EagleMoon.net Journals

Journals: Week 7 (May 28-June 3, 2007)

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DAY 44: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 (Denver, CO)

So Elena and I are sitting at Kevin's dining room table this afternoon. She was reading a Yoga magazine, and I was working on the computer, on our budget actually (much fun!). We had been listening to some classical music on my computer when I decided to listen to something I don't listen to very often and probably haven't listened to since I put it on my computer many years ago. The music was a mix of 11 songs that Banana Republic (the store) put out called "Summer Play," music from various jazz artists, a mix of both instrumentals and ones with vocals. Something to perpetuate our relaxed mood. I had forgotten that the previous day, when Kevin, Stephanie, Elena, and I were playing Boggle (who knew I really stunk at Boggle?!), I set the music player on my computer to "shuffle," which didn't much matter since I didn't know the order of the songs on this mix anyway.

Kevin came home from his first day back in school shortly after the first song, "Yellow Moon" by the Neville Brothers, finished playing. He told us about his day at school and then asked about the music that was playing. He said it sounded like the music from Austin Powers. I looked at my computer and saw that the song was called "Mais Que Nada" by Sergio Mendes and Brazil '66, the tenth song on the mix that the computer had shuffled to play after the first. None of us thought anything of it; he was right, it had a similar sound to the music from the movie, Austin Powers. We went on talking about our days.

As that song ended and the player worked its shuffle magic, the next song that came on was the sixth in the mix, a song called "Soul Bossa Nova," by Quincy Jones. The three of us instantly recognized the soprano flutes with the jazzy big band backing them up - it was none other than the music from Austin Powers! We all looked at each other as Elena asked if I had "done that on purpose." Not only did I not know that this particular song was on this particular mix (I hadn't listened to this mix for many years, and probably only listened to it a few times), but I wouldn't have known the name of the song.

Of course, Elena and I were equally impressed with this "coincidence" - the very song Kevin said the previous song sounds like actually plays next. Not three songs later, not six songs later, but next! In the random shuffle of the 11 songs on the mix, it plays next. As Elena and I profess the virtues of The Secret and how we (or Kevin) "made" the song play next with our intentions (albeit not consciously), Kevin sticks to his skeptical nature and denies the event is anything more mystical than simply coincidental. What I found interesting was not that the event - I call it "an event," though Kevin would likely not give it such a high status! - happened in the first place, but that I really wanted Kevin to see it the way Elena and I saw it, as a seemingly mystical interplay between our thoughts/intentions and the way they shape the universe to make things "real" or not in our lives.

This got me to thinking not only about the difference between science (I'll believe it when I see it) and faith (I'll see it when I believe it), but also about how we want the other side to see it "our way." Why was it so important to me that Kevin believe there was some mystical universal power that "made" that song play next? Not only that, but how was I so sure that there actually was some mystical universal power affecting the order of the songs?! After going back and forth for a few minutes on the continued "scientific method vs. faith" debate, we all went back to whatever it was we were doing, each side no more convinced than prior to our debate.

Truth is, I'm skeptical sometimes too. Things do seem to happen, very "coincidental" things, in seemingly mysterious ways, explained either as random events or intentioned events. It would be nice to believe (or "know") the latter, as it would appear to give us more control of what happens in our lives. I guess the next question would be, Can a person "know" something different than they're used to knowing (huh?). We're all brought up believing certain things, or at least our beliefs seem to solidify in our early adulthood. I'm sure these views/beliefs can change over time, but it seems that, on the whole, for most people (myself included), they really don't change that much. Maybe we'll "know" for sure in the end, if you know what I mean (though that's probably another debate altogether!).

