Memries

G'day all!

Every now and then I go and read the blogs of some people I met in Colorado. And the blog of someone I never met. Susan's blog is interesting to me - she is very in touch with nature. I love looking at the pics on her blog because they bring back memories of our time in Colorado.



I look back very fondly at Fort Collins. It was the first time I had lived overseas. I was living a very easy life - cycling around, doing what I pleased, admittedly on a rather small budget. I was happy even though we had very little and pretty much no friends.

Why was I so happy?

Because I could immerse myself in learning about this new place. I could learn its seasons, I could learn its flowers and birds and critters, I had a creek running at the bottom of the hill from our place. There was so much new nature to fling myself headfirst into. (Thank heavens I never found out what poison ivy or oak looks like by experiencing it!)



I've lived in Melbourne pretty much all my life. I know her seasons, I've seen them change from the rules I observed when I was a child, I've lived with her. She was all I had ever known. I know her intimately. I adore her but to truly know a place, I think you have to leave it and be able to compare it to other places.

And suddenly we were uprooted, in a totally different place. Yes they speak English of a sort there, just as we speak a different sort here. But it was all different. There were new social rules, new road rules, new ways of being. It is a town of about 110,000 people compared to 3.5 million.

It was glorious. A new place to put down roots, a new place to absorb and become a part of and observe and feel. Sometimes it was hellish - the homesickness (particularly on DH's part) and loneliness. But there was always something new to observe, something to bring into my new understanding of this different place, something to soothe me and seduce me.



I cried when we left Colorado. I had only just begun to hmm, assimilate is not the right word. I had begun to understand Colorado, its nature, how its seasons turned. I had been so happy there, riding my bike around, dragging my bike trailer behind me, doing all the shopping by bike, occasionally hiring a car so we could go into the Rockie Mountains and drive insane distances in a day (over 500 miles one day with a heap of sightseeing thrown in). It was new, it was totally different to my previous experience, it was wonderful.

I still feel like I have unfinished business there, and I look at pics from there with a mix of "Wow, that was fantastic/wonderful/lovely" and "Waaah! Now I feel sad!" Pics like these ones, taken 3 years ago as the leaves along Spring Creek started to turn. Egads I loved having a creek at the bottom of our condos - I love water. It fascinates me (though I am not a swimmer - I'm a paddler or am happy to observe it). It is odd feeling homesick for a place where we lived for such a short time. I was never going to be a Coloradoan but I fell smack bang in love with this new place. And then Nathan's job disappeared from under us, the sky fell and I was ripped away from my new love.



I have lots of pics that I never shared before from Colorado (and elsewhere). I would really like to start getting them online. We've lost a whole month of pics (unless they show up on my old desktop, not currently in use, but that means finding a suitable US kettle plug cord for it and I think we left them all behind), and some of those pics were spectacular, but we have plenty of other pics 8-) Of course they truly belong on my travel blog but today I am rambling on my crafty blog. It is still blogtober :-)

Back in the mundane world, tomorrow I have to buy a button for my new cardie. I've woven in all the ends, it just needs a nice button. I found an old button (I think from a coat of Mum's) but it isn't quite what I wanted. If I find no better buttons, I'll use it but I will see what I can buy first. Then I can show it off :-) (If the weather cooperates - it is going to be a lousy weekend.)

anon!