Aspen and the OK Corral

We had a chance to head out to Aspen to visit Erik for a few days and catch up with him and his roommates and then go on to the OK Corral.
For the first time since we have owned the family ranch,
the OK Corral I was able to spend 10 uninterrupted days there.
The wildflowers were magnificent in the upper meadows as you can see from the photo where I am standing in them and they come up to my hat. We took a hike to Navajo Lake above Navajo Falls where you are in the Mt. Wilson and El Diente Peak basin. I have got to say that it was both the most spectacular scenery with lush green meadows covered in skunk cabbage and columbines, blue bells and Queen Anne's lace, but also the most arduous uphill switchbacks to the lake gaining a few thousand feet in elevation in a short haul. It was lovely clear greenblue water at the lake but as we had to hurry to get back to the rest of our crew we did not tarry there. The 11 mile hike was one of the more challenging we have done in 5.5 hours. Because you are so remote you do feel as though you are walking in bear habitat and are a lot more on your awares.

Speaking of bears Erik got a new fly fishing rod and has been trying it out in the evenings around Aspen and Snowmass. He called the other nite to tell us that he was fishing along the river when he looked up and there was a big black bear about 10 yards away from him just staring at him. It scared the living b-jeeezes out of him. He backed away and took a swim across the stream as his course of distancing himself from the bear. In retrospect that bear could have crossed the river faster than Erik could swim it but luckily choose not to. It has given him enough pause to go out and get some bear spray to add to his fishing equipment.

We have bears at the ranch although we did not see any this time. Jen saw one run across our meadow down by the cottonwoods a few years back and we always see bear scat and bear prints. It definitely gives you pause to be out walking without some kind of protection as the OK Corral is right at the base of the Lizard Head Wilderness and the bears know it as home turf.

The ranch was a source of quiet and early morning contemplative coffee on the deck watching the ducks on the pond. We hiked and did a lot of small chores around the place but mostly enjoyed the time being unplugged....something you don't get much in this culture. It is a wonderful legacy that my parents Kay and Orville Utrup have acquired and left for their children and hopefully their grand and great grandchildren. The original Fish Creek ranch is about 400 acres and we sit right in the middle with about 60 acres of meadow and aspen hillsides along the creek. We didn't catch many fish this year mostly because we didn't fish all that much. Rob caught one and Jerry caught one and they were as fresh and tasty as ever.

So back to the home front and enjoying the last days of summer as August winds down to a close and the weather turns unseasonably cool earlier than usual. Life is good and living it in the now has been a great gift this summer.

If you wish to see photos of our trip to Aspen and the OK Corral click on the following link.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=Kathrynwardell&target=PHOTO&id=5374056902756796274&aid=5373672455242704449&authkey=Gv1sRgCIiehLKGgK-N7AE&invite=CK-Nm5YM&feat=email

Summer in Transition

Yes as a Bolder Boomer I too was victim to the economic downturn and the now current 10% unemployment rate in the U.S. Having lost my job in April, with a cutback at Experian Marketing I was able to take the time to do some things that I have been wanting to do for quite a while and American job vacation mentality of 2 weeks does not afford most of us. 3 weeks after losing my job I was on an airplane to Bangkok, Thailand for a 6 week stay in SE Asia, primarily in Myanmar. Having that kind of time to BE there was so important as life moves at a totally different pace there. The pace of life is what we have lost ahold of in our driven pursuit of more more more in this culture. Our pace is hectic, rushed, cramming too much into to little time and so time bound we rarely ge the opportunity to just BE, a real downside to our cutural affluence which is driven by material ownership and less by ownership of your own time and consciousness.

So I have returned to spend this lovely summer in Boulder in transition looking for employment in jobs in my profession, internet marketing and media. Fortunately there has been a huge redirection of interest from traditional media and advertising to the internet and I am afforded the good fortune of having a background that seems well suited for the new media space having spent the last dozen years in various roles in interactive marketing and media. Fortunately too I have an ever growing acquisitiveness for new ideas and new media has been a great place to learn about how the communities and communications that the web affords in real time interaction has changed all our lives. Most boomers are just beginning to understand what Facebook, My Space, LinkedIn and a variety of social platforms do and how to use them but they are experimenting and the more you experiment the bigger the hook into these areas. I turned a friend on to Facebook and he uploaded all his photos of his family and kids, invited friends and mentioned to me a few weeks later..."Hey this Facebook is great but it seems to be taking over my life." Balance in all things. That is the toughest direction to strike. Our culture and the speed at which we communicate and interact over the internet does not seem to let us control the Balance as much as we would like.

So this wonderful summer has given me an opportunity to just appreciate summer while I spend several hours a day online and on the phone talking with companies about jobs and learning about each company and their space, goals and how I would fit into them. I feel fortunate that 12 years ago I made a move that was not "safe" and jumped into the internet eCommerce pool. The swimming has been exciting, challenging, stimulating and definitely an every present source of learning. I would recommend it.