Hangin around this town

5/21/10
Today was the 25th anniversary of Old Town Square. Since it was the 80's they had an 80's theme going on. Break dancing, Rubrix cubes, air guitar contests to all the great 80's rock bands, etc.











5/20/10
A very tasty place to eat and some good bluegrass music too! I just happened to walk by! Mandolin, bass, and a banjo. The woman had a great singing voice too.



5/7/10
The water fountain sculptures by Lawrence Argent are on for the season! Yay! The water shoots from one sculpture to another in a snake movement sort of pattern. Just be aware when your walking through, because water comes up from other places too!

Rabid Squirrel?

Yesterday, I came out of the front door of my apartment, locked the door, turned around and saw a squirrel staring at me on the stairs about 3 feet away. I hesitated and thought he looked like a squirrel that had gotten too friendly with human feeding like the ones I knew in Yosemite. But when he started to come towards me I panicked, thought "rabid squirrel!" unlocked the door and hopped back inside. I peaked through the screen door, and he was slowly making his way down the stairs and towards my apartment! I banged on the screen door to scare him away, then immediately thought how happy my neighbors would be about that at 7 a.m. I grabbed my cat to show him what was outside thinking maybe the squirrel would be scared by him. The squirrel and the cat showed little reaction.
I looked around for something to throw.... Something that wouldn't really hurt him though. I grabbed a cork, opened the screen door a crack and whisked it past him....No movement whatsoever.
Meanwhile I have about 8 minutes to walk down to the bus stop and catch my bus.
I had to charge it. I grabbed my bags and ran down the stairs chasing the squirrel. (Now the neighbors are thinking through their mj haze "mmmaaann that lady is crraaaazzy next door")
He ran down the stairs and into the parking lot, but then stopped and turned back again.

From squirrels to bears...Soon, (I hope) I will be joining Andy in the land of grizzlies, mountain lions, etc. I don't think throwing a cork will work with them either!

A Trip To The Mountains

This weekend Andy and I decided to take a trip up to the mountains to car camp then ski the next day. As we drive along the hour and a half drive up to the camp spot in the canyon we have time to chat and entertain ourselves. Andy decided that he would wave to every car he met along the way. I guess the small town back country friendly feeling got to him. As we went along he waved to each and every car. Soon we discovered that almost every person driving a car did not wave and people driving trucks waved! We wondered why we thought that would be: People in trucks are generally more easy going? People in cars have places to be and aren't as friendly? Perhaps the people in cars are less sure of themselves on twisty mountain roads and therefore keeping their grips firmly on the steering wheel? Who knows?
About half-way up the mountain it started to snow. Blowing large flakes swirled around as we continued up the twisty roads of the canyon. We were listening to some good old hopping zydeco music in the car and the flakes seemed to be dancing along with the music. Soon the sky was white with flakes but we could still see a little ways in front of us.
When we got to our campsite the snow was still falling. We prepped the site to set up our tent and as we were about finished setting it up the snow stopped (which I thought was a bummer!). Blue sky started to show through the clouds. But, like they say about Colorado weather, "If you don't like the weather just wait ten minutes" . Because about 10 minutes later the sky darkened again and it once again started snowing. This pattern continued the rest of the evening and through the night.
That evening we took the opportunity to be near a completely frozen river to test our guts on walking on ice. It is a very strange and unique view-point to sit in the middle of a river that is completely covered with dense ice as the wind blows loose snow around on its surface like a isolated desert.
That night we made a thoroughly warming dinner of "mountain man breakfast" in the dutch oven. It filled our bellies and we still had enough for the next day. After dinner we decided instead of warming up with some hot chocolate we thought we would have some toasty Saki. Andy put the bottle in the outskirts of the fire and we turned it slowly to warm. Into warmed cups we poured a small portion of Saki and drank up. Because the bottle was large we put it back in the fire ring to have again. A little while later we reached to fill our cups but as Andy turned the cap steam started to burst from around the cap. We decided maybe we should wait a second before trying to open it all the way.
Well, it was cold and we were in need of some warming liquid so we probably didn't wait long enough. Andy got the lid off and went to pour it out of the cup and as the not-as-hot liquid passed through the very hot neck of the bottle an explosion of Saki shot off. Andy held out the bottle as it exploded from the top like a bottle rocket. Our astonished faces met and we just laughed. Of course, as Andy laughed some of the contents of the bottle spilled into the fire and flames shot up. As I am asking him if he is OK, he looks down in the bottle and realizes with a forlorn face that all of the saki is gone.
It would be an awesome science experiment to try again, or perhaps a really awesome James Bond trick. In a predicament Bond would say to his current sexy vixen, "Here honey drink this" She would argue that now is not the time to drink, but he would insist. Then he would toss the half empty bottle into a fire, (landing perfectly aimed at the villain) and it would explode out and Bond (+vixen) would make their awesome escape. The only problem with that is that people would not believe it could happen. But Andy and I, through experience, can tell you it can... yes it can.

Too close to look back

I came on the site in all earnestness to write a blog about the snow days we have had here lately. When I got to the sign in page, I remember all the memories of Gambia that are here, and my heart speeds up a little. I get signed in, and go to view the blog and scroll down just a bit. I can't help myself and start reading the blogs. And when I reach the end of the scroll bar on the page, I realize one thing. That soon, if I keep writing new blogs, those memories will slowly shift to further in the past. I know in all reality I cannot stop the time passing of that period of our lives, but right now.. I can't push those memories down. A snow blog or whatever it may be will have to come when I am stronger and able to look at my pictures from that experience without crying and when I can go back and read all of my paper journals that I wrote while there. Right now, it feels too close to look back.

