This video is something that had to be said. I’ve been feeling this way for quite a while, and as I keep getting bombarded by global events my conviction to this sentiment only grows.
Click the image below to play the video from YouTube (it will open in a new browser tab).
I set this up in a 4:3 aspect ratio which is more natural than the 7:5 I’ve used for recent productions. I also used a lot more still footage compared to video footage, and I feel that worked really well for this production.
Do you believe life exists on another planet out there?
My motivation for this video/song was to do something a little different. Lyrics by yours truly. Music created by #Suno and visuals created primarily by #midjourney both under my guidance and direction. Music video assembled using #Adobe products (#premierepro, #photoshop, #audition). #alienlife
This song was inspired by a recent driving trip in Colorado that I describe at the end of a previous post. We ended up taking a lot of back roads to get to our destination and I enjoyed that journey very much. This has become my preferred path for all driving trips where it is reasonable to do so. It may take more time, but the journey will be so much better.
Here is the video:
This autumn morning,
With rich blue skies,
My love is here,
By my side.
Through crowded towns,
To the exit ramp,
We’re almost at,
The back roads land.
It’s peaceful here,
I’m loving this place.
Life’s good and calm,
The back roads way.
Ghosts of towns,
Scatter the way,
Old home ruins,
In fields of hay.
Clouds of shapes,
Cross a sapphire sky.
Beasts that graze,
Others will fly.
It’s peaceful here,
I’m loving this place.
Life’s good and calm,
The back roads way.
Abandoned mines,
Silos of grain.
Vast lands of grass,
Windmills with vanes.
The golden sun,
On the horizon line.
The day is done,
It’s been so fine.
It’s peaceful here,
I’m loving this place.
Life’s good and calm,
The back roads way.
Leslie and I went on a tarantula spotting tour during the Tarantula Fest in La Junta, Colorado. It seemed like a fun and educational thing to do; and it was!
We planned to stay two nights in La Junta (I’ve never been). The first evening was the scheduled bus tour, and we were open on the second evening. We scheduled our departure from home early enough so we could visit the Paint Mines Interpretive Park on the way to La Junta.
We haven’t previously heard of the Paint Mines and were surprised by how interesting and beautiful they were. This is an area in south eastern Colorado where humans visited as far back as 9,000 years ago. One theory suggests some went there to gather colorful clay for art and other artifacts.
After arriving in La Junta and checking in to our hotel we headed to downtown to get the scoop on our bus tour and other happenings for the festival.
The bus tour took us about 20 minutes out of town to a couple areas where graduate students were stationed to educate us tarantulas. At each stop we got off the bus and hunted around for 45 minutes or so. While we found a few tarantulas at each location, typical years the count was more like ten to twenty. The weather was good that evening but there was rain the previous couple days which was one theory why tarantula turnout was low on the tour that evening. Since we were free the next evening we took a drive in the same direction to hunt for more. We only saw a few that evening as well.
Aside from spotting tarantulas there were many fun activities for the Fest. There was a parade.
There was a mural contest.
And there was break dancing!
And there were all types of people.
We also visited the Koshare Museum and Dances which was an awesome experience.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koshare_Indian_Museum_and_Dancers
The issue of me not liking to drive on major highways has been festering for a while. On this trip we needed to navigate to the Paint Mines and then from there to La Junta and we accomplished that predominantly via the back roads of the easter plains of Colorado. That was awesome! So much so that it inspired my next song which I plan to publish shortly.
This song reveals that my life has been filled with some bad things and many blessings. I’ve had a lot of people involved in lifting me up throughout my time, and I am very thankful to all of them for what they’ve done. I am not afraid of missing out on what comes next, rather I will enjoy what it is. I know I can’t last forever, so whenever the time comes, I am ready to go.
[Verse]
In early times,
Life was good,
Food was fine,
As was the hood.
Bad things came,
I lost my way.
Was a winding road,
Finding today.
[Chorus]
I’m fine, I’m fine,
I’m doing OK,
Happy to live
For another day.
Done my chores,
Want you to know,
When the time comes,
I’m ready to go.
[Verse]
Feeling bad,
I’ve done some wrong,
Owning my part,
The world goes on.
Counting blessings
Every day.
Thanking those
For parts they played.
[Chorus]
I’m fine, I’m fine,
I’m doing OK,
Happy to live
For another day
Done my chores,
You should know,
When the time comes,
I’m ready to go.
Leslie and I decided to tour SW Colorado for a September getaway. I’ve never been to most of the places we visited, and for the places Leslie has been to, it was a long time ago. It was an incredible journey and we enjoyed every moment of our trip. The next several posts will offer more info and photos of our adventure. Below is a summary of our trip.
(the links below will take you to the post for that day)
We decided to spend a night at The Springs Resort in Pagosa Springs. Oh My! I fully expect to go back, time and again, when it’s appropriate to treat myself to this wonderful place.
The food was superb, the dozens of hot tubs were delightful to choose from. Watching the stars come out, and the satellites cruise by, while soaking in delightfully warm/hot water was truly dreamy. Then soaking some more, in the crisp cool morning air while no one else is around makes this visit even more memorable.
After dinner, before our evening soak, we took a walk around the area. Along the walking/bike path, across the bridge and along the sidewalk on the other side. During our walk we stumbled into a swing set. I’ll just leave it at that.
And in the morning when the air was crisp… aaaahhhhh.
We ended our stay at checkout time, and headed home.
What a wonderful getaway to a beautiful part of the country that is right in my own backyard.
