morning balloons, night donuts

My right foot is on the fritz. It doesn't feel like running. Doctor Internet tells me I have metatarsal(s) stress/ strain. Fine, so be it.

But walking is agreeable, so my feet and I went out and did that on this sunny morning. Not long after heading out, I heard the unmistakable sound of a hot air balloon torch. I looked up to confirm my suspicions.

Hot air balloons are such a strangely calming sight, quietly floating along in the early morning. If I was in that basket, however, I would be anything BUT calm. 

I'm sure the views from up there are stunning, making me a bit jealous of the non-acrophobes. I'll stick to getting awe-inspiring views from the tops of big firm mountains and foothills.

This past week was a good one - felt productive. I was able to stick to my plan of getting up an hour earlier than I had been, putting that dang time-change to good use. 

Last night, we were streaming a movie when I heard squealing tires from not far away. I figured someone was Starsky-and-Hutching it down the main drag. But then... the squealing kept on and on. It would pause then resume, pause then resume... this went on for several minutes. Finally, I paused our movie to listen. 

It was quite noticeable, and I was surprised how long it continued. We stepped outside and concluded that someone(s) who has no qualms about needing to buy new tires, was spinning donuts in the nearby high school parking lot. I'll have to go out and investigate in a little while to see if there's a mess of burnt rubber evidence. 

As far as we know, no one called the cops, although I'm sure others heard it. Maybe most, like us, figured "someone else will report it" or "as long as they're not on the street, let them have their fun". It eventually stopped. I checked nextdoor and reddit, my main go-tos for nosiness. Nothing.

That's about it for the excitement at my end: bum foot, balloon, burnt rubber.

hot and spicy

"Driving the struggle bus through toasty town!" another runner commented regarding running in the heat this morning.  

It's hot outside.  Need to get up really early to beat the heat, and I (and the struggle bus driver) was not up that early. No duck pics today as even the ducks kept a low profile along the creek. But it wasn't unbearable, and I know the heat wave is worse for many others. We're noticing the payoff of the new windows and blinds we got last December. We don't have AC, and have been able to keep the house relatively cool without it.

It was a good week and nice to be back from our hippie adventure. In addition to learning about earthships, we stopped for a bit of Colorado lore in San Luis - the oldest town in Colorado, established in 1851. San Luis is a very small town with a few hundred residents in a poor part of the state. In college, I was friends with a girl from San Luis. She was a "tough chick". These days, she's a high school teacher, so good she's tough.

San Luis' most famous attraction is the Stations of the Cross Shrine, so we had to stop and check it out. The attraction features a trail that makes its way to the Cathedral with each station depicted in bronze sculptures along the way. The trail is dirt, but not very steep, and less than a mile long.

We enjoyed the stop, it's nicely done and well  maintained. We are not anything close to being devout Catholics, but I definitely felt a certain sacredness while there. Others we saw along the trail were very quiet and respectful.

When I was growing up, my mom was friends with a nice and very Catholic Italian woman - Mrs. Valentine.  Mrs. Valentine was an excellent seamstress, and my mom would often bring clothes needing altering to Mrs. V.

The ladies would sit and visit, and if I tagged along, I was given books or such to look at if I didn't bring my own. Visiting the Stations of the Cross Shrine brought back memories of being at Mrs. V's house and coming across graphic depictions of the stations of the cross - likely not meant for a child!

Anyway, if you ever find yourself in San Luis, CO with about an hour or so to kill, I recommend a visit to the shrine.

In other touristy activity, we walked along the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  We crossed the bridge on our way to the earthships. It sits 650 feet above the river. It's no secret here that I'm not a fan of heights, so the views from the bridge were impressively horrendous for me.

I managed to let go of the railing long enough to snap a pic, which really doesn't do a great job of depicting the depth of the gorge.

Sadly, the bridge is apparently a "popular" place for suicides. Lots of suicide hotline info and little memorials along the way.

The American Institute of Steel Construction awarded the bridge "The Most Beautiful Bridge" in the long span category.

So that about rounds up our little trip to the Taos area. I'd never been there before, although it's quite close to where I grew up. The town of Taos is pretty small - lots of adobe houses and shops - with little galleries and touristy gift shop type places.  Need a kachina doll? Taos is your place!

