Friday, June 27, 2014

Way Up High

My summer home sits way up high at 8,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. It is called "Colorful Colorado" because of the magnificent scenery of mountains, rivers and plains. There's this vintage trailer, a 1951 Royal Spartanette, all hunkered down in a pretty little aspen cove. That Silver Moonbeam keeps the rain out on days when the sky turns onimous with thunderclap. Those kinds of days are more frequent than not and they never last very long. Taking refuge inside the "tin can" is like a gentle hug. The whole interior is warm, blonde maple (or is it pine?) from top to bottom. It smells like worn wood, slightly musty, like an old bookstore, but with a hint of pine sap. After a rain, I push the little screened windows out by the lever as far as they will go and then the magic starts wafting in. It's a slight breeze, not the wind I'm accustomed to in Wyoming, but a soft sigh. Like blowing on a dandelion. It's like that. In comes the scent of Ponderosa Pine, with her red bark, the long needles, cones dripping in sticky piney goo, all that together make my senses more aware, more alive. It's the smell of moisture, how dirt smells after a rain. I smell the wildflowers, they are sweeter now, and the hummingbirds crowd around anything pink. A deep inhale, I think I'm breathing in the aspens and when I see their quivering leaves, I get chills, just a split second's worth, and I know I'm alive. I smell lavender and become calm. I see yellow petals of wild arnica and I am healed. The lupines make me smile while the pale grey and green leaves of the sagebrush, which are everywhere on this land, are bursting with the fragrance of earthy musk, drifting through the window screens, filling up the trailer. It's like an instant smudge stick, a healing and cleansing from nature, unceremoniously. Oh! All this display of color, of essence, all the beauty around us! It's enough to make you howl, like the coyote I pray to see more of. It's enough to make you scream like a bobcat. Like the twin bobcats that climb around our rocks.

Life in the Rockies. Here we are, in this secluded pocket of the world. A rather small patch at that, but, in fact, this is all anybody needs or could want. The trees, the wildflowers, the blooms, the smell of all things nature. It blends nicely with patchouli and bergamot and a splash of wind. My signature scent.




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24 comments:

  1. "dirt smells after a rain" - Mmmmm! Love it!! :)

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    1. I know! Like in the desert and the monsoons come. Afterwards, it's so clean and fresh. Fresh dirt. Yea, that's it.

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  2. Oh my gosh the chipmunk is eating out of your hand??? I've never been able to get even remotely close to one. And I love that picture of the Chickadee. The way you describe the place sounds like heaven, especially how it smells like an old book store inside there.

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    1. That family of chipmunks are friendly! Well, I carry raw nuts in my pocket, always. I've got names for all the critters around there, too.
      I know you've been in many musty bookstores! Love 'em. What's left of them.

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  3. Oh dit is toch wel het ultime gevoel van vrijheid in z,on mooi gebied met z,on mooie vintage trailer.

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    1. gelijk heb je! wild en vrij en afzondering met die trailer. zijn perfect! ik geef altijd dank voor dit alles. en thak U voor hier!

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  4. I love how you become this place, absorb its sights, smells, and textures. I close my eyes and drift into your world of high mountain wonder, where I feel the rain, hear the thunder. Howl!!

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    1. It's easy being a part of it all, Sagey. You cannot help absorb everything, take note, look closely and be and feel all that is around you, there at the Moonbeam, in the aspen grotto!

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  5. what a dandy little patch of paradise you've got for yourselves! you must "suffer" periodically from sensory overload with all the sights, sounds, and smells you describe! you look happy there, but then again, you look happy everywhere! enjoy!!
    xoxo

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    1. It is a special place. A little refuge, not too far from WY.
      Actually, I AM happier there than when I'm 'home'. It's impossible not to smile and think good thoughts when there.
      You will have to come up.

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  6. an instant smudge stick, indeed.
    i wish i could inhale all this, myself….

    [are you a bergamot girl?? i am a bergamot girl.]

    love and a hug, red dirt.
    and then, spread the love to that handsome man you've got there….

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    1. I cannot live without my bottle of bergamot essential oil. And patchouli. It smells SO GOOD!
      Hug back atcha, Bernard! xO

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  7. what a cool place!!! i wish i could visit one day soon. and how great is it to have your own signature scent? :)

    by the way, i think the best time to visit is around mid april to june. when the weather is really really really nice ;)

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    1. Okay! Sounds like we could do this. I'll come there in the summer, and you can come here in the fall, when everything is JUST RIGHHHHT. ;)
      Won't it be fun to plan, Niken?

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    1. Thank you, San!!
      It's probably as pretty as your Prairie Hill!!
      Were all lucky, I'd say!

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  9. You captured this so well in both photo and word. I found myself breathing a bit more deeply while reading.

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    1. Ohhh good. The delicious scent of the outdoors. I knew you'd appreciate a deep breathe. Thank you, Brandi

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  10. What a wonderful summer home. You paint the picture with your words and the photos confirm the vision.

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    1. Hi!! I'm going to have to hop on over to read what you've been up to. You know, that cow story?! ;)
      Thank you for taking the time here, Audrey.

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  11. Such a restorative place inspires beautiful words and feelings of contentment...well done, my friend. I'm so glad you have this bit of paradise to recharge you. I love the pine scent I smell here and can't get enough of it.

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    1. I know, you've got some wonderful balsam around your place. It's incredible.
      I like what you said. It DOES recharge me, when I get to come here. Exactly!

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  12. Such beautiful pictures. I would want to live there all year round!

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    1. I would love to live here year round too, but the trailer has no heat. We get piles upon piles of snow there and IT IS COLD! It's a long winter. But, I have to love it for what it is, for now. Someday we will put a Yurt on the land equipped with a wood stove! Cannot wait.
      Nice that you stopped by, Robin.

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