Not the usual prose for this website, I know, but what the heck. I'm not even sure what I wanted to say here, but whatever I've said, there it is. With our hosts' blessing, Elena and I will be staying with Kevin and Stephanie until the end of this weekend, as we plan on visiting more sites, like Hot Sulphur Springs, Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs, and the Royal Gorge Bridge near Canyon City, which is reportedly the highest suspension bridge in the world. If we focus our intention appropriately, the universe might even have us horseback riding this weekend as well! We'll see. Until then... ~J

DAY 48: Saturday, June 2, 2007 (Denver, CO)

Since our hosts have generously offered for us to stay again this week, Jonathan and I have been able to spend some real down time in Colorado. We've been to a couple different parks, we've seen some more new movies (we'd recommend "Jindabyne" and "Paris, Je T'aime") as well as some rentals (we'd recommend "Freedom Writers" and "Curse of the Golden Flower").

We've also done some more exploring and hiking. Some were great, and some were really grueling. On Wednesday Jonathan and I ventured to a wildlife preserve at Barr Lake State Park. We heard that bald eagles nest there, and that there are some great nature paths. Kevin suggested that Jonathan and I bring a lot of food and water, and that we NOT attempt to walk the almost 9 mile hike around the entire lake. So of course, Jonathan and I left our food and water in the car, and hiked all the way around the lake. It started off really nicely- many beautiful species of birds live at Barr Lake, and the lake itself is huge and a deep shade of blue. There are giant carp in the lake that jump and flip flop and splash loudly- this scared us a lot at first, until we realized it was just fish jumping (instead of some big, scary monster from a big, scary movie!). It was a beautiful sunny and breezy day (thankfully!!), but the beauty of the place soon became somewhat meaningless to us as the walk became longer and longer and buggier and buggier and muddier and muddier...need I say more? Let's just say that 9 miles is a LOT longer and more painful than it sounds.

There were a couple of highlights, though. Jonathan and I did see two beautiful snakes on the side of the path. This caused Jonathan to jump and run frantically, pulling me out of possible harm's way, but he calmed down soon thereafter, long enough for us to get some good shots of the slithering serpents. Also, we saw some storks! Jonathan kept reminding me that it could be much worse...it could be raining, or hailing, or we could be on the wrong path headed in the wrong direction, for example. He also reminded me of Winston Churchill's famous quote: "When you're going through Hell, keep going!" This optimism was the only thing that saved me as I felt like collapsing and letting the vultures claim me. Thanks to Jonathan, we made it out alive (no eagles sightings, although we heard there were two bald eagles nesting on the lake with visible eaglets in the nest). I think if Jonathan had told me there were fifty eagles flying over us I probably wouldn't have cared by the time we finally got to the car. It was CRAZY!!!

The next day we took some time off to recover. We didn't venture out again until Friday. We drove out to Colorado Springs to visit the "Garden of the Gods," a state park with huge red rocks and many walking trails. This was a really beautiful adventure. The rocks were much more enormous and impressive than the pictures could possibly show, although I think the pictures we take rarely do the nature around us justice. The path was relatively flat and easy, and the weather couldn't have been more lovely. This was a great spot for walking, picnicking, hanging out and really enjoying the amazing scenery. We had time after our hike to visit Manitou Springs, a little artisan town where we stopped for a delicious Mexican lunch at The Loop. Then we stopped over in Old Colorado Springs- the former capitol of Colorado, for some ice cream and to walk around the galleries. We stopped into a local photography gallery where we met Tara C. Patty, a freelance photographer who gave Jonathan an hour-long, private tutorial on photography and Adobe Photoshop. She was very generous in lending her expertise to Jonathan.