We had to sample the local Mexican food. There is quite the rivalry between the state of New Mexico and the town of Pueblo, CO for the BEST green chilies. I've had some Pueblo green chili, and it's delish. Now I've had Taos green chili, and found it also to be delish, but a different delish from Pueblo delish. 

Either way, it's all delish. 

run to the party and dance to the rhythm

The  masks are back.  The college where I work stopped requiring masks for vaccinated people on July 1st, but as of today, they're back.  

I certainly understand why the Prez made the decision, but needless to say, we were less enthusiastic while putting up little mask notices than we were when we ripped 'em down a little over a month ago.  Fall semester begins on the 23rd, and hopefully the in-person classes will hold.

So yeah, summer's winding down.  Admittedly, August is not a favorite month for me.  My allergies kick in to high gear each August.  If I'm on the ball, I start taking allergy meds before symptoms hit as a prophylactic measure, but I guess I forgot this year and I was ambushed yesterday.  Dizzy as a drunk sorority girl, yet without a drip of alcohol.  

I snorted some Flonase and popped an antihistamine and am feeling better today.  Now I'm looking back at how summer went down.

← That's Jake and me atop Arthur's Rock a couple weekends ago.  Our hiking partner, Jasmine is a flatlander transplanted to Colorado and not yet quite comfy with scrambling to the top of rocks.  So she played photographer.

Last weekend, we were reluctant dog boarders.  Chaco had an out-of-town conference, and much like the U-hauls of August, dog kennels were full up.  Hopefully Chaco and Wolfgang are learning from these waiting-'til-the-last-minute consequences, but somehow, we parents got snagged in those nets too.

Ella's a good pooch who gets along fine with our two, but she's not cat friendly, so we had to play a bit of cat and dog musical chairs for those four fun-filled days.  

I will say that living with three high-energy dogs is not something I would choose to do, but we made it and I am ever so grateful for my monster pet vacuum cleaner.

In other crowded indulgence news, I bought another bicycle.  I know, I know, I just bought the lovely Violet!  But, I can't have just one bicycle.

In actuality, the new bicycle brings my "fleet" to four, but I plan to sell one as soon as I get her cleaned up a bit for the marketplace.  So, while four's a crowd, three's company.  Nice company.  Ironically, I acquired the new bike in my unrelenting quest for minimalism.

More on the delightful "Daisy" soon enough. 

How does your summer look from the rear view mirror?

cash, a hose, nose spray, and the booby prize

"I'm done with meetings after tomorrow, so if you still want to hike the west peak...", Chaco calls and says on Tuesday.

Several weeks ago, we talked about planning a hike up the West Spanish Peak in Southern Colorado, near my hometown.  The mountain is one half of the Spanish Peaks, named Huajatolla (/wɑːhɑːˈtɔɪə/ wah-hah-TOY-ə)  by the Ute Indians, meaning "breasts of the earth", for obvious reasons.

The West Peak is the more voluptuous of the two - as we know, no pair is  perfectly symmetrical - and nearly 1,000 feet higher in elevation than the East Boob... er... Peak.  It tops out at 13,626', just missing the list of Colorado 14ers.

It so happened that my schedule was also free for the remainder of the week.  The stars thusly aligned, we set out for the boobs.

It was about a 5-hour drive to the trailhead, so we set out Wednesday afternoon to camp overnight and get a Thursday morning start on the mountain.  The drive went pretty smoothly (not mentioning the golf ball-sized hail in Colorado Springs), but we arrived at the trailhead and realized the fee to camp was cash only.  That's when I realized I'd forgotten to bring some cash.  Same for Chaco because who carries cash??

The overnight fee was $12, and I miraculously found $13 in my wallet - one dollar to spare!  The next morning, we readied.  We each wore hydration packs - backpacks that include hydration bladders for easy sipping.  Chaco's pack had a good supply of water, but alas, he'd forgotten the hose that gets the water to his mouth.  Slight omission, but I'd brought some bottled water, so we grabbed a coupla those.  We'd need water for Chaco's dog, Ella, too.

With that, we set out.  About a mile or two into it, I realized I'd forgotten to snort my Flonase for my allergies.  My allergies give the annoying symptom of messing with my ears, which affects my balance, despite my allergy injections (which I'm starting to think were a waste of $$).  The Flonase helps keep me sober... if I actually USE it.  OH WELL, what's a little balance issue while climbing a mountain?






Looking toward the summit.  Chaco's backpack with everything but a hose.