Immerging from the past

It happens several times a day in this town. A pause in time for all people present. You first hear it, then, more indicators emerge. Lights flashing, red and white striped gates coming down, long draws on the horn and the signal dinging. And it doesn't matter if this train will make you late for your job, the bus, etc. you are (forced or willingly) thrust into a moment of time that feels like you have gone back into the future. People try to avoid it, racing through the last chance light, riding the side street to get ahead of it or around it. In most cases it is so long you just can't reasonably avoid it. The cars stop, just feet from the enormous machinery clanking along. You stand on the sidewalk thinking how insane it is that you can get this close to something so large, potentially dangerous and awesomely powerful. As you watch the cars go by you, like all of the people stopped, you read the sides. Some say things like, "Molten Sulfur", "Edible or Inedible Tallow", etc. For a moment it crosses your mind what it would be like if the molten sulfur were spread all over the road in front of you and what exactly your escape plan would be for that. The ding dinging of the train warning signal reverberates through the downtown parking garage and the early morning silence contribute to the feeling that the train pushed its way through a time portal, freezing modernity, stopping time, for all to see. About 80 cars, ten minutes and the train completes its pass through that part of town. The last car passes, the dinging stops, and the lights start working again. The cars are off, people are rushing across the road and back to reality. But now your late.

Land of the free

Let me tell you about Bob and Sue. They are my new neighbors. Bob lives directly above my apartment and Sue. Sue lives just beside Bob. (These names have not been fabricated) I don't know why, but Bob coughs a lot and loudly. But Bob and Sue each have a quirkiness that seems to compliment them to each other. In the morning I've heard Sue come out of her apartment and yell to Bob, "Good morning Bob!"
I guess the other day they were having lunch together, Sue was riding her bike down to the nearby local grocer and calls out to Bob, "Do you want anything else? Chips?" Later on that day, "Ok Bob, I'm going, I'll be back around 5." Bob answers back "Ok Sue" I was sitting reading on the outside hallway of my apartment today and heard Sue go from Bob's apartment to hers saying she was going to get something. Bob calls out after her, "You need help?" Sue declines, and as she comes back to Bob's expresses her wishes that her potato salad is good.
The other day, my brother and I were walking around town, kind of wandering and taking turns whenever we felt like it. We turned a corner onto the campus here and saw bicyclists racing around the oval in front of a campus building. We walked further in to investigate and came upon a full fledged bike race. As some of the racers went by, I thought out loud, "It doesn't look like they are taking it too seriously, look, they are wearing long skinny jean shorts" We walked to a side and sat down in the grass amongst families watching the racers. I soon noticed that many of the spectators were also in biking gear of some sort. After a serious looking set of bikers, (all in spandex get ups, clip ons, etc.) there was a cruiser bike race. Everyone laughed good naturedly at them. There were children that were so small they wouldn't come up to my hips, riding in the grass on the tiniest bicycles I've ever seen. It's like if you grown up here you are born with bicycles in your blood. Only in Fort Collins could you wander around on a Sunday and happen upon a bike race.
Being new here I notice the amount of bikers around town. I notice the type of bikers, everyone from moms with tiny children following, to old people on tricycles, to teenagers wearing neon checked vans.
The other night we walked two blocks from our street to a park and listened to a blues band in the company of families with children of all ages, their pets, and every generation in between. The local ice cream shop had a stand, (of course I had to get some) and the kids were dancing in front of the stage.
Today I walked to one of the many nearby parks and saw little boys on the lakeside fishing. A small girl and her two brothers came on their bikes to feed the ducks.
I went out to the grocery store today (fixed my new pannier on my bike, strapped on my helmet and set off)...Three blocks down and there is lighting crashing and thunder. As soon as I spot a building I head towards it. As I set my bike against the wall a mother (pushing a stroller) and her two little girls (who were on bikes) came to the door asking, "Are you hoping its open like us?" We walked in and I instantly realized it was the local performing arts center. They had a gallery of painted fabric from a Coloradoan artist. Impromptu gallery viewing.
There are fountains in the old town area near my apartment. There are blocks of some sort of rock with swirls carved in the tops of them and water comes shooting out and goes from one block to another, sending the water over several feet in an arch to the next block. Children put on their bathing suits and head down to them with their parents. But I think the dogs get the most enjoyment out of them. Trying to bite the water mid-air.
Dogs. Dogs seem to be everywhere. They are their owners companions when sitting in the outside cafe. They are the passengers in front bike baskets with their ears flapping in the wind. They are everywhere, it seems, that people are. This is definitely a dog friendly community.
My point in all of these observations which are especially poignant just coming back from The Gambia is that these people in this town seem to be a different type. It is like the Truman show town, but real. The only thing about it is that I don't think these people realize that not everyone grows up in this sweet, quant, hip, environment. An environment that seems genuinely and wholly focused on raising families and enjoying nature (with their endless bike paths bordering the Cache La Poudre and beyond). These things seem to make everyone nice and happy. And I’m glad for that.

MaBintou

Meet MaBintou,
Better known as Adja.









Ok,... she gets a little camera shy if she is not "ready"


Adja, 16 years old. An entrepreneur. Sells ebbe (Andy's favorite fish type stew) on the road. Likes to wear Western clothing makes great efforts to speak English (when Fatou Matta corrects her English, she says "Well, at least I'm trying!") Has a good way of easily seeing other peoples points-of-view. She is now the "curator" of the family library (its the girls room). She is one of the main cooks for the family, she asked us this weekend to show her how to make cornbread, so Andy and I showed her the Dutch oven style, it went very well.

Me and Adja waiting for the cornbread to cook.








She looks so proud! (Mama our grandma was very excited too!)