In a mood (14)

(Lone tree in the distance.  Red Rock Canyon.  Colorado Springs, Colorado.)

I stepped outside early today, about a half hour or so before sunrise.  Not that there was much of a sunrise to speak of since the weather didn’t change overnight.  Clouds, rain, mists, and the occasional break from the rain and mists continue to be the norm.  Rumor has it that the spinning low will move out tonight and tomorrow will be bright and sunny.

The world looks and feels different during the twilight hours.  It’s not quite dark, yet not quite light.  The camera doesn’t capture it well.  It’s probably not the camera’s fault but that of its user.  I fiddled with manual settings just to see what would come of it since none of the pre-sets were working well for me.  Only one photo seemed to almost capture the light of that time of day:

It’s a reflection of the neighbor’s house in the pond.  I often feel as though the house looms over that part of the pond, perhaps because it is so big.  Or perhaps because it wasn’t there when we moved here and even after a few years of living with it as part of our scenery I am still not used to it.  It’s one of those McMansions that sprung up when people were still living large and spending money like crazy.

The other photo I like from this morning is one of the asparagus ferns with raindrops scattered over them.  The droplets remind me of diamonds or ice.  But let’s not think about ice just yet.

I have some photos from our Colorado trip I put aside for another day and today feels like another day to me.  They will go well with this post, I think.

(Windmill on the plains of Colorado.)

Tomorrow I will be hopping on a train to take a trip back east.  It’s been decades since I’ve been on a long train trip.  I love traveling by train.  If I could, I’d travel by train whenever and wherever I travel outside of walking distance.   I suppose it’s possible that nothing is outside of walking distance if you have the time and energy for it, but I’m hoping you’ll know what I mean.

(Silo on the plains.)

I have to get up early, around 3:00am.  That means I have to make sure I’m packed and ready before I go to bed tonight.  I don’t want to be rushing around trying to find things that early in the day when it’s likely I’ll still be half asleep.

The reason for the trip is a ceremony at the hospice where my mother died.  They (the folks at hospice) call it a “life celebration.”  I’m trying to think of it in positive terms, as an opportunity to, well, celebrate Mom’s life.  Still, going back to hospice for the first time since Mom’s death is going to be a little rough and rocky emotionally.

(Storm approaching.  Rocky Mountain National Park.  Colorado.)

The traveling presents a small dilemma, maybe, in terms of my 365 commitment.  I am sure I will be able to get outside for a minimum of 30 minutes each day.  No problem there.  But I am not sure I will be able to blog about it daily.  I should have internet access.  I am not sure I will have the time.

(On the mesa near Boulder, Colorado.)

It will be a quick trip.  I’ll be coming back on Sunday.  Sunday might be the hardest day to post as I won’t be getting home until 10:00pm or later.

(Somewhere near Colorado Springs, Colorado.)

I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.  In the meantime, I’ve set up a few auto-posts to take care of the daily posts and I’ll post when I can.