Just before things got really steep and rocky, me without my Flonase

View of the east boob as seen from the summit of the west boob.

Then we had to get back down.














All in all, it was a beautiful day and satisfying trip.  We didn't camp illegally or succumb to dehydration, and I managed to stay upright the entire time. 


It's not an adventure unless something goes wrong, right? 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:
3. Write about a time you forgot something important

queen me already

Welp, I'm scheduled to work tomorrow at the hospital.  Remember I had a long stretch of days off?  Hoping to do something fun and/or productive with the extra time?  Reflection time...

It wasn't exactly nine days of "FREEEEEDOMMMM!" (cue William Wallace).  I had a couple dentist appointments and a coupla tutor sessions, so I did get a foothold on some dental work I was so looking forward to.  Got all inspected with the new dentist, and as we pondered a solution for my missing big honking tooth, he also discovered a tooth ready for a crown.  

Okay, fine, and now that's IT!  This will make my third crown - not counting the two front crowns - and according to my friend's crown theory, three is it for me.  Her theory is that women lose a tooth for every kid they have, based on all the calcium those babies take from us.  She had three kids and three crowns.  I have three kids, this'll make crown number three.  DONE!  

The front ones don't count because that was skateboarding trauma drama that happened before I was even of child bearing years.  

And speaking of teeth and time-off adventures, I finally got around to climbing that Horsetooth rock here in sunny Fort Collins.  

Horsetooth rock sits atop a foothill, aptly named Horsetooth mountain, overlooking Horsetooth reservoir and the city of Fort Collins.  Yes the namers really liked that Horsetooth title.  Gotta say, it does resemble a horse molar

I'd hiked the trail once before during a visit with Wolfgang and Meego a couple of years ago, but we stopped short of climbing the rock itself.  

So today, with a clear schedule, I headed to the tooth.  I knew I didn't want to go on a weekend because the trailhead gets packed, even if these COVID times.  ACK, I needed the nature fix, and the day was perfect!

I couldn't really remember how far it was from that one earlier trip since I was with the three guys and we were chatting the whole way.  Seemed like it took us a while, anyway, but I found myself at the base of the tooth more quickly than I'd remembered.

Once there, I realized it's not like mountain tops I've been on as those summits are relatively vast and can easily accommodate many hikers.  But I was reminded that this isn't really a "summit", but rather a rock formation.  

I got to the top with a bit of scrambling, thankful that I'd worn my mountain goat shoes.

Once there, I again realized there wasn't a whole lot of room to move around.  Add my persistent acrophobia, and well, I pretty much spent my whole "summit" time sitting on my butt.

This was a solo outing for me, but I knew the trail is popular and I wouldn't be all alone to be scarfed up by a mountain lion or something.  And yes, there were a handful of other friendly hikers but not so much as to feel at all crowded.

Spotted these lovebirds a bit above me on the toothtop.

Looking back, I suppose my mini impromptu vacation wasn't a total bust.  Got caught up on a few things in addition to the teeth adventures and didn't blow a bunch of money.  

Yet.

we all fall down

Last Saturday morning, I was out enjoying a lovely fall morning run.  I saw a hot air balloon a little off in the distance.

I've mentioned my acrophobia here before.  I have no idea why I'm afraid of heights, but I just know I have been for as long as I can remember.  People have nightmares that involve being chased or haunted by ghostly images.  In my nightmares, I'm always up someplace high like a skyscraper or a billboard, or the worst - a billboard atop a skyscraper - and the only way down is to jump or climb.

Seriously, I once had one of these nightmares in which I was on top of a precarious stack of chairs.  What the...?  Yes, my nightmares are of chairs?

My first memory of this fear was when I was a toddler, and my dad lovingly picked me up and placed me on his shoulders - a thing most kids seem to strangely enjoy.

I was terrified. He put me down, back on my beloved terra firma.  So much for that bonding moment.

So, in summary, a ride in a hot air balloon does not appeal to me.  But I like looking at them from the ground.

When I got home, Chaco had texted me this photo.  The hot air balloon I'd seen floated over his house and landed in the field across the street.

It's a hot air balloon with no friggin' basket!  I had to look closer:

Where were the propane and burners?

Oh there they are - strapped to his un-basketed back!

I asked Chaco about it later.  He said the guy was basically sitting in a lawn chair with a propane tank as a backpack.







