Steep Slopes... Jan 24

Walked up the foothills behind Gram's house today. They call them foothills out here, but if I ever saw something like this on the east coast, I'd call it a small mountain.  I want to get my lungs used to breathing this thin air.  So far so good.  It's beautiful here- was in the mid-60's all day, but an intense wind on the hill probably brought it down a bit.  Sorry, Philadelphia, I know you are suffering in the freezing cold right now. ....SUCKERS!!!  No, just kidding. I am prepping for that kind of weather coming on next week, so I'll be right there with ya.

Oh look its me sitting on a hillside. How interesting.
On a side note, it is SO dry up here. Geez. My hair's never been straighter, which is actually good because I forgot my brush in Georgia and haven't needed one since. Not a tangle on my head.  I know you care about the state of my hair, which is why I share these things.

Oh look its a beautiful cloud formation that pictures don't really grasp in its fullness.

Oh look its rocks and landscapes that are different from the east coast.

Oh look its a herd of white-tailed deer grazing on the hillside. 

This herd reminded me of some of the wildlife that I've seen throughout my trip. So on my walk, I listed out some of the (live) wildlife that I've seen in the past 3 weeks:

•Falcons (on the way up and down to Mesa Verde, both times they were successfully hunting)

•Ravens (in a whole pack, or murder, on the side of the road on the way to Athens, Georgia, eating something)

•Crows (everywhere)

•Gofers (on these foothills of Boulder)

•Deer (in picture above)

•Armadillo (my first armadillo sighting and it was dead on the side of the road near Gulf Shores, AL- I was really sad)

•Sandpipers and Seagulls (on the beach)

•Mountain Goat (perched on a tiny rock cliff in the Rockies)

•Northern Mockingbird (I think that's what it is, but a black bird with a big white stripe on its wing like this- saw them in Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado)

•Turkey Vultures (lined up on ranch fences in western Texas)

•Alligators (hibernating in the swamps of Louisiana) 

•Blue Heron (swooping through the Okonee Forest of Georgia and the swamps of LA)

•Children (running around everywhere)

•Squirrels (I list that, but its a boring wildlife list item)

•Chipmunks (slightly more interesting; saw them in Okonee Forest)

And I'm sure I'm missing lots of other things, but these were the ones that stuck out to me.  The list does not include the cattle, domesticated goats, sheep, dogs or cats. Plenty of those to go around.

One more day with Gram, then bouncing down to Albuquerque. Gram and I had a good conversation about my trip last night, though. She brought up that when I first started talking about the trip, I was going to apply for jobs in Albuquerque and LA and try to live out here for a few months, or even a couple years.  I think as last year wore on, though, my leaving Philly turned from "get-the-hell-outa-here" to "i'm-going-on-an-adventure-and-am-coming-back-home".  There's a part of my pride that wants to stay away from Philly for a long time just to make some sort of statement to myself or whoever.  But there's another part of me that, at this point, is struggling to find a point to staying away for longer than my 3-month trip. Philly's been home for 12 long years and besides certain jerkface boys, I really love everyone else in Phily, and I'm pretty connected with the city, the land, the fight against fracking our Delaware river basin, building our community, supporting my friends, family, etc etc