Footies Save the Day

Sun-Mon, Sept 24-25…

Our dear friend Beth is a part-time Lutheran pastor serving a tiny congregation that meets (after the Catholic service) in a neighborhood association building up in Cold Creek Canyon (the same general area as Nederland). I located an LDS church house on the way and attended the 9am sacrament meeting, then continued west another 20 or so miles for the Lutheran service. Beth told me attendance averaged about 10, but today we had a whopping 16. After the service, there was a progressive dinner with appetizers near the top of the mountains, main course lower, and dessert reasonably near the meetinghouse. Carpooling, we only needed 3 vehicles. Great food at each stop, everyone was friendly, and I met some very interesting and talented folks. Also realized that – beautiful as these mountains (and their views) are – I’m not cut out for living this far “out.”

(And, because it was foggy and drizzling the whole time, I couldn’t get any really good photos.)

No lawn to mow when you live in the mountains.

Homes in the mountains are rarely of the "cookie-cutter" variety. Floor plans are drawn to accommodate natural surroundings, and interiors frequently reflect natural elements and/or personal talents. Later additions are common.The owner of the house at the left is an artist working mostly with fabric (quilting, clothing design & fabrication) and yarn (she was wearing a lovely multi-colored sweater that looked nothing like something your grandmother might make. When she heard that a church was selling its stained glass windows, she bought two and used them as part of the wall that separates her upstairs laundry room from the stairwell. The colors are much richer than they appear.

MONDAY morning we tried to nail down a travel plan for the next couple weeks, but it's just not coming together. We'll leave here Thursday and head to Raton, NM... beyond that nothing is for sure. Shortly before noon, we drove over to Beth's house, where I attempted lemon squares again. (Hey, I had a real oven & I've made these dozens of times. I won't bother w/ the details, but - while these didn't have to be chipped out of the glass dish - they were decidedly average. Altitude? Who knows.) We enjoyed lunch, conversation, Upwords and dinner (yummy soup!) with Beth. If the weather's decent tomorrow, she's going to take us on a grand tour of the Rockies.


BlogThoughts...  About those "footies."  We're traveling in an RV, which limits wardrobe options. Nearly all our travel so far has been in warm weather. It's now the end of September but, despite my earlier declaration to the contrary, it's not really winter yet. My church expects me to wear a dress/skirt. (Beth's Lutherans are casual.) It's cloudy, cool, and threatening rain. I have 2 chocies. Rather than a decidedly winter-ish wool skirt & sweater, I choose the lightweight dress and 1½" patent leather heels. When I leave the first church, it's beginning to rain. I get the heat going in the car, and 20 minutes later I'm cozy. It's only a few steps into the second building, which is warm and inviting. After that service, however, I have to enter & leave the car pool vehicle three times in rain and much cooler weather (I'm in the mountains now). I am simultaneously over- and under-dressed. I'm not miserable, but irritated that I didn't think to bring a change of clothes. At the second house, the hostess asks if I'd like a pair of footie socks. Oh yes. What a difference 2 oz of fuzzy polyester makes.😃 (I put the heels on again to travel to house 3, but slipped back into footies once we were there and ret'd them with gratitude before heading back down the mountain.)