Maybe I'm envious.  It does seem like fun, in theory.  But I'm pretty sure if I went up in a balloon, I would want to spend the entire time, tucked in the fetal position at the bottom of the basket.  What to do if there's no basket??

Well, it's Halloween, so I'm thinking of scary things.  Last night, I was tutoring one of my younger students, a pleasant talented-and-gifted 8th grader.  She was telling me of her and her friends' plans for Halloween, and I mentioned that I'd bought a bunch of candy, but wasn't sure how many trick-or-treaters we'd have since it was currently snowing.

"*GASP*", she gasped, "I've never seen snow!"

She lives in Florida where, "it's summer all the time".  I don't think I'd like that, I've always lived where there were seasonal changes.  Just when I get sick of one season, it goes away and is replaced.  Our winter often arrives around Halloween.  Not typically scary.

Back yard this morning

So Happy Halloween, y'all!  It should be clear around here for the little goblins to be out trick-or-treating tonight.

But if anyone shows up dressed as a STACK OF CHAIRS, I'm out!!

What scares you?

because it's there?

The hills are alive!

Okay, sorry, I just couldn't help myself...

I ended up hiking to the top of Colorado with Chaco yesterday.  He's using some vacation time this week, and he started out with a backpacking trip over last weekend.  During that trip he climbed Mt. Massive, one of Colorado's 14ers.  When he returned, he said he thought he'd go back and climb Mt. Elbert, which is next to Mt. Massive and the tallest peak in Colorado.

My schedule is pretty flexible right now.  I've got that new job that doesn't start for about another month, and I've stopped taking new tutor students, so I asked Chaco if I could tag along.  And, oh what fun!

Despite its prominence, Mt. Elbert is a relatively "easy" climb - meaning we didn't need any technical climbing gear/skills.  It was still fairly steep with a total round trip distance for us of a little over 12 miles, and it's still a 14er.  All in all, it was a very fun and satisfying hike.  I'm glad I had the time and went for the spur-of-the-moment adventure.

Chaco at the start of our trek.  Mt. Elbert summit in the background

And it was a beautiful day for it.  The trail started out weaving through thick forest of Aspens.  Eventually we were above treeline, but despite the lack of trees, I was surprised at the little grasses and pretty wildflowers covering the landscape at that elevation. Very Sound of Music, and I felt just like Maria/Julie Andrews!

Thankfully to the others, I needed to preserve my oxygen, so did not break out in song.

As we continued upward, conditions got very windy with blow-you-off-a-mountain gusts.  The biggest threat during the summer, and the thing we were most wary of, however, is lightning.  Despite the windy conditions, the sky was blue and sunny.

The little grasses and flowers eventually disappeared and gave way to rocks and dirt... and SNOW.  Portions of the trail were still covered in snow, which meant we had to traverse the stuff.  Acrophobic me was not particularly happy about that, but I just went for it with a keep moving don't look down keep moving don't look down keep moving don't look down strategy.  It worked.  I think if I'd have stopped and/or looked down, I'd still be on that mountain.





The wind continued to batter us, and the summit seemed to be eluding us.  But next we knew, we were there.  There were a few other windblown people at the top, taking in the amazing views and
snapping pics while trying to stay shielded from the wind.

Everyone was sitting since to stand would mean getting blown off the mountain

This bloated pack of fig bars was ready to burst
at the seams from the change in pressure during the climb

So many other peaks to look down at!

So a lovely time all around (except for the snowy bits).  Some observations:

• I need some real hiking shooz if I'm going to do much more of this.  My trail runners were wimps at climbing and descending.
• Most others on the trail had trekking poles, but we didn't.  I could see where they might come in handy, but am not rushing to get some.
• Despite being tagged as a relatively easy 14er, the wind made it more of a challenge than otherwise, which made the summit all the more sweet.
• The mountain marmots are oh so cute!

Round trip was a little over six and a half hours.  Well spent 😊

getting high and saving the world

nom nom nom nom

Happy belated Father's Day to all the good dads out there!

My own dad was a very practical man, who didn't much care for Hallmark holidays.  But he was a great dad and wearer of impressive pocket protectors.

Back here on earth and in the near present, the guys came by and we all got out for a bit of nature.  Thankfully, no one wore a pocket protector.

Taken while crouched in a cubbie in the fetal position

For some reason, they must find the highest rock with the steepest drop-off.  See Chaco's shoes?  Apparently my acrophobia is strong enough that I don't even have to be the one in the high place to start needing to do my Lamaze breathing.

