Quaking Aspens

And just as quickly as Jack Frost had trapsed across our fields, pouring rain, sleet and snow across our fields, he left that night - as if he was on a journey else where. The next morning the sun gladly chased away the few remaining and whispy clouds so that it could reign sunny and supreme on Sunday. Ethan enjoyed a day of complete relaxation, gettting caught up on watching shows he loved through Netflixs. Ellie slept in and then returned to Fort Collins with Stephen and Maxl to see the pros race again. Larr and I went for a quiet drive in the hills. I had wanted to see the changing of the colors. I had fear that the rain and snow would have washed them all off of the trees, but I was thankfully wrong. Here and there we found pockets of the quaking Aspens in their various shades of change.

Many trees were festive and glowing dressed in the shimmering gold leaves. A few still sported the green on the edges, fading like an old tattoo on a wrinkled arm. Others took on a pinkish hue, making me think of little girls in two tone tutus. And then there were the trees like the one above. It was like it could not make up its mind and decided to keep both colors. I like that.

Other places reminded me of the value of solitude and quiet. It is calmness in physical form. In this quiet space I enjoyed the time with my husband. It is rare to have time with him that is not full of the chatter of scheduling plans, replays of the day or parenting issues. We simply enjoyed our time together, living in the moment and not on one found somewhere else on the calendar.

As the sun began to retire for the night we rounded the bend and drove into Central City, once a blast from the cowboy past, now a small gambling town. I spied this recently painted building. I love the image and the attempt to hold on to the past culture. Larr thinks the painting is less than a year old. I'd never really walked through a casino, so I wanted to check it out for my self. My brother loves to spend his birthday at the hotel casinos so I wanted to see what his excitement is about. We strolled through the Ameristar. It was certainly nice. We learned how to play craps, sort of (it is complicated) and we saw lots of slots going. We even check out the hotel, the roof top pool and walked through the spa. Those were very nice. I just don't see the excitement of it all. Thankfully, those games do not call to me.

Back home we went, driving in the dusk and dark. Happy to hav spent the day together.