HAVE I FOUND PARADISE?

WHILED AWAY THE SUMMER IN A PARADISAICAL TOWN--- COLORADO'S EQUIVALENT OF BRIGADOON.  I didn't mean to stay the summer---but---Well, you'll see.

Salida, Colorado, population 5000, elevation 7000 ft--an old railroad town--reinventing itself as Artsy.

A river, literally, runs through it.

Kayakers play in "holes"--the most exciting parts.

Old kayaks on display--show their evolution  

lovely things decorate the town---houses like those in Disneyland.

Free concerts every week.

Look closely--bicycles not locked up

And yes Marajuana is legal. (report in today--taxes collected are double what was collected for alcohol)

Wild deer freely roam the streets

Farmers market every weekend

Surprise an old friend--Carol--she makes and sells those products. (remember her from the Quest for Community caravan)

Here's something new--a rolling art gallery.

with this philosophy---I like it!

And provacative paintings 

Every week a different festival--this one all about fibers--weaving, spinning etc--surprisingly interesting--a very large subculture.  Jeanne loved it.

Old car festival--my favorite--$23,000 would have bought it.

I think Chrysler mass produced these.

A few quirky folks around town--can you see the giant spider atop the luggage carrier.

a fence made of old bicycles

AAAhhh but the highlight of the summer was visiting with new and old friends.  That's Jim and Gayle in the green shirt and orange top--a couple extraordinaire whose healthy minds and lifestyle moved me to poetry:

ODE TO JIM AND GAIL

Jim and Gail ride the gypsy trail

and are famous for their leisurely ways.

The name of their Rig is the name of their gig:

Both are called Lazy Daze.

With no contrition for their lack of ambition;

season after season they play;

with no troubling sorrow 'bout yesterday and tomorrow;

but enjoying today and today.

A self schooled couple, smart and supple

who've earned their nomadic diploma

for their fine-tuned talents of finding the balance

midway between frenzy and coma.

And what terrific luck to get moonstruck

with a lovely mobile fox

Who's quite proud to live out loud

in a rolling thirty foot box.

Check out their blog here

Is this the picture of a contented man?  

RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES:  Paradise is of course not a place but a state of the head and even then comes and goes unpredictably.  Quality friends help a lot.  Beautiful, comfortable places help too.

Interesting happenings contribute;  Challenging projects also.  Salida furnished all the above.  I found myself posting more often---writing more poems.  I forsee a  time when everybody is free enough to search out the people and places most conducive to their creativity and well being.

(incidentally it was an incredibly inexpensive summer--camping is free, concerts, festivals mostly free, movies cheap.)