Since I couldn't bear to watch, I distracted myself by looking for a nearby geocache.





Maybe the guys figured the rock climbing wasn't as fun if I wasn't freaking out, so they joined a bit in the hunt and Chaco found the dang thing among so many good hiding places.









So it was a productive and adventurous time, and how 'bout that blue sky?

On Saturday, Meego, Magnum, and I went to see Wonder Woman and enjoyed it.  She is, of course, a badass, but there is one aspect of the movie which left me wondering, "THAT is the choice for [spoiler]??" because it wasn't really working for me. For those who have seen the movie, I wonder your thoughts, but for those who've not seen it, I won't get into it.  But it certainly was not a deal breaker.

I found the movie to be quite artsy as well as actiony.  All in all, a good way to spend the afternoon.  Thumbs up.

who needs weed?

Meego:  So what's at the top?

Me:  Buncha sweaty, gaspy people.  And dirt.














Recently, Meego reminded me, once again, that he's never done the Manitou Incline.  Y'all remember The Incline, right?  I've blogged about it a few times.  I first visited The Incline myself just a few years ago after getting sick of hearing everyone talk about it.  It's difficult to live here and not do it.

I went up that first time with Chaco and Wolfgang.  Meego was still in school as his brothers were in college and on break at the time.  The handful of other times I'd gone, Meego was either at school or at work.  Recall that last summer, Shadowrun came out and owned it!

In fact, Shadowrun and I went up just a couple of days before it closed for renovations.  It recently opened up again, so Meego and I took advantage of a small window of time he has between the end of school and his job that starts later this week.

"We've lived here for over 13 years, and I've never been there", he realized.  So,today, The Incline!

It was a beautiful morning for it.  We got there early enough to get decent parking and to beat the hordes of  Incline enthusiasts.  Just enough others to help it feel sociable without feeling crowded.

About halfway

Almost there!  Pass that guy!

He did good for his first time up - first time up for someone who lives off too much fast food (IMHO) and gets the bulk of his exercise from banging on a snare drum.  

As promised, we mingled among the other sweaty, gaspy people at the top.  There was a foursome of very military looking guys.  They asked us to take their photo, and I learned that it was two Army lifers and their 20-something sons.  Nice bit of bonding mixed with morning PT.

They returned the favor and snapped our pic.  It's always tough to get a decent photo in the morning since the overlook faces the sunrise, but it's a must-have.

Can you see your house?

fresh air, sunshine, and meat

There's a predicted big storm headed our way.  It's just teasing now with pretty fluffy snow outside. The ugly mean snow is expected to arrive later on and the meanness will last until mid-week.  So, in preparation, we went out yesterday and stocked up.

Not on food and other provisions, which might have been the more practical thing, but we stocked up on fun outdoor time.  After managing to rouse the teenager, we headed for the hills.

If lost in the wilderness, it can be helpful to have fuschia shoes

Despite the weather forecast doom, yesterday was a warm day for January.  The trails were quite muddy slushy snowy, but manageable.

And it was nice to see quite a few others of all ages out enjoying the area as well.  But not so many as to not give a sense of being in the boonies.

We were at Spruce Mountain Open Space, which I highly recommend.  It's easy to get to and has great views.

Sacrificing safety for the all important photo
(disclaimer:  Meego made me do it)

We even managed to log a geocache during our indulgent adventure.  The clue said it was "in plain sight".

Well, I guess it would be in plain sight if you live inside the old dead tree stump.

Thus satisfied, I can now accept my outdoor time being spent with a snow shovel.  For a while.

Speaking of outdoors and provisions, our neighbor apparently went out, hunted down, killed, and processed an antelope.  This because he gave us a couple of pounds of freshly processed antelope meat.

I've never eaten antelope and just keep picturing this------->

which is why I'm not much of a meat eater and would really suck as a hunter.  But since the deed is done, I'm thinking I'll slow cook it into a stew and let the carnivores have at it.

The neighbor is a nice guy, and now I see that he could also come in handy for the apocalypse.  

So as I'm probably settling into a few days of cabin fever spent with cooking dead animal, I'm plotting a course to help me through... other than just hoping for a good outcome from that groundhog on Tuesday.

Feel free to take pity on me with updates on your blogs for me to read.  My note to self to "don't look down" only carries me so far.

