It’s been a very long week since last Monday when Richard and I drove to Aspen on a blue-sky Colorado mountain afternoon. From Aspen, we headed to Denver for two and a half days, helping my parents move to a retirement community, then on to Walsenburg, in far southern Colorado where I was featured author at the dedication of the town’s brand-new library in the restored historic high school building, back to Denver to pick up Molly at the airport, to Salida for the opening of the outdoor sculpture show that Richard has a piece in, and then back to Denver to finish helping my folks move.
We’re still in the hot and sticky Denver Metro Area, and I have finally succumbed to the road-miles and stress of the past seven days. I’m sick. I guess I should have anticipated this one, but I was hoping to squeak through until we made it home Wednesday night. No such luck. Hence the silence here: My head is so full of moco (“snot” in Spanish) it’s all I’ve been able to do to hang in and help my folks, much less do any intelligent blogging.
Monday’s news first: Colorado Scenic Byways: Taking the Other Road won the Colorado Book Award! My co-conspirator in this book (actually, it was his idea), Jim Steinberg, was ecsatic. Me too.
The Colorado Book Award honors the best of Colorado books for the year, and Jim and I are honored to be in such great company. (Oher winners included novelist David Wroblewski for The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, memoirist Amy Irvine for Trespass, noted juvenile novelist Claudia Mills for The Totally Made-up Civil War Diary of Amanda MacLeish, young adult novelist Denise Vega for Fact of Life #31, and Carol Ekarius for Storey’s Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats, Cattle and Pigs.)
Leaving Aspen, I had no idea how long the week was going to be, and I don’t intend to bore you with the gory details. The other highlight though was Saturday, when we picked up Molly from the airport, and rushed home over the mountains for the sculpture show reception. Molly lives in San Francisco, travels widely and frequently for her work, and arranged her schedule specifically to make it to Colorado in time to see her daddy’s show. What a treat!
We ended up making it home just in time to attend at the show opening, and even got to sample some of Salida’s fabulous Art Walk activities before packing up the next day and heading back to Denver. Richard’s sculpture, “Matriculation,” attracted lots of interest and will be on display in the Salida SteamPlant Sculpture Park until fall. (The photos above are the sculptor finishing installation, a close-up shot of the top rock with its embedded marbles, and the finished piece at the show.)
Coming Up: If you’ve always wanted to learn to sea kayak, always wanted to explore the jewel-green waters of the Sea of Cortez, off Baja California, and are ready to find the heart and soul that drives your writing, join me for the first annual Writing Adventure, a week-long, small-group creative writing workshop in a place that will feed your creativity and connection to land and words. The first Writing Adventure is scheduled for this winter (December 27 – January 2) at Baja Expeditions‘ camp on Isla Espirtu Santo for six days of creative writing exercises, workshopping, and personal consulations, along with kayaking, snorkeling, hiking, or just laying on the beach.
Here’s a shot of the camp to get you thinking. If you’re interested, drop me an email and I’ll send info as soon as I get home and can think clearly again….
One last note: As sick as I am, I have to recognize how lucky I am as well: I have parents to move to a retirement community, I live with the man I love and his sculptures too, my step-kid at thirty cares enough to arrange her travel to come home to celebrate her daddy’s work and help my folks move, and while I may be mocosa right now, I’m alive and part of this green and marvelous planet. You can’t beat that. Blessings to you all!