Two weeks ago we drove over an hour to see the aspen changing. Today we drove 3 miles and hiked in on a National Forest road and saw some beautiful sites. Again, the camera didn't catch the brightness, I may have needed to use an ultraviolet filter because it was so bright, but just pointing and shooting with the Nikon digital worked pretty well.

Last week I became pretty depressed after hearing how our legislature and executive branch wants to treat foreign born citizens in our country. Our country's forefathers believed that ALL men are created equal, yet our aristocratic system these days still wants us to treat others differently. I think it's a blatant form of racism. I had to remind myself that to balance all the negativity, that positive actions will arise or have already arisen.

After watching a dvd of the Virgin Suicides by Sophia Coppola, I was ready to just go to bed early and hope for a better day the next morning. I enjoyed the movie, but it, coupled with the political news was disheartening. I know, the movie is taken from a fictional novel, but it still hit me how overly strong control can cause life to wither and die.

Ana had stated the other day that she didn't like Christians because they don't like fun things like Pokemon and Harry Potter. I had to remind her that not all Christians believe that way. That C.S. Lewis wrote similarly and the same kind of allegorical fight of good versus evil is appreciated by many Christians. If those who condemn Pokemon and Harry Potter would actually read or view those works they would see that there is a strong similarity. Some Christians believe that all is a creation of God.

Also I reminded her about the nun who was recently killed by Muslim extremists in reaction to the quote the pope had used about spreading Islam by the sword. Even as she lay dying, she forgive those who did not understand. I find it somewhat ironic that some of those who are incensed about Islam being spread by the sword see fit to use the sword to express their discontent. Doesn't that prove the point? But not all Muslims are that radical and Catholics themselves used the sword during the Crusades so everyone is similar in their wrongdoings and hopefully learning to right those wrongs.

The Aga Khan was recorded on the radio the other day and he sounded so wise when he stated we must accept pluralism and be tolerant of others' views. It reminds me of the paradoxical nature of spiritual truth: in order to recognize humanity's oneness, we have to be tolerant of our differences. We all may believe differently, but, as Sting says, we all love our children regardless of our theories about creation and whether there is a divine element to the world.

This little waterfall was found when I was taking Dave to see the cabin in the woods. We saw a tree growing out of a mossy rock and we went deeper off to the side of the trail to investigate and found more mossy rocks, cool shadows and then heard a little trickle. We found this little spot that seemed so serene. We thought it a perfect place to have a buddha meditating, so last week Dave went back with a ceramic buddha and set on the ledge above the tiny ferns. I haven't taken a picture of the buddha, but that will be coming.

Here are two examples of the beautiful flowers arrangements along the sidewalk in Idaho Springs, CO.

We went to Squaw Pass yesterday to see the aspens. They are looking so beautiful, it's too bad the photo doesn't capture the brightness of the yellow orange or the sparkling shimmer that comes when the leaves blow in the wind. I could photo shop the color, but I don't want to make it look fake. It was 39 degree at noon. brrr. We had our first two nights at or below freezing since last winter. Some of our plant leaves are turning to spinachy mush.

Walking through Idaho Springs was fun, we've started shopping for Christmas presents and there was ample opportunity to find good gifts. The flower pots on their main street were beautiful, but alas they are looking a little worse for the wear from the cold nights. There was plenty of snow on the highest peaks, looks like we may have an early winter this year. That's good for you skiers.

Notice how Jake is trying to look unobtrusive? He much prefers the blue velvet chair to his dog house, but he still isn't too sure about whether he is allowed to sit on the chair or not.

The shot above is from Mt.Evans, taken by Ana at Summit Lake. The kids are in school and it's so nice. Jake and I are hiking a lot. Emma got in trouble for being too wild on the bus yesterday. She gets to go to her friend Riese's house at his bus stop and stay for dinner. She's like me, she likes male friends--'cause they're easier to get along with.

Oh, I just found out that although I'm a Virgo, I have Gemini and Aquarius affecting me with the rising and something else. So that explains why I get along with those signs. I'm also supposed to be a nonconformist because of those two signs. Plus, I'm supposed to be intuitive. That's why I guessed that the marine who supposedly fell and bumped his head here in Colorado and then became lost was really trying to go awol, of course his dad doesn't agree.

I wrote about the Little Cabin in the Woods earlier, so when Jake and I hiked today, we went back to take pictures. This is one of them.

One of the views from Labor Day Weekend Hike

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

The three day weekend was great. We had rain on Saturday, but that was fine because we were cleaning and shopping for company. Then Sunday they came, we had a great hike, the weather was sunny but a little cooler, we had a clean house and good company. Monday we still had a clean house and got to rest and eat great leftovers,

The hike was a little embarrassing because the owner of the property we were going to walk on showed up, but he was very gracious in letting us go ahead to see the view.

I'm still a little stiff and sore, so I think Jake and I will go for another hike today to loosen up. His nail or claw was torn off one toe, while climbing a rock, but he seems to be okay. W bought some spray for him that takes away pain and keeps the wound clean. I don't think we'll do any rock climbing today so he won't have extra pressure on it.

Today we still have a clean house (almost).

A LITTLE CABIN IN THE WOODS

I've taken to hiking close to home this year. The gas prices are so high that I don't want to drive anywhere to hike. I used to hike at Roxborough State Park while Emma was in preschool because I didn't want to waste gas driving to and from the school twice a day. For the three hour period of her class I hiked, de-stressed, got healthy, exercised and sometimes listened to continuing legal education tapes while viewing just beautiful sites.

Now both kids ride the school bus, so no driving is needed and it makes more sense to hike close to home. There is a lot of area to hike here. I've been following trails I find that prohibit motor vehicle/dirt bike traffic. Those trails lead to others and I just keep exploring. Often I run into National Forest signs, but the area is also criss crossed with private property.

One trail has lead to a hidden camp with wood picnic tables, a rope and board swing from a tree, two grills, a fire ring (maybe two) with logs set up all around to sit on. What I saw first on the trail was a protrubrance from the ground that looked like a big can on the ground with a toilet seat cover. Then when I looked across I found the camp. It looked like a forest service toilet without the wooden restroom structure/outhouse around it.

Another time I've found the trail ending at an incredible view (photos to come) or great rocks to climb on.

I had gone on a new trail last week that followed a creek bed, it was so beautiful and green and dappled sunny but shady enough to be cool on a hot summer day. I stopped when Jake (my dog) and I saw what looked like a tent and heard a dog bark and two male voices. I decided to backtrack for safety's sake. But on the road back home I noticed where they had parked and decided to continue on the same trail another day when they weren't there.

Today we did that and I found a little cabin in the woods. It's log with concrete chinking, and actually had electricity at one time, a propane tank at one time, so it had gas, and there was a phone line. It was locked and the windows had locks. The furniture had mostly been emptied out. Peeking in one window I saw a claw footed tub and toilet,in another a chromey woodburning stove. It has a fireplace made of slabs of flagstone. Over the front door was a sign that said "Little Cabin in the Woods". There was also a wooden box with a pencil in it that said if they weren't home to leave a note. You could tell they hadn't been home in a long time.

They had dammed the creek and so there was a little pond, a wide open, flat, grassy spot in front of it. There were some out buildings that reinforced that the place hadn't been used in quite a while and a little pine slab/bark covered outhouse that had a sign on it to "get your Denver Post here".

What a find!!! I followed the trail beyond it that turned into a road to see where it ended up and it did at a road. I'll start taking the camera to share some of what I consider little treasures.