TAP's blog

Three pitches above the canyon floor two figures dot the vertical black and orange landscape. The sun illuminates the conglomerate sandstone wall to reveal its brilliant and beautiful colors. Across the creek, amidst the pines, boulders and trials the remnants of heavy snow linger still shaded by North facing crags that protrude upward like statues.

Standing on a bookshelf ledge, my partner and I engage in that ever-familiar ritual of checking our system. Once the okay is given I look down to make sure the necessary hardware is fastened to me in the right order. I head upwards towards the bluebird skies that have been eluding us all winter long, but have decided to show up today.

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Waking w/out the jarring buzz of my alarm clock is what starts out the perfect day. As the rays of sun peak through the pines it warms my body and calls me to begin something new. As my muscles adjust to being used for the first time in eight hours, my mind is fresh and uninhibited by tasks for the day or the clutter of life. My main objective at the current moment is to slip on my jacket and fire up the stove. As I pump gas and ignite the burner the smell of dew, pine needles, and coffee start to carve their way into my early morning senses. Pressing the coffee down and making dark swirls as the grounds meet the water and I stare at this co-mingling as if it were hypnotizing me.

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Ah, the good life. For those of you that don't know, let me tell you, retirement is bliss. After a long and illustrious career, I have decided to hang it up.

It all started the other day as I was on my way to work. (Note: in this story work = law firm in downtown denver). So there I was, I-70 east-bound, headed for DT (that stands for Downtown), headed for DT, drinking my coffee, listening to the traffic report, thinking about anything but being at work, actually thinking about being in Rifle, Eldo, Boulder Canyon, anywhere but in front of that computer screeen, in my windowless office, surrounded by glass, concrete and starbucks (don't think I have anything against Starbucks, there are just so many of them).

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