Bear Creek Lake Park

We've been back in Denver (Arvada really) for a week.  I'm readjusting to American life after almost 5 weeks in the UK.  I've been back and forth so many times now that occasionally I forget what the "right" side of the road is (fortunately, only on deserted streets).

We decide to go hike around Bear Creek Lake today.  I used to live not very far from this park, but I never figured out how to get there from my apartment (as you had to work your way through a golf course first).  Chuck was not thrilled about paying $5 to enter the park, and honestly, I don't know that I was either.  But, since I didn't know exactly where we were going and I'd never managed to get to the park from my old apartment, we didn't have many choices.

Despite the expense, we enjoyed being out in the Colorado air.  As I have done most days since I moved to Colorado originally 20 years ago, I marveled at the sunshine.  I guess after growing up in Iowa, I just can't seem to get over the amount of light in the middle of winter.  Iowa winters were always overcast and grey.  I remember my first winter in Colorado saying "Oh... I can see why people might enjoy winter..."  

Anyway, our hike was about 7 miles in total (the Mount Carbon Loop).  We saw groundhogs instead of grouse, and there was no sign of rain.  I took in every ounce of sunshine.  At the same time, much of the walk was relatively uninteresting. The semi-arid climate makes for a lot of reddish-brown ground and dead grass in the winter. I spent some time remembering how green things were in November in England. But, as Chuck has told me, it's not worth comparing scenery.  You have to appreciate where you are at the moment - carpe diem!

The view from Mount Carbon

Loving the blue sky

Lest we forget it is December

Welcome to my life

Thanks for stopping by!  I started writing a blog to record my time spent walking on The Pennine Way in England at the end of 2012.  The trip turned out to mark what I hope is a changing point in my life.  ( I suppose whether it is one is up to me...)  For the last 15 or so years, I have been living life in a somewhat unconventionally conventional way. Wait! How can something be unconventionally conventional?? I guess I mean that I've tried to do the things I am "supposed" to do, although I haven't always done them in quite the same ways as most people.

• Get married - check
• Get divorced - also check
• Have a job and "move up" in said job - check
• Buy a house - check (twice)
• Save for retirement - check
• Have pets or children or both - check on the pets

The most unconventional part is that I lived overseas for almost five years, in England.   Not the typical American experience, and yet still so typical in so many ways.  I lived in a flat, bought my groceries, did laundry on the weekends, went to work...

In the last half of 2012, I reconnected with a person from my past, Chuck. Chuck's life could never be described as typical.  Although we knew each other for only a short time back in the 90's, we've developed a strong friendship now. Anyway, to get to the point, Chuck and I went on a long walk in November 2012 on the Pennine Way.  You can read my story here and Chuck's here.  

This was something I'd never done in the past and never really considered doing. And I amazed myself, over the course of the 2.5 weeks, in ways I hadn't done in years.  The journey woke me from the coma of conventionality in which I had been living.  I want my life to be different now. I want to be more like the person I was before I started doing what I thought life expected of me. I want to be happier.

So, this blog is about my life after the Pennine Way - the adventures, the doldrums, and hopefully, eventually, a Ruth who lives life the way she wants to live it.