.

2,744 steps to go

For years I just never saw the point.  Get in the car and drive somewhere just to walk up a bunch of stairs?  Plus, it was technically illegal, not that anyone really heeded or enforced that fact.

Since The Manitou Incline opened to the public earlier this year, however, maybe it started calling to me.  First, it took one of my children.  Wolfgang did it with some some friends.  Last summer?  I still didn't see the point.   He did it a second time a few weeks ago.

The Incline from Manitou Springs
stretches up like a Caesarean scar in a locker room.
Difficult to not notice.

But lately, as I mentioned, it just seemed to be hovering around me - showing up in hair salon chairs and tutees and vitamin store cashiers, etc.

OKAY, already!  I'll do it, just make the voices STOP!

And y'know?  It was totes fun!!

I somewhat bribed Chaco to come along.  He was still in the What's-the-Point? camp.  But he's easy to bribe:  Breakfast at Village Inn after.

To be honest, I was a bit leery.  I wasn't worried about the cardiovascular challenge since I run and, after nearly 10 years of living here, I'd BETTER be used to the altitude.

Near the trailhead

No, my concerns were that (a) my joints would cry "uncle" at the point of no return, (b) the steepness would prove too much for my acrophobia, or (c) both.

Another concern was Chaco, the computer nerd.  Oh, he gets around on his bicycle, and he has hiked to the top of Pikes Peak while carrying a 58-lb. backpack, but he's not a regular exerciser.  I would go at his pace unless  (a), (b), or (c) from above took me out.

Apollo Ohno did it in 17:45 mins.  Wolfgang did it in 32.  The pregnant lady from the account I read did it in 2 hours, 10 mins.  I figured Chaco and I would be somewhere between Wolfgang and Pregnant Lady.  I was shooting for about an hour.



As soon as we hit the "stairs", Chaco took off like - who does he think he is?  Apollo Ohno?!
But, oh well, I was feeling pretty good and figured I'd meet him at the top.

The middle section gets super steep and the railroad ties don't really resemble stairs so much as they do the aftermath of a logjam.  Hands became involved as it's more of a scrambling for dear life.

But I was still making good steady progress in both the physical department and the don't-freak-out department.  I was just focusing on the ties in front of me when I decided to look up to see where Chaco was at that point.

Lo and behold, he was sitting a couple of ties up from where I was.

"This is really hard", he managed to utter.

I told him he needed to pace himself.   I reminded him that he's not Apollo Ohno.  We took a breather, but I was still feeling pretty good and chomping to keep going.

"I feel like I'm climbing over a huge pile of garbage", was Chaco's assessment of that section of "trail".

Taken from where I'd met Chaco

From that point, Chaco and I stayed together, picking our way up.  There were plenty of other "Incliners" too.  Some other first-timers and a few that had clearly done it before.  Chaco had gotten his second wind, plus he wasn't going to bail out.  No way he'd be outdone by his "little" brother and *shudders* mom.

About two-thirds of the way up, there is a "false peak".  Climbing up to it, it appears to be the summit, but it's just a cruel joke.  Once it's reached, the stairs continue on upward, upward...

Luckily, we knew this.

We pushed onward and upward and were soon to the real summit.

Chaco hydrating at the top

So yeah, good times!  It was a great morning for it.  Starting to get hot, but nothing unbearable.  We both had water bottles strapped with us, and I also wore a daypack, but if I ever do it again, I'm not bringing any baggage other than my emotional kind.

Our time?  Right at 50 minutes.  I feel pretty sure I could've done it without stopping, somewhere in the 40's.

Got eyewear?

The walk back down is 4 miles of  The Barr Trail - the hiking path that eventually summits Pikes Peak.   It's the route of the Pikes Peak Marathon and Pikes Peak Ascent races.  There were a few people running along it.  Chaco and I jog/walked it.  Again... the baggage.

Thank You, Manitou Incline!

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heights

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "heights", and  it's no secret that I am ridiculously acrophobic.  

I was going to do a hot air balloon illustration, but it just didn't fit my mood.  If I could be free from the fear of heights for a day, I think I would enjoy swinging acrobatically above the skyscrapers a la Spiderman with nothing but wisps of webbing to keep me up.

Imagine it, my hair flapping gracefully, my legs and arms working together as I sweep gracefully above the city.

No freaking way.