thursday thirteen

I know the formatting on this this is all wonky, but I'm going insane. I can't work with it any longer. Here are thirteen things I love about Colorado (and other Rocky Mountain States)

Ok, so I got a bit carried away...

1. Wearing a jacket in August because you are 11,000 feet above sea level, (and you'll see patches of snow in the shade, too)
   
2. Prairie Dogs
   
3. Pronghorn
   
4. Buttercups
   


5. Indian Paintbrushes
   


6. These little bitty wild daisy things
   


7. Real cowboys
   


8. Pikes Peak (click for a live view of the peak)
   


9. The smell of the air
   
   
10. Cold rain to cool off a hot day
    
    
11. Cacti
    
    
12. Ice cold streams in July
    
    
13. Views that go on forever (click for views from cameras atop Pike's Peak)
    
    
14. Seeing the curvature of the earth

15. Incredible blue skies, (I've been other places. The sky is not the same.)

16. Aspen trees

17. Timberline

18. Red rocks




15. Big Horn Sheep
    

And I will share a fabulous poem I wrote several years ago about my favorite spot on the top of the Continental Divide. It's the first poem I've written since school made me.

Continental Divide

This is where the waters are born

here in the home of clouds

I stand upon this solid ground

and watch

as birds take wing beneath me

The sun's warmth is stifled here

by air so thin it burns

It seems I should extend my arm

to reach

and touch the fire that shuns me

Freedom is the word that spins

weaving throughout my mind

To leave behind the cares of life

and stand

where earth reaches to meet me

Heaven seems much nearer here

on the top of the world

God who whispered this into place

looks down

and takes the moment to greet me

C.KayDay2008