Daughter

She makes me smile in the morning as she arises from night’s sleep at ten thousand feet. Her hair is mussed up and sticking up on one side; the perfect morning look as Leslie staggers over to get a cup of coffee, blinking hard as she looks into the sun. She feels her hair sticking out, this way and that and gets the perfect “fuck it” face on; she smiles as she turns and says, “Mornin, Pops,” “Mornin, Les, I hope you slept well?” I inquire. She and Sawyer slept in her car which was parked next to mine, we both have SUV’s so, we sleep in the back. My car is a bit smaller than Les’s so I have to curl up, but that is fine with me, I like to sleep curled up anyway.
“No, Sawyer kept kicking me last night, and I hardly got any sleep.” She says with no hint of bitching, just matter of factly stating that her night’s sleep was not all that great, but after a cup of coffee and some breakfast, she perks right up. It must be nice to be young and full of energy and have incredible recuperative powers. Me, I’m over here on my third cup of coffee and have yet to wipe the sleep from my eyes.

We are here at ten thousand feet, helping a friend run an uber- exhaustive race in the mountains at ten thousand plus feet. There may have been a fourteener or two in the race, something like a hundred miles in the mountains on trails that had been washed out from the avalanches the previous winter, so there was more than one lost runner. Still, we tried to supply everyone with GPS locators, and this saved the day, if not any time for the run. Several runners got turned around in this one stretch of rough terrain, but they all finally got sorted out, but it also wholly exhausted several runners, and they called it quits before the finish. And our friend was among the DNF’s.

We still have a day and a half in the mountains to play. So my grandson and I hit the park, while the ladies; (there are three) run a leg of the race. Sawyer and I grab a soccer ball from the park’s supply of sports equipment. (so cool) And we hit the field. We are the only two playing in the grass; there is a group of three kids playing on the swings and other equipment. The park is big and just as neat as hell. It is tucked away here in a speck of a town in the San Juans. I love the outdoors around here; the air is so fresh and is clear, nothing like the air of the cities I have lived in, where the air is brown, and grey. It does make for some colorful sunsets, but nothing compares to a sunset at altitude. I have always felt closer to my God when the god rays are shining through the clouds. Everything is alive, and my Creator is alive in everything. We are all connected, and I find comfort in that.

Sawyer and I play in the park for three and a half hours, and by the time we were finished ole grandpa was feeling it. But I had this huge smile plastered all over my face, and my face would hurt for three days following from smiling so much! We had some serious fun. Of course, we play Sawyer wins, and I turn a blind eye to his little fudges, it makes the games go smoother, and I have to keep remembering he is only seven years old. We have this constant banter between us going the entire time, and this banter is a source of fun for my daughter, she loves listening to Sawyer, and I argue, we give each other hell, but it is all in good fun.

The ladies finally show back up after their run, and they are all smiling too. We are a happy bunch of campers, a bunch of hungry, happy campers, and we hit one of the local eateries for a quick lunch, and then we are walking and talking, letting our food digest and taking in the sights. We walk past the park, and Sawyers grabs a ball out of the bin the park graciously provided, and we play catch while the ladies map out the rest of our day, which includes some hiking, and finding our man Steve, and then we went hunting for some firewood, Sawyer and I did. And, of course, we make it a competition, and you guessed it; Sawyer wins! God, it was fun, and there was a bear around the campgrounds looking for a handout. Fortunately, Sawyer and I make a bunch of noise while we are gathering wood, and this keeps the bear at bay, although in the middle of the night, when I had to pee, I stepped outside my SUV and met our bear. His head was buried in some stunted growth, and I could hear him chomping on something some careless camper left out. He turns his head at the sound of my car door opening and makes this chuffing sound, and then he bolts out of the camp.

