Wednesday, September 16, 2015

HAVE I FOUND PARADISE?

WHILED AWAY THE SUMMER IN A PARADISAICAL TOWN--- COLORADO'S EQUIVALENT OF BRIGADOON.  I didn't mean to stay the summer---but---Well, you'll see.


Salida, Colorado, population 5000, elevation 7000 ft--an old railroad town--reinventing itself as Artsy.

A river, literally, runs through it.
Kayakers play in "holes"--the most exciting parts.

Old kayaks on display--show their evolution  


lovely things decorate the town---houses like those in Disneyland.

Free concerts every week.

Look closely--bicycles not locked up


And yes Marajuana is legal. (report in today--taxes collected are double what was collected for alcohol)

Wild deer freely roam the streets

Farmers market every weekend

Surprise an old friend--Carol--she makes and sells those products. (remember her from the Quest for Community caravan)

Here's something new--a rolling art gallery.

with this philosophy---I like it!

And provacative paintings 

Every week a different festival--this one all about fibers--weaving, spinning etc--surprisingly interesting--a very large subculture.  Jeanne loved it.
Old car festival--my favorite--$23,000 would have bought it.

I think Chrysler mass produced these.

A few quirky folks around town--can you see the giant spider atop the luggage carrier.

a fence made of old bicycles

AAAhhh but the highlight of the summer was visiting with new and old friends.  That's Jim and Gayle in the green shirt and orange top--a couple extraordinaire whose healthy minds and lifestyle moved me to poetry:
ODE TO JIM AND GAIL

Jim and Gail ride the gypsy trail
and are famous for their leisurely ways.
The name of their Rig is the name of their gig:
Both are called Lazy Daze.

With no contrition for their lack of ambition;
season after season they play;
with no troubling sorrow 'bout yesterday and tomorrow;
but enjoying today and today.

A self schooled couple, smart and supple
who've earned their nomadic diploma
for their fine-tuned talents of finding the balance
midway between frenzy and coma.

And what terrific luck to get moonstruck
with a lovely mobile fox
Who's quite proud to live out loud
in a rolling thirty foot box.

Check out their blog here

Is this the picture of a contented man?  


RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES:  Paradise is of course not a place but a state of the head and even then comes and goes unpredictably.  Quality friends help a lot.  Beautiful, comfortable places help too.
Interesting happenings contribute;  Challenging projects also.  Salida furnished all the above.  I found myself posting more often---writing more poems.  I forsee a  time when everybody is free enough to search out the people and places most conducive to their creativity and well being.

(incidentally it was an incredibly inexpensive summer--camping is free, concerts, festivals mostly free, movies cheap.)  









9 comments:

  1. What a great time! Sorry I missed the car show.

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  2. It was great seeing you again. Glad we inspired you to write another poem!

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  3. So did you try some of that legal pot?? Hey, I ran into Carol way up here in Vermont on the Canadian border. And just by coincidence. I was stopped at an intersection and here was this crazy woman hanging out of the passenger window frantically waving to me. We both pulled over and turns out she flew in to visit her cousin who live in the next town over. Nice to see her. Thanks for your posts Randy. Oh, Carol says she is now retired from the napkin business. So those who bought some, well they will only increase in price ;)

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  4. I'm adding Salida to my list.

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  5. Salida is one of my favorites towns.

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  6. We made special memories in that lovely town, did we not?...languishing away steamy hours in the hot springs...reading Walden aloud on the peaceful banks of the Arkansas River... enthusiastically tackling life's eternal mysteries from dawn 'til dusk. Who could ask for more?
    P.S. Round 2 in NM?

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  7. Randy,

    It is the mark of a generous-spirited man, that his prophecies foretell better days. I like your prediction of “a time when everybody is free enough to search out the people and places most conducive to their creativity and well being.”

    The record of humanity’s use of time-saving technologies and material abundance to effect such positive ends is, to this point, spotty. But I do hope we get better at that. And irrespective of whether such predictions come true, I admire the vision that sees such things. Whatever the fate of the prophecy, I heartily applaud the prophet.

    Michael in Oklahoma

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  8. Thank you Michael for your generous spirited comment. I think you would not see it were it not already in you. I hope our paths cross some day. In the meantime if you give me an email address I will send you the e book UPWINGERS that will blow you away with perhaps the ultimate positive vision for humanity. The author is F.M. Esfandiary --now deceased but maybe not permanently because he has taken a long-shot gamble on real-life physical immortality. I will explain if I hear from you again. My personal email is posted in the heading of this blog.

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  9. Thank you, Randy, for your kind response. I will take you up on the offer, and contact you via email.

    Michael in Oklahoma

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