Finally Adjusting

Pretty good morning when there are elk in your driveway, huh?

I think I am finally adjusting to the change from life in a big city to life in Estes Park. I know it's been over four months, but this has been an exceptionally hard transition for me. Most of it has to do with the fact that I left a job I really loved and was unable to find another one until very recently. I was idle for the better part of four months and that's essentially a recipe for disaster for me. That, coupled with the fact that we live in a fairly remote location, added to the rough winter, left me feeling like I was stuck in a box for a long time. Every time I went down the valley and visited Fort Collins, I missed it a lot, and I started having some doubts about living here for a long time, which put me between a rock and a hard place knowing that we're here for the long haul.

Now that I have a job and I'm out of the house more regularly, things are getting better. Spring is on its way and I don't feel so isolated and stuck in my house all day. I can open up the windows and listen to the birds and hear the world outside. The last time I visited Fort Collins, I didn't miss it quite as much. I think I am finally becoming okay with living here in Estes Park.

I am still feeling slightly wobbly with my new job, although everyone seems to be telling me the opposite regarding my performance. I am having a difficult time making myself feel confident with my job, maybe because I feel so much pressure to be great. Most of that is myself, I know. I have high standards for myself. I don't want to let anyone down. I still seem to wake myself up every night over-thinking details from my last shift which keeps me up most of the night. I am ready to feel confident and be able to sleep through the night knowing I did a good job at work. Coupled with all of this doubt, I know, is the fact that Cameron and I haven't quite been able to coordinate our work schedules yet, with the result that I am working when he is off and vice versa, which has been another frustrating transition. I haven't yet been able to get a good rhythm down as far as balancing work life and home life, so because of that I also haven't done any writing in several weeks which is starting to get to me too. With any luck, soon this transition will start to feel more complete and everything will begin to fall into place. I know that with summer coming on I will be even more busy than I am now, so it is critical to get into a confident swing.

In any event, the weather is finally turning here and Estes is looking beautiful. We are still waiting for everything to bloom--but spring is definitely on its way to the Rocky Mountains. 

Visitors at the Conklin House

Here Comes the Sun (Little Darling)

Marvelous couple of days here in Estes. A real taste of incoming spring!

This morning I spent a little outside time with Brody and Whiskey, since it was so pleasant. The sun actually has a little heat coming off it now, which I feel like has not happened in some time. Later, Brody and I took a nice long walk around part of the lake. I took him down to the shore near a shallow part and true to form, he dived right in. There was a thin layer of ice on the water and after crunching through a couple of steps he quickly back-pedaled and looked back at me with an expression of "what on earth is this?"

Brody approves of sunshine

Whiskey's favorite thing to do outside is roll in the dirt.

What's that they say about cats being clean?

One of the most fascinating things I'm learning about Estes is how easy it is to track the path of the sun as it returns from its winter position in the south. Mostly this is because we have--literally--more sky here than anywhere else that I have ever lived. The corners of the sky aren't filled with other buildings and houses and the "neighborhood". Maybe this is because we are so high above the rest of the city, but also it's because Estes itself is inside a big bowl and all the mountains surround us. So, as a result, we see a lot more of the sky. When we arrived here in November, the sun was so low in the south that it would beam directly into our south-facing windows at around 3:00 in the afternoon and it was just unbearable. Then the sun would disappear behind the nearest foothill in between us and Longs Peak and it was gone by 4:30. Through January we watched every day as the sun slowly climbed higher and higher over that foothill, and now it hovers way over that foothill in the afternoons. Now that it's cleared that foothill, too, we see the sun for a lot longer as it descends over the Divide in the west. Because it's come around the other side of that hill, now it shines into our kitchen around 5:00, too. It's been a fascinating discovery and it's something that I've never been able to see before. In the city it's hard to track the path of the sun on a day to day basis because there are so many things blocking the majority of the sky. Here, the only landmarks are mountains and foothills and the sky is wide open to us. For me, it's a sure sign that spring is on its way back. Personally, I can't wait. I'm so ready for things to start budding and turning green again. I do like the seasons in their own turn, but winter and summer tend to linger on too long for me, and I get very excited to see the seasons turn and watch the earth go through its changes. In little over a week I'll be able to replace my winter wreaths with my spring wreaths and plant my new herb garden. I think I'll have to wait to do my flowers, but I'm very excited to have a real "garden" this year since this is the first time that I have a real yard to work with. 

Well, the birds are chirping and the sun is shining, so I better get out and enjoy it before I have to go to work!

It's alive!

I do apologize for the lack of posts of late. Simply put, there has not been that much going on up here in Estes to work up a post. I've also been dealing with some personal struggling in terms of how bleak this winter has been, which only added to the non-postage. Happily, things are now on the upswing. Spring is on its way--we're supposed to reach the high 50s today--and Daylight Savings, which is my favorite day of the year, is next Sunday. Won't be long after that until we really start reaping the benefits of this paradise we live in.

With any luck, soon we will also be rid of the wind that has been plaguing us for a while now. Since Christmas we've had some terrible winds which the locals all say is worse than the norm. There have been several nights when we've had winds up to 80mph sustained, not gusting, all night long. While Cameron loves the "white noise", it makes it impossible for me to sleep and I've had to start sleeping with my iPod headphones stuffed in my ears to try and drown it out. It would be an understatement to say that I am very excited for that weather pattern to go away for good.

Another reason for the upswing, I've found gainful employment. Hooray! Starting today, I'll be waiting tables at Mama Rose's, an Italian restaurant downtown. I'm excited, if not terribly nervous, for the adventure. I'm hoping that it will be a challenge to keep me going.

We've had an influx of wildlife around the house of late! The elk have been coming to the field next to our house quite often. We've also heard a couple of coyotes around the house at night, and a few weeks ago we spotted a bobcat in the back yard about 50 yards from the door. Recently we've also heard a pair of Great Horned Owls in one of the trees around the back. Looks like a lot of the wildlife is coming back out from their winter slumbers.

In the meantime, here's a few goings-on that we've had in the last couple of months.

Snowshoeing in RMNP

Elk hanging around town

Elk hanging around our house!

Our new cat, Sherlock

I'm also rehearsing with the Oratorio Society of Estes Park, which will have performances in the end of April. We are performing Beethoven's Mass in C Minor. Very exciting! It's a new challenge for me that I have never done before and I decided on a whim to join back in January. 

Hopefully, I will be more regular with posts as spring comes on.