Life and Whatnot

BEAUTY IN UNEXPECTED PLACES


Happy Friday everyone. I can’t believe the week is over already. Well, almost. I’m so looking forward to the weekend. I’m heading up to beautiful Sedona with a good friend of mine for some hiking. It’ll be a blast.

I was up early this morning to go out biking. It’s getting lighter, later and later each morning, so I had to pull out my little blinking lights so I wouldn’t get clipped by a car on the narrow shoulders. Yeah, it’s a little nerve wracking, but let me tell you about the magnificent payoff I got this morning.

Now, just a little history first — I moved to the desert from Colorado. So, I don’t have to say much other than THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS for you all to understand my definition of a mountain. I even had a panoramic view from my old house.


See, this just happens to be Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs….from my back porch in Castle Rock, CO! Had a great view…..Off to the right is another set of mountains.

Anyway, back to my “payoff” for getting up early, having to bike with a light, and braving the cars speeding to work. Well, I’m no stranger to having a good view (see pics above) and when I moved here to the desert, I was worried I would miss it. I really haven’t much, because I’m surrounded by foothills…I live in a valley.

Yes, most people around me call these foothills mountains, but I beg to differ, for the obvious reasons listed above.

As I’ve settled into my new life here in the desert (which I love by the way), I’ve really grown to appreciate the foothills. Sure, the Rockies are amazing, right? But, they were always so far from me. We had to drive a couple hours to get somewhere good to be IN the mountains. Not here. I can drive just ten minutes and I’m at a trailhead for three different “mountains” to go get lost in. Plus, they do play their part into some spectacular views….

I was riding this morning, and as I peddled East on a road, the sun began to peak over the distant horizon. Its rays shot up over a little foothill and set the hovering clouds afire. I seriously almost had to stop my bike to watch it. No camera though. Gosh darn it. I was awestruck.

Talk about a great payoff, huh? Getting to see the breathtaking rising sun for fighting traffic, the fatigue of biking 20 miles alone without someone to draft from, and so on…

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