And I pee, boy, do I pee. It was one of those pees that seem to go on forever, and the whole time I am peeing I’ve got one eye out for the bear and the other eye is trying to keep track of my stream, so it goes outside the car and not on the seats or my feets. I am standing there, shivering and peeing and trying to keep an eye out for the bear. And I feel some warm liquid all over the top of me feet, and this brings an “Oh Shit!” out of my mouth a little louder than necessary. But I still had some of the adrenaline pumping through my veins from my earlier visitation with the bear. So my cursing was shushed by several tired campers, and this elicited a, “My bad” out of me, which was also shushed.

So, I wiped off the tops of my feet with the napkins that find their way into one of those neat little pouches that are strategically spaced throughout my car and jumped back into the car and hit my head so hard on the top of the door frame that I saw stars. Not the white ones you usually see up in the sky, the stars were a variety of colors, red, yellow, green, and purple. And they looked kind of cool the way they danced with their brothers and sisters in the sky. I got a little sick to my stomach, sure sign of a concussion. And then I just passed the f— out.

The next morning all I could hear was groaning and grunting. Everyone was sore from the previous days’ workout and were a bit slow getting out of the sack. I was up second, one of the ladies was up before me, and she had some coffee going. She was kind enough to share with me, and boy that coffee was good. The god rays were coming through the trees, and it gave the whole scene a respectful tone. My head still hurt from my knocking myself out last night, but hey, I had a blast! I really enjoy camping at altitude except that it gets cold even in the middle of the summer! But this makes for some awesome campfires and stories galore at night—a couple of cold beers and some tales of high adventure. The writer in me is in paradise! I mean stories of wild bears roaming through the camps, and stories of people lost on trails at night.

And there were tons of jokes. My daughter, Leslie, could have a career as a standup comic if she were that way inclined. She keeps me in stitches. Then we cook a nice dinner on the grill and then more jokes and more fun. But everyone has put in a long day at altitude, and in the sun, the two are a recipe for early to bed. I being a writer, whose mind rarely quiets, stay up a few more hours, watching and listening to the sounds of the campground at night. And more than one woman in our group is snoring to beat the band, and this makes me smile as do my reflections upon the day past. I had so much fun playing in the park with my grandson, lunch at the bistro, and touring the campgrounds as the sun was beginning to set. Coming back into camp as the ladies get up from their naps, hair cascading about their sleepy heads. Fun at altitude will wear a body down!

My baby girl, who is thirty-six years old and as fit as they come, six-pack abs and impressive shoulders, is beautiful as the god rays light up her face. And then she smiled that million-dollar-smile that she has, and she glows. She has this gorgeous aura that is a blindingly white glow that surrounds her; it fits her like a glove. She stumbles out of her car, hair sticking up just like the day prior. And greets everyone with a, “Fuck Yeah, it’s going to be a glorious fucking day! And this brings smiles from all who are sitting around the fire, warming our hands and drinking some killer coffee. Steve, our runner friend, makes some organic coffee that is just super. The other ladies offer up a, “Fuck yeah!” The f-bombs’ are frequently dropping today, and the day is off to a beautiful start!

It is finally time to drive home after a quick brunch at one of the delis in town. Some good coffee and short goodbyes, for we all live in the same town. Then it is time for the drive home, usually, my least favorite part of the journey, but today, it is so beautiful that the drive just happens, no tugs at the heartstrings, and no let down of adrenaline, just a smooth, quick trip home.

As I am driving down the mountain and into this cool valley with the river flowing down the middle and I feel the last of the mornings’ chilled air drift up and away on the warm breeze that has suddenly sprung to life. Then back up into the hills, and my new car is driving like a champ, through the many turns of Wolf Creek Pass and out into Pagosa Springs, and then the sixty miles home just flew by. We arrived safe and sound and tired. My face hurt for the next several days from laughing so much, and my sides were a bit sore from the belly laughs. I am here to tell you; we had a great time!

As I am getting ready to drive back to my home, out comes my daughter to give me a hug and a kiss goodbye. I get the same from my grandson, and I am a happy man.