Hallelujah!

The snow gods have been blessing us hugely in the past 3 days which has made for some amazing conditions I just couldn’t stay inside for. And guess what, I’m feeling a semblance of my old self again! There’s still pain but with a little help from my good friend ibuprofin (doses of 800 thanks to my Spanish leftovers) I am not only skiing again but skiing well! After months of disappointment, this feels good, and this all couldn’t come soon enough since I leave for Canyonlands in less than a week!

One somewhat surprising fact I learned on the Camino about the Spanish is their love for John Denver. It was amazing how many albuergues I entered to find his music blaring. I became a fan on that trip, probably because he reminded me of home, and downloaded his  greatest hits album upon my return to the states. Lately, I’ve come to realize that the lyrics to one of his most popular songs, Rocky Mountain High, is an amazingly close match to a song I might write about my own life (if I had any musical talent). Just change ‘he’ to ‘she’ and ’27-th year’ to ’21st-year’ and you’ve got yourself the story of my present life.

Whether or not you can relate, it’s still a beautiful song. Watch an adorable and very talented kid sing it here, and see the lyrics below:

 

 

He was born in the summer of his twenty-seventh year
Coming home to a place he’d never been before
Left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
Might say he found a key for ev’ry door

When he first came to the mountains his life was far away
On the road and hangin’ by a song
But the string’s already broken and he doesn’t really care
Keeps changin’ fast, it don’t last for long

Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky
The shadow from the starlight
Is softer than a lullaby
Rocky Mountain high

He climbed cathedral mountains
Saw silver clouds below
Saw everything as far as you can see
And they say that he got crazy once
And he tried to touch the sun
And he lost a friend but kept his memory

Now, he walks in quiet solitude
The forests and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside
Himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake

The Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky
You talk to God, listen to the casual reply
Rocky Mountain high

Now his life is full of wonder
But his heart still knows some fear
Of a simple thing he cannot comprehend
Why they try to tear the mountains down
To bring in a couple more
More people, more scars upon the land

And the Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky
He know he’d be a poorer man
If he never saw an eagle fly
Rocky Mountain high
It’s the Colorado Rocky Mountain high

I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky
Friends around the campfire
Everybody’s high
Rocky Mountain high