We arrived at the Farview Lodge where we enjoyed a casual lunch, some relaxation time followed by dinner and cocktails.
We walked to the outdoor seating area to catch a rainbow.
Back at our room we sat on the balcony planning our next day and watched an incredible thunderstorm roll by.
We had two tours planned for the next day: Mug House in the morning, and Balcony House on the other side of the park in the afternoon.
Mug house is named for three mugs tied together with yucca rope found hanging inside one of its rooms. It’s over 1,000 years old and offers amazing insights to how these people lived.
Given that it was a rainy day, I opted to leave my camera tucked in a dry location and used just my phone for the pictures.
This cliff house is a very well protected place, to the extent that we were instructed to walk along the highway and when told to do so by the guide, disperse separately down the hill as to not create a trail, and meet up below.
The trail to Mug House was fun and interesting…
…and Mug House was amazing.
Balcony house is also a guide-only tour but not quite as hidden as Mug House. Balcony house is named after the balcony that is part of the architecture of the structure which is believed to be a stepping area for getting into the second floor rooms of the structure.
There were some fun spots along our tour including a 32-foot tall ladder, and a squeeze through a tunnel to get to an adjoining chamber.
Balcony House was a multi-community facility which is why there was an adjoining chamber and multiple kivas.
After Balcony House, we decided to drive around that part of the park to see what else we might see. It seems as though there is a lot of other sites to visit.
After Silverton we drove to Cortez via Dolores where the visitor center for the Canyon of the Ancients is. We stopped at the visitor center to plan our activities for the next couple of days. The Museum there was very well done and we learned a lot about how the architecture of the pueblos evolved as well as the theories about how and when humans migrated into the area. Here is a map from BLM on the area.
From our discussion with the Ranger we decided to spend the next day driving around the canyon visiting many of the pueblo sites, then the day after that hiking to some of the pueblos along Sand Canyon.
After Dolores we headed to the Retro Inn where we stayed a couple nights. It was a very fun and comfortable stay. I actually met a good buddy of mine who was sitting on the bench in front of the hotel.
Here’s a photo of one of the walls in our room.
We walked to dinner both nights. The first night we ate across the street at Denny’s Diner, and the second night we ate at a new Ecuadorian restaurant called Udeza 593. Udeza was excellent and the locals obviously figured it out. The restaurant is two weeks new and the place had a line to get in as we left.
Denny’s photo courtesy of Google Maps. Urdeza photo courtesy of Urdeza Facebook page.
Our first stop was the Hovenweep National Monument. There was an excellent trail that was about 1.5 miles that took us around the ruins.
Then we went on to the Painted Hand Pueblo. After taking a small walk to the pueblo structures we saw the little green guy (photo courtesy of Leslie) in the parking lot.
The last stop of Day 1’s tour was Lowry Pueblo. According to Wikipedia, this 1,000 year old pueblo is believed to have begun as a relative small community with just a few rooms, but is unusual for the presence of a great kiva, suggesting it served as a communal center for a scattered population before the settlement around it got larger.
As planned, we returned to the canyon to take a little longer hike along Sand Canyon. The trail was amazing as were some of the pueblos we saw along the way.
After touring the Canyon of the Ancients we planned to head to Mesa Verde. But first, since we were so close, I wanted to stop at Four Corners Monument since I’ve never been there before.
The first stop of our SW Colorado tour was Silverton.
From their webpage: “Founded in an ancient caldera, Silverton, Colorado is called home by roughly 600 year-round inhabitants. The only township in San Juan County at an elevation of 9,318 feet, this town has roots in mining at the turn of the 20th century.”
The town is surrounded by high mountains and as the host at our hotel said, when you hike from Silverton you can only go up, steeply.
With that said, we spent our first day hiking to Ice Lake from South Mineral Campground. This was one of the most beautiful hikes I’ve been on. It was about a 7.5 mile round trip with a 2,400 foot elevation gain. The last incline felt like a bit of a slog, but it was well worth it. When we got to Ice Lake a thunderstorm just moved in, so we touched the lake, took a selfie and scrambled down to safer ground.
This 45-mile branch of the original Denver & Rio Grande Railway has been operating since 1882. The route took us through the Animas Canyon along the Animas River with spectacular views of the San Juan National Forest. It was an awesome 3-hour ride down to Durango.
After arriving in Durango we walked over to the Beer Garden that’s right on the Animas River. We had a beer then walked back to the train station to await our bus ride back to Silverton, which is how we ended our day.
I kept seeing incredible work by others who are using AI for music videos. I thought I would give it a spin. While I see a lot of things I would improve upon, I think this first one came out pretty good.
The rhymes herein were generated from an AI request that described our hike to Blue Lake. Each of the pictures were generated from photos I took along the way – so we really did see these things, sort of.
We pulled up to Mitchell Lake trailhead quite early,
Before the day’s weather got sweaty and surly.
We sat in the car eating a breakfast of scale,
Then buckled our daypacks to start on the trail.
The path was so lovely, with bushes and trees,
That kept us all cool in the sweet morning breeze.
We passed a strange rock that looked ancient and grand,
Like a secret trapdoor to a magical land!
Then out in a meadow, with mountains behind,
We spotted a treat of the wonderful kind:
A furry old mama moose grazing right there,
With her cute little calf without any care.
We finally made it to stunning Blue Lake,
And ate a nice lunch for our big midday break.
With bellies quite full and a smile on each face,
We turned right around and walked back from the place!
