Living in the Rockies
For someone like me, it's an incredible gift to live in area like this.
The most special person in my life
is Garima, my longtime partner. We're two very different creatures, but somehow have discovered a joyful way to share this journey together. We first met in a lush tropical garden at a meditation retreat in India, then found each other again a couple decades ago in Seattle, bought an old, rattletrap station wagon, set out on a cross-country drive, and ended up discovering our new home here in the Colorado foothills, nestled in the pines on the hillside across the valley from where Garima is sitting in this photo.
Our small home here in the Rockies is surrounded by ponderosa pines, wild grasses and wildflowers, and our neighborhood is home to deer, red foxes, wild turkeys, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, a variety of song birds, and the very occasional bear and mountain lion. We feel honored to be guests here among these longtime residents.
A bumper sticker Garima used to have
on her old car said, "Tree hugging dirt worshipper!" Nothing could be more true. When we moved to our home here, the first thing we did was to put up a deer fence for her garden. Since then, we have enjoyed a bounty of fresh food and herbs each summer. Her garden is alive with fragrant flowers, butterflies, song birds, some of the most beautiful dirt you've ever run your fingers through, and an occasional fox.
A fox in the garden?
Well, yes, we first became aware of the neighborhood foxes when one glided into Garima's garden to take a drink from the pond at the center, about eight feet from where Garima was picking flowers. After that, we put a small pond outside the garden fence, which gets visited by a continuous stream of local wildlife. Since we've been aware of the foxes, we notice them quite a lot. Often they are alone, but sometimes we'll see a mother with two or three kits, and on one amazing occasion, we saw seven foxes prancing around the yard.
A major gift of living in this area
is the abundant natural beauty provided by the Rocky Mountains. Our main form of entertainment is hiking up in the mountains as well as in the nearby foothills. We are always amazed by the beauty we discover on each hike. Here's a photo from a hike we took to Bierstadt Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. More⩘
More photos: Living - Places⩘
I'm also incurably curious
about the world around me. When we're hiking, this curiosity helps me to see and experience more, and it also extends in many directions in my life. At times I come across something that invites me to stop and contemplate. Some of these things fill me with wonder, others make me happy, quiet and reflective, or even sad, but they all seem worth contemplating, so I jot them down, like this note about NASA's video, Cassini's Grand Finale⩘ .
More notes: Living - Contemplations⩘
"No obsession, no fear, no inhibition …
what more enlightenment do you want?"
— Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche,
the main incarnation of Dzongsar Khyentse
and filmmaker (The Cup and Travellers and Magicians)
