forget the look on his face when he told me that, after asking him if he lived on a farm. Kind of like a cross between-"Where in the world are YOU from?", "I sure feel sorry for you." and "You're kidding, right?" The list could go on but the bottom line is this~If there was a class for new guys to attend called "Furthering the Awareness of Your Colorado Surroundings 101", then I'd need to be there and sitting on the front row. But hey, it's getting better.
Although I honestly have to say that I have yet to be totally endeared to this state, it's getting MUCH better. The mountains and I have generally speaking reached a truce with one another~They no longer give me that claustrophobic feeling that was very prevalent in my beginnings here. They are just there and I must admit those 14'ers are quite spectacular. As each day goes on, things get better and as Mike always reminds me it's ok to take baby steps along the way to becoming accustomed to life here in the west. Although I am not yet "in love" with the state of Colorado, I have become endeared and close to many of its people. From the fourth-grade students in my class and the rest of the staff at Olathe Elementary, to people that I have met from my new church, Redeemer Lutheran at Delta, to the guy that I left Kansas for and moved out here in the first place, my husband Mike, I have finally begun to make a connection to my new life here. Slow but sure, I'm getting there.
In my heart and mind, I will always have a place for my dear Kansas. Its people and places are by far among the very best. I will NEVER forget it and no one could ever make me. But I have a big heart and there is room for Colorado in it as well. Little by little, the place is being made for it and even though I have felt alone at times here, this I surely do know....the same God who watched over me back there in Hutchinson, Kansas did not lose track of me 611 miles to the west. I have been most blessed.
Time to get the day going everyone! Hoping that you are all well and at peace with your life. This is Sunday, the 20th day of October in the year 2013. By my count (ok, really the online calculator because who in the heck really has the time to figure that out on their own? Not me.), I am 21, 179 days old today and heck if I live another 6 days I will actually make it to year #58. It wasn't an accident that I woke up today and if you are reading this then it was not an accident for you either. There's a purpose in mind for us, a reason for being and I think I'm gonna get dressed, put my shoes on and get out there and find out what that would be. Love you guys all!
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