I saw dirt

Today was one of those days - out of coffee, aichy legs from inactivity, wound up kids... probably a low pressure system. I needed to blow off some stink, so I took Cody for a walk to the bakery for some sugar and caffeine. By the way,they were closed when I got there. Anyhow, along the way it dawned on me I was looking at something I hadn't seen in months - DIRT! (soil, to you scientific people) It was just laying there along the side of the bike path, in all it's wet, globby, somewhat frozen glory, as natural as can be. Can spring really be coming to the mountains? Is it time to trade out the snow boots for the mud boots? Can we take the studded snow tires off the car? Maybe it's time to gear up in the oh, so fashionable rain pants because the mud season is splashier in Aspen than anywhere else in the world! Hip hip hooray!

Nine out of ten locals will tell you the best part of living in Aspen is "off season". This is when we can find parking in the grocery store parking lot, walk down the street and address everybody by name, go out to eat without having to take out a loan, and the sidewalks are free of head to toe dead animal outfits. We love it. But like all good things, it's the "on season" that makes us appreciate the off season. And after all, we live here because we love to snowboard, cross country ski, hike, raft, ride bikes, and breath the sweet crisp mountain air. All of these things happen during the on season.

So for the next six glorious weeks we will be living in slippery wet muddy heaven. The town is ours and we love it! It's not a pretty time to visit, so stay away. We'll see you this summer. We like it empty. We love the muddy quiet roads and twelve loads of laundry each day because it's impossible to step outside without getting slimed. Already Poppie has has had a few "three outfit days", and forget about her wearing anything but boots until the middle of July.

Yay, Bring on the mud!