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Week 4 has been fun and relaxing. I’m still walking approximately 50 minutes each morning and reading (actually I’ve done some work this past week as well). The pictures shown here are of a moose I encountered this morning. He was about 25 feet off the road I walk down each morning.

I was startled at seeing him, as I walk with music and earphones and didn’t hear him eating. Our eyes suddenly met (he was staring straight at me), which stopped me dead in my tracks. Pretty crazy. We both decided to mind our own business which made my heart rate slow down significantly.

I finished one book this week. It was Mary Louise Parker’s Dear Mr. You. A memoir of sorts, I found her writing witty and delightful. I would highly recommend it. I’m also reading Michael Eric Dyson’s The Black Presidency: Obama and the Politics of Race in America. Although quite thought-provoking, Dyson’s book is slow going as it contains a great deal to unpack. Today I started reading Hunter Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Very interesting, but I’ll talk more about it later.

Another week has flown by. I’m still exercising (walking), kayaking and reading. This past week I finished two more books:

Beaneath the Bonfire by Nickolas Butler. I haven’t read many books of short-stories. However, I loved his Butler’s Shotgun Lovesongs so I decided t give it a try. Butler has written a dozen or so interesting, well-written, fun and many times sad stories here. They are smart and varied in scope. Well worth a read.

Drinking With Men: A Memoir by Rosie Schaap. This book was listed as a must read for summer. I’m drawn to memoirs for some reason so I checked it out. Drinking with Men is the story of Schaap’s life and how it revolved around bars. As a sociologist, I found the book interesting, as it highlights the social aspects of bar culture (somewhat similar to Ray Oldenburg’s Third Place). Schaap nicely interweaves her life with various bar venues and the ways in which they have complimented her life. Her writing is witty and she has lived an interesting life thus far.

Week two in Grand Lake has been lovely. Below is a brief summary of how we spend most days:

MORNING-Exercising for about 45 mins per day (I have to do some type of daily exercise to counteract all the good food I eat in the evening).

MID-DAY-Lots of coffee and a fair amount of reading. See MY GOODREADS for details. And Alex goes kayaking every two to three days.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154435589769928&set=pb.510994927.-2207520000.1465420643.&type=3&theater

EARLY EVENING-Driving through RMNP and dinner. You can check out Alex’s Facebook account for hundreds of pictures of RMNP.

EVENING-Movie (Netflix or rental from Circle K) and cocktails.

Alex and I (and our pets) arrived in Grand Lake 1 week ago. We’ve spent a good part of the week settling into the 3-room dwelling that we will call home most of the summer. After some reorganizing, I think we’ve finally gotten situated in a way that will work for us. We’ve had to figure out the correct configurations for our cats, which is new for us.

I guess the most interesting takeaway from week 1 was the difference in the weather. Traditionally we’ve always vacationed in Colorado in July. The weather is considerably cooler in late May. Our recent drive up to Trail Ridge Road is a great example. Normally there is little to no snow on top of the mountain in July. However, as the pics below show, this is not the case in late May.

Another difference we’ve noticed is how quiet the town is in late May. Last evening we walked up and down the boardwalk and counted maybe 25 cars on Main Street. Again, this is quite different compared to July.

What is NOT different is the beauty of the mountains. Deep blue sky, the smell of the pines in the air and gorgeous mountainous landscape.

SUMMER READING LIST

Just finished Whitewashing the South by Kristen Lavelle (would definitely recommend) and Maine: by Courtney J. Sullivan. Sullivan’s book was good, but I still struggle with becoming bored while reading fiction.