Blue Dream of Sky

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. --e. e. cummings

Our trip to Utah's mountains with their searing sunshine and bright, sunny days was a lovely change of pace.  But unlike most trips, I felt a little homesick.  The unrelenting blue sky, the full sun seemed to be tanning my skin into a leathery mahogany hide.

The sun in Utah is like a major character in a daily drama. The sun makes its presence and absence felt.  The Utah sun burns during he day with an intensity I've never felt.

If I'd stayed much longer, I think I'd start to look like the vegetation--a brown or yellow shell of myself.

When the sun sets, the atmosphere cools down immediately.  Temperatures, even in the mountains were hitting 90 degrees during the days.  At home, heat like that lingers into the evening.  In Utah, heat evaporates, the atmosphere too thin and dry to hold any heat once the sun goes down.

Prince Charming and I kept forgetting our jackets on our evening strolls. We'd shiver as we walked.

During the day, we sheltered under our broad brimmed hats and scuttled like beetles from one shade pool to the next, trying avoid direct contact with the sun.

At home, it's the air that suffocates with its clinging humid kiss. Here its the sun's rays that penetrate skin, feather, bone.

The long vistas here end everywhere with a

mountain, forcing one to look up, contemplating the veil of sky.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” – Anonymous

Living in the Midwest, sky has dimension.

The lowest sky level brushes against the maples, hickories.  The old burl oak scratches and heaves in conversation through the medium of wind with the sky.

In the Midwest sky reaches from grass to heaven. Fog forms and descends to ground, lifts its skirts to form ruched, low-hanging flounces.

In the high middle, fleecy puffs of whimsy float.

In the upper sky, giant mountains of thunder heads build, majestic, glorious, fierce.

The Iowa sky is no veil, no thin coat of ultra-marine blue holding back the enormity of space and infinity.  The Iowa sky is solid.  Built in layers of dust, humidity, rian, lightening, thunder.  Birds swim in the Iowa sky, flashing white and silver like a school of fish in the great oceans.

In the mountains of Utah, there's only a thin coat of ultra marine between me and the cosmos. The air so thin and dry--brittle--it hurts.

My chest heaves, my heart leaps. I suck in what little air there is and hold it, waiting for the scrubby pine, the pinion oak, the quaking, clacking aspen to release another breath before I trade this used breath in.

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Wonder Ones.

Taking the Waters

Photo courtesy of Visit Glenwood

We're just back from a trip out west to see our son and "take the waters".

Out last stop was in beautiful Glenwood Springs, Colorado where we stayed in the historic Hotel Colorado.

Photo courtesy of Hotel Colorado

We love old hotels, you just can't find the kind of grandeur of these grand old dames

in today's modern hotels.  Though of course you find larger bathrooms and bigger rooms in more modern hotels.  Still we like the funky personality of these old, grand behemoths.

Right across the street from the Hotel Colorado is the magnificent  Glenwood Spring Hot Springs Pool.

Photo courtesy of Visit Glenwood

These hot springs were part of the Ute Native American Culture and were called Yampah which translates as Big Medicine.  The hot springs lie in the valley formed by the Colorado River flowing down from the mountains.  We were just in Glenwood for a day and so only had time to explore this one hot spring.  There are two others, that look interesting: Yampah Spa and Salon and Iron Mountain Hot Spring.

The Hot Springs Pool has a "cool" pool heated to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, also called the "large" pool.  "Large" doesn't quite cover it.  This pool is gigantic at 405 feet long and 100 feet wide. The "hot" pool, at 104 degrees Fahrenheit is called the "small" pool, still bigger than most pools at 100 feet long.  The large pool includes swimming lanes and a diving area. There's also a kiddie pool and a water slide.

The Hot Springs Pool is an all day experience.  We started with a delicious breakfast in the cafeteria before finding a shaded spot on a large promenade covered by a pergola.  If you want to have the complete luxury experience, you can rent a cabana.

Don't miss the original sandstone bath house built in 1890.  

It has a spa and fitness facility, though Prince Charming and I were so taken with our perch under the shady pergola, dipping in and out of the pools that we didn't spend much time inside the bath house.

If you're passing by on I-70, it's worth a long stop and soak.  Though plan ahead. The pool is closed five days a year for maintenance.  Since we were there after "prime season" which runs from Memorial to Labor Day, cost was about $20 per swimmer for an all-day pass.  You can come and go from the pool, if you'd like.

This was our second taking of the waters on this trip.  Our first was at the Homestead Resort in Midway, Utah at The Crater.

Photo courtesy Homestead Resort

The Crater is a hot spring surrounded by a rock dome.  The rock dome is formed by the heated rising minerals released by the hot spring.  Scientist call this kind of formation a "caldera".  Before 1996 the only way into the crater was through the hole in the roof.  Thankfully the owners of the Homestead Resort tunneled their way into the side of the crater which allows visitor's much easier access.  The pool is naturally 90 to 96 degrees Fahrenheit.  It's deep, 65 feet deep and scuba divers use the pool to practise.  The site has also become an archaeological dig, as scientist filter through the eight to 14-feet of silt at the bottom for objects lost or thrown into the water.  I lost a pair of goggles in the water, which the hosts assured me would be retrieved over night.  Reservations are required and your swim time is limited to about 40 minutes, cost is around $16 per swimmer.

These baths are such old-fashioned pleasures.  No fast moving parts, no screaming noise, no speed at all.  Just your body, floating in mineral-soaked water, moving at the pace of your stroke or simply sitting on the steps of the pools watching old and young soak up the water and the sun, the fresh air and blue sky.

Our trip west had a purpose.  We went to Utah to visit our son.

Do some hiking in beautiful territory

And celebrate our son's promotion to Captain in the United States Air Force.

Like all parents, we're proud of all of our children and so I appreciate your indulgence while I brag a little about my son.  We enjoyed meeting our son's colleagues who serve our country so faithfully.  It's easy to wonder about our place in the world and the right role for our military.  It's so refreshing to go spend time with wonderful people who feel called to a life of serving their country, whose highest priority is serving all of the rest of us.

Have a wonderful week, Wonder Ones!