Oh summer days

I don’t even know where I’ve been since that last update.  I guess the older I get the faster time flies, or at least the faster I forget about stuff and then it seems like time’s flying but really I’m just losing my mind and all of that time.  That’s the more likely scenario, I’m losing my mind.

June/July marked the four year anniversary of my move out to Denver.  Amidst fire and flood I packed everything I owned four years ago and drove about a thousand miles to my new home.  It’s always a very sentimental time for me as I reflect back on all the inspiring moments which put together the puzzle pieces of my move.  Well, really, I just wanted to leave the arctic winters behind.  I don’t like it when the bottoms of my jeans are wet with salty slush and the only way to warm-up is to sit in the middle of a flaming fireplace.  Cozy, but not practical.  So I moved.  John laughs at me because there are many days when we’ll be driving around the town and I look longingly out at window and say, “I love Denver.”  I just love living here.  I love my home, my friends, the city, my church.  I love the mountains and the seasons, I love the skyline and the streets.  I love watching the sunset every night and never seeing the same thing.  I love how amazing it feels to be 12,000 feet above sea level riding the perfect run on a refreshingly chilling day.  I can hear John laughing as he reads this because I honestly tell him how much I love Denver, like, once a day.

Speaking of John I got to see him recently on the Warped Tour.  Now, I’ve been a longtime fan of Warped.  I started going back in the mid-90′s and even headed over the Wisconsin to see the Warped Tour play alongside Ozzy Ozfest.  That was a crazy, crazy day.  I still have nightmares about all of those old tattooed ladies who must have accidentally crossed over to Warped Tour thinking that they were at Ozfest 15-years prior.  Gross.  Lots of sagging and gross.  Anyways, I’m sidetracking now.  So I got to go see John for their Boston-Long Island run.  It was a great time.  Boston is a cool city and I enjoyed Chinatown (there is definitely no Old Spag Factory in Chinatown, regardless of what google maps says), as well as the public transport and the overly protective amounts of plexiglass at the ticketing counters.  Mansfield was so great, but mostly because it rained!!!  I love hard downpours.  You know, the kind where you’re just soaking wet and there’s simply no way around it.  That doesn’t happen here in Denver, but I remember it from my childhood and I love it!  So we were riding our bikes to McDonald’s and sure enough, it rained on us and we had another mile long bike ride home.  It was fun, although it rained so hard I could have used a pair of goggles.

In New Jersey I got to meet John’s cousin (I guess mine now, too) and his wife and friend.  Very cool times.  His cousin has a chainsaw injury on his hand that I was somehow drawn to.  It’s like, you just can’t look away.  Gross, but kinda cool (after the fact that is).  That night I had my first Philly Cheesesteak.  My only comment is, “huh.  So that’s what all the hype is about (slightly sarcastic but mostly quizzical)?”  I might get beat up for saying that.

I’m back home now and getting back into my routine of work and play.  It’s hot and dry as most desert summers are.  I’ll need to start preparing myself for the Fall of weddings.  Not that weddings are falling, but that they are happening to fall during the Fall.  You get my drift. Anyways,  we have a couple weddings this Fall.  John’s brother shall be betrothed in Canada (eh) and my sister is taking the plunge in Mexico.  We have yet to attend a wedding in the states this year.  How bizarre.  I hear getting married in the states during the fall is so overrated.  I couldn’t agree more…

Thundersnow

This is probably the science nerd in me, but I was totally psyched tonight when we had a “Thundersnow” shower pass through. What an amazing show of God’s ability to do something so unusual yet so beautiful.

Here’s what Thundersnow is:

“Thundersnow is formed when temperatures in the lower atmosphere is relatively warm (it was 48 degrees Friday afternoon). The air is then lifted quickly. Because warmer air can have a higher moisture content there are lots of liquid water droplets in the clouds.

These droplets are violently smashed together in the rapid up and down drafts in the cloud. This ionizes the droplets, creating positively and negatively charged water droplets. Just like shuffling your feet over carpet this creates static electricity. When the static electricity is discharged it is lightning.

Thunder is the shock wave that the air makes as it quickly expands when the lightning passes through it, then contracts after the lightning bolt dissipates.”

Wading our way through Seattle’s Best Coffee

My friend Mandy and I thought it would be nice to get out of Denver for a few days and venture to the far Northwest. We packed for the trip and headed off by plane to the lovely state of Washington.

Our rental car was one of those fun little keyless wonders. How odd to just push a button to unlock the doors, start the engine or brew a cup of coffee. We quite easily found our way downtown and settled into our not-so-luxurious but ever-so convenient hotel room. We would later learn as the evening progressed that our hotel parking lot was a meeting spot for persons with loud outdoor voices and the inability to close a car door in the first 4 tries. How nice for them.

Our weekend was spent shopping, walking, and exploring the streets of Seattle. We really enjoyed the Pike Place Market as well as the downtown shopping district!

Although overcast and rainy most of the weekend, I really enjoyed the weather. How nice to have a few days of constant downpours and dark skies. It even snowed a bit which I guess is unusual for that area. The snowflakes were of the large fluffy variety and soaking wet to the bone.

All-in-all my favorite part of the town was a little area called Capitol Hill. We only had a few passing moments to spend there but we instantly knew we’d be back.

On a sad side note, Monday night was Dave’s last night on tour with RK. While they have a couple more shows together, I couldn’t help but shed a few tears of sadness at the thought of not seeing Dave out on tour again. John always has stories about himself and Dave and all the little things they have in common and oddities they share. Like leather gloves and a love for Star Trek. Dave played a bit of guitar in John’s old band and we’ve known him for quite a long while. I know from past experiences that friendships can easily span thousands of miles and so I know that we’ll be seeing Dave again, but my heart was still sad.

Anyways, we had fun at the shows, and less fun driving on the flooded roadways, but overall our trip was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to get back to Seattle. Hopefully sooner than later…