” You need not do anything, just remain quiet.  Remain sitting quietly at your table and the world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked – it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet…” Franz Kafka

“It would be known forever as the Garden of the Gods “where it shall remain free to the public, where no intoxicating liquors shall be manufactured, sold, or dispensed, where no building or structure shall be erected except those necessary to properly care for, protect, and maintain the area as a public park.” By the 1870’s, the railroads had forged their way west. In 1871, General William Jackson Palmer founded Colorado Springs while extending the lines of his Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. In 1879, General Palmer repeatedly urged his friend, Charles Elliott Perkins, the head of the Burlington Railroad, to establish a home in the Garden of the Gods and to build his railroad from Chicago to Colorado Springs. Although the Burlington never reached Colorado Springs directly, Perkins did purchase two-hundred and forty acres in the Garden of the Gods for a summer home in 1879. He later added to the property but never built on it, preferring to leave his wonderland in its natural state for the enjoyment of the public. Perkins died in 1907 before he made arrangements for the land to become a public park, although it had been open to the public for years. In 1909, Perkins’ children, knowing their father’s feeling for the Garden of the Gods, conveyed his four-hundred eighty acres to the City of Colorado Springs

Leisurely arriving to Colorado Springs the small, comparatively speaking, 480 acres near by Park reminded me of a bit of Utah. Not bad at all considering a fairly active urban environment surrounding it all. But more important it was dog friendly, everywhere, every trail, space. However the entrance being free, as us, get there early. We bypassed the visitor center as the maps are everywhere in the Park, by the time we had finished our short hike the parking lot was full. This is considering off season.

Riding and thinking. It really does not make much sense considering one needs to instead pay attention to the roads and their multitude of could be obstacles popping up as being in the midst of a fast moving video game. Not that I play, only know from watching others. I have heard the same from many riders, the ones with experience as I would even go further saying, it becomes second nature. Not all the time, only sometimes. Sometimes when the roads are straight, maybe fenced, giving us a false sense of security that the deer will not jump over, when all goes well.

I also know that the strangest thoughts enter my mind at times, hoping they dissipate, will not rock my World, but the seeds have a way of making their way within this fertile ground which has been vagabonding these past years. We are near by Denver right now, I see it as, no offense, “Any City USA”, loud, smoggy, fast, littered, loud again, even if I am totally aware that near by, the beautiful Mountains await. I don’t feel planted as we are just passing through, I perceive it more as if I am watching this Movie which “Fast and Faster” would be a proper title, even if I have not seen it.

I wonder if I ever lived in this fashion, and as I try to remember, I have. Was I caught up in it or was it I did not know better? Past Life sure went by fast, it was work and more work and more overtime for more “stuff”, the kind I today realize I could have done without it all my Life, if I only knew then what I know now. I don’t think the thought is new, it only slaps me when in “Any City USA”, as I also need to think unselfishly, maybe all these “people” are happy. I know they dream of their two weeks vacation, either a camping trip, a cruise maybe, or for that matter anything will do, away from their present environment. So maybe I am thinking a better balance of it all. I keep thinking I have one myself, it sways back and forth often, the scales are there, mental and physical.

I went to Walmart today, a Journey in itself, I don’t like to support imported goods, but my wallet thinks a bit differently then I do. Maybe because I live alone with Spirit, my tendency is sometimes to strike a conversation with total strangers. I know when they themselves would like to reciprocate and actually have met some real nice people. Today were two Ladies in their wheelchairs, one behind another. I could tell they were trying to make it through the aisles without taking up much real estate in this giant store. “You are almost a convoy” I told them stopping ahead. That is all they needed to spill their frustration telling me about being abused and even verbally put down by some shoppers because of their slow speed. I believed them.

They had traveled a bit as the Walmart in their own neighborhood was filled with unconsidered shoppers, thinking all will be well here. And it was not. We end up parting with much laughter and maybe I did make them feel good about themselves to mainly stay above it all and to not lower their presence of mind to other’s level… with the joke of course ensuing “you two are low enough in those wheelchairs…”. They decided to return but coming and shopping later when the aisles would quiet down a bit. Does Life need to be that rude? I think we are maybe over populated. Maybe the allowance of the common sense, the awareness, the respect and the Love for each other has been watered down. We are maybe too many and there is just not enough of it to go around. Just a thought!

If you find yourself perusing this site extensively, please, consider purchasing prints, T shirts, merchandise or making a contribution above.

Thank you and be well…

Ara & Spirit