the family dumm

the four of us :)
roomates, and our tour guides of co springs

me & pikes peak

since i have moved out west (almost a year ago, in less than 2 months!), i have connected with my "other side of the family", my aunt and uncle and their 6 children (my cousins) who live in boulder, colorado. it has been more than wonderful to reconnect with the dumm family, especially since growing up on the east coast limited my visits with them as a child. when i came out here, it had been over 10 years since the last time i had seen some of my family, and our reconnection was more than overdue. now, my other dumm cousin (from another uncle), has returned to colorado springs after six years abroad... in korea, iraq, and london, england. it had been since his going away party six years ago that i had seen my cousin, and i was still in undergrad! now that he is close to me (a hop over to co springs), we have seen each other on four seperate occasions already, the fifth soon to follow on sunday when my roomates and i throw our first ever 'game night'....
one of our most recent forays has been a hike in co springs (my first visit there), and a tour of the air force academy (where he attended his undergrad). along on the journey up eagle's peak came both of our roomates; making it the perfect hike with the perfect company.
here are some of the memories that we made that day:
a perfect view of the air force academy from the top of eagle's peak
panorama of the continental divide

fated friends

at mills lake in estes park.

at red rocks. for some reason this picture reminds me of sting's "fields of gold" (maybe because i saw sting at red rocks recently?)


i have just had one of the most memorable weeks of my life, and the memories i made were with a wonderful but new friend. she and i went to roanoke college together, but never had actually become close, most likely because i valued pink, pearls, and parties over school at times... and she was a much more devoted student than i. actually, we had one chance encounter in paris, where she was descending on the escalator in the musee d'orsay while i was ascending, and at the last second we recognized each other and gave each other a nice big american 'hello'... as my friend herself said, "it was fate that we met again".
so we met here in beautiful summertime colorado, and she came ready for an adventure. we tried our best to keep ourselves entertained, we went out to boulder several times for shopping, bar hopping, hiking, and biking, as well as a little science at the research center there. in denver, we continued our educational endeavors at the "body works" exhibit at the denver museum of science. we made it to estes park as well, where we enjoyed a breathtaking hike from bear lake, by alberta falls, and up to mills lake. ideally, we would have made it to black lake, but that will have to be next time, since it was a good 2.5 miles off from where we turned back... in denver, we made it to red rocks for a photography hike, did drinks lodo and larimer, dined at bistro vendome, and took a rickshaw tour of downtown. on her last night here, we met my dearest friend from roanoke and her husband for dinner at izykaya den on south pearl, followed by ice cream and live bluegrass at the pajama baking company. it truly was a perfect visit.
best of all, my friend's visit opened my eyes to the many adventures that i can have here in denver on my own, such as runs at red rocks, or at least one super hike out in the mountains every week. i also would like to make it to boulder more regularly to bike ride along the foothills and mesas, visit the farmer's market, or simply paint or meditate along the boulder creek. colorado is such a beautiful place, i feel so blessed to be here. as i said to all my friends, all the good people come out here to colorado, it is a mecca for adventurous and good souls.on the trail at estes. it was a truely perfect day.

view along the bike trail in boulder

my first year of grad school, in less than 2 minutes

no words, just moab.

bodega rose

a 'bodega rose' (a rose which grows in a vineyard) at linden vineyards, in fauquier county, va

i heard this song this morning, and i am in love with kesang marstrand. please follow her on facebook, you can listen to her songs on her page, and i assure you that you too will fall in love.

with valentine's day around the corner, we can all do with a little more love in our hearts.

peace and blessings.

Bodega Rose
Kesang Marstrand

listen online

Rainy bodega roses
The shop never closes
They change shifts at dawn
Even in the smallest hours
Fresh cut red flowers
But you just walk on

My love, my grey-eyed
City child
We could've grown wild
We could've grown wild
But this is what we chose
The endless night
The bodega rose

Odd shadows of trees in the park
Claim the darkest dark
While we sleep
Tangled beneath the covers
Tangled in each other
And try to dream deep

My love, my grey-eyed
City child
We could've grown wild
We could've grown wild
But this is what we chose
The endless night
The bodega rose

Silence is wedded to sound
That comes up through the ground
Singing for us
But few things moves us like before
Nothing anymore
Is what it once was

My love, my grey-eyed
City child
We could've grown wild
We could've grown wild
But this is what we chose
The endless night
The bodega rose

"My favorite incarnation of runner is the one I discovered first. This is the runner I foster at every opportunity. I'm a mathematician, engineer, snob, bad poet, bad comedian, and romantic - also an athlete, fashionista, pessimist, optimist, nutritionist, physiologist, and homeopath. But when I run, I am mostly a dreamer... When you sleep, you snore. When you run, you dream." Marc Parent