Today we have a visit to the zoo and a concert at Red Rocks (with Big Head Todd & the Monsters) on our to-do list. Sounds amazing...but it will be Jonathan's turn to write about all that! We hope all is well with folks reading this at home!! We're sending our love. ~E

DAY 49: Sunday, June 3, 2007 (Denver, CO)

A beautiful day, blue skies, white clouds, minimal humidity, light breeze, sun shining. A nice day to be at the zoo. So that's what we did yesterday - we went to The Denver Zoo. Not bad as far as zoos go. We saw lots of cool animals, like lions and leopards, flamingos and eagles, peacocks and penguins, monkeys and gorillas, ant eaters and snakes, black bears and polar bears, buffalo and bison, sea otters and seals, camels and the ever-elusive capybara, rams and rhinos, piranhas and jellyfish, and arctic foxes, just to name a few - okay, just to name just about every animal we saw! We all ate just a tad too much cheesy popcorn, but anyone who's ever had a bag of cheesy popcorn in front of them knows the siren sound of that cheesy corn, calling to them, luring them into a cheesy stupor (or is it just me?!). Anyway, we had a really good time and would recommend it to anyone visiting the Denver area.

We did not end up going to Red Rocks to see Big Head Todd & the Monsters that evening. Kevin and Stephanie's friends visiting from out of town decided not to go, and tickets were $45 bucks a pop! We had dinner at an all-vegetarian restaurant called WaterCourse Foods. We shared an appetizer called Seitan Buffalo Wings. Seitan - pronounced SAY-tahn, not to be confused with the dark angel himself! - is wheat gluten, made from the gluten of wheat, with a little more substance than tofu (sounds delicious, no?!). Basically, these are fake wings, but if you're trying to cut out meat in your life, they actually weren't bad. Not like the real thing, of course, but better than other substitutes, especially when they douse them in delicious spicy buffalo sauce. If I haven't mentioned it before, I've been mostly vegetarian for two weeks now ("mostly," because I did have a piece of salmon and shrimp, but that's it, which is quite a change for me, a burger and chicken lovin' fool!). I had the Seitan Philly (a.k.a. the other Philly Cheese Steak), and Elena had the Seitan Parmesan (a.k.a. the other Chicken Parmesan). Listen, there's nothing like the real thing, but if you watch a movie like Fast Food Nation, or the more intense and graphic "Meet Your Meat" (which I have not seen because Elena has scared me straight by merely hinting at the contents), then the "real thing" doesn't sounds so appetizing. I'm not sure how long I'll stay on this vegetarian course - maybe forever, maybe another week, maybe until dinner! - but until then, it's seitan or bust!

At this point, I will mention that we also watched a video last night called "Trust the Man," with David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Billy Cruddup, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Great cast, awful movie. I mention it now only to warn others to stay away from it. I'm only sorry that we watched the whole thing, when I could have been doing something better with my time, like sniffing my dirty socks or vacuuming the ceiling! Get my point?! Good. (Check out RottenTomatoes.com if I haven't scared you straight yet - though surprisingly, there are actually a few reviews that liked it!)

Today, we met Kevin and Stephanie's friends from Ft. Lauderdale, Noah and Adrianna, who happened to be in Denver for a few days for a wedding. We all headed out to the Capitol Hill People's Fair in downtown Denver. This fair was similar to the Boulder Festival we went to last weekend, though with a tad more diversity in the crowd. The other difference was the mid-day show on the main stage at the center of the fair: Nicole Sommers and the Dazzling Divas, Denver's "finest company of female impersonators." About eight or so men, um... er... women, danced and lip-synched their way on the stage to the music of Celine Dion, Beyoncé, Cher, Diana Ross, and others. Some were better than others at lip-synching abilities, their impersonating abilities, and their stage presence, but most had great energy, and they all looked like they were having a ball. The audience responded well to their show. We topped the day off with dinner at Chedd's (thank you Noah) and a mean game of scrabble. Overall, a very full and fun day.

We've had a great time in Denver, and we can't thank Kevin and Stephanie enough, not only for opening up their home to us for the few weeks we were there, but also for making us feel welcome the entire time. We both sincerely appreciate it. Tomorrow, we're planning on leaving Denver - no, this time, we really mean it! We'll be heading for Alamosa, CO, close to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. We also may help out in a local homeless shelter at the La Puente Home, which we heard about from Minister Skip when we were in Greensburg. Hopefully we'll be able to get in touch with the coordinator to set something up. Until then... ~J

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