9000 Words

  Photo credit:  Scott Cain  "Fish Creek Falls Trail" Saturday: Steamboat Springs, Colorado Wake at 4:30am First one up yet again. We are packing up to leave our vacation rental this morning. My morning routine has a typical rut here. I get up and quietly make my way for the kitchen with my laptop. In the kitchen there is a light on over the sink. It’s still dark out, but that will not last long. I set my computer down on the large wooden kitchen table. Then this is where I will sit for the next hour or so to write. Before writing, I return to the counter next to the fridge, and turn on the coffee pot. I love Coffee, but for what ever reason, I can’t seem to drink much of it at this elevation. I learned to restrict myself to just one and one half cups per morning. Craig is usually the next person I see. We say hello to each other, and then he opens his own laptop, and turns on the TV and news. We don’t talk much. It’s clear we both have a quiet morning routine, and we...

Photo credit:  Scott Cain  "Red rusty land for water" Friday: Steamboat Springs, Colorado Awake at 5:45am As usual, I am up and about before any of the other people in the rental house. Also, I might have been the first one to bed. Craig always sets up the coffee pot the night before, and each morning I turn it on. It’s nice to be up and in the quiet, with fresh coffee. I do cherish these moments quiet and alone. But this morning is not a quiet one. Most of the family is soon up and about with in an hour. We are to be at the boat house for the rafting trip before 7am. So there is much commotion in the kitchen. Avery is one of the first ones up, and it does not take us long to realize that he really wants to go rafting with us. It is agreed that we will find a way to add him to the group. We make him an extra lunch, because all the lunches were pre-ordered weeks ago.   By seven am and we are all at the boat house (Bucking Rainbows). Our crew all pile into one of the bi...