Cafe Hitch-hike

2023-06-12

Pikes Peak

Although I’m in Mountain Time, I’m still up and it’s close to my bedtime in my usual haunts. I really don’t want to sleep cos… I’m feelin’ fine. I’m just so excited to be in the mountains, with a view of Pikes Peak from where I am and the I was so excited that I scampered all over the place, both with my 2 feet and the lovely upgraded vehicle rental given to me free of charge. I thought I was gonna get a Ford Focus and instead, they gave me a Forerunner— SWEET!!

OK, about the rental…. I once rented a car and said, “I dig this! I wouldn’t mind getting something like this.”. Well, I was able to make my own purchase a few months later of a real car and not a beater. I’m not so sure I’d want something that big, but hmmm… I’m just enjoying the chance to say a little something like that gain. It also occurred to me that maybe with the vehicle I was given, I can drive to Pikes Peak while I’m here.

Anyhoo, I really am here on business. To go cheap and for my colleague and I to be able to have our own separate rooms, we stayed in some dormitories. I’m never doing that again. It’s pretty barebones, we don’t have coffee makers or TVs in our rooms. The towels are worse than Motel 6 ones. I got better drying action from my long cardigan (which came in handy here) and it sure felt better on my skin.

The dorms they make nowadays are no longer the large storage closets I had back in the day, with a shower/ bathroom area shared by the whole floor. The dorm rooms have a little common area with full kitchen (but no pots and pans), and then 2 private bedrooms with desks. The shower areas have a separate sink area, then an enclosed toilet and separate shower. The first room they gave me reeked of cat, so they moved me to another room with a view of the mountains.

But, I guess I can embrace this brief visit to on-campus life. I see students coming and going, and there’s some teens here for camps held in the dorms and facilities. I can quickly say it makes me feel old, but lucky for me I don’t fully look my age (hahahah). It’s making me put myself in the students’ shoes.

I haven’t yet full grasped what this experience is like. But, I feel like it’s a return of sorts. I realize me going back to grad school is another return. Unlike the time when I did all of that in my 20s, I’m not struggling as much on— most levels. In a way, it’s a dream come true. I always wanted to go back to grad school, but it feels better to do it while not living on a shoestring. It’s nice to feel… damn, is it called some confidence?

It’s another continuing ed thing I’m here to do, and I’m with a colleague whose far more introverted than me, and that’s ok. It’s given me time to do my own things. They’re a bit younger than me. I can daydream maybe I’m a little like a mentor cos we have a 20 year age difference, but hah…. All the 30 year olds probably think some of us need to be put out to pasture, and we’re not even old enough to collection pensions. But, the continuing ed is meant to be a bit of a recharge for our career mojo on so many levels. It’s not just the topic of the gathering, but sometimes it’s also the setting.

I sent Avery pictures and he said it was the happiest I had every looked and sounded. There’s something in what he said.

I figured this sleep and the spot of wine would settle my excitement. I hear some thunder in the distance, and I rearranged the furniture in my suite to look less barren, haha. I got a vanilla candle to scent the place. I would had gotten a spot of cannabis, but the locality doesn’t allow recreational shops (drat).

I just feel like I’m hanging in a liminal state, away from something but not yet to the other side of wherever I’m supposed to go. But, I sure like visiting this place and will soak in everything it has to offer while I’m here.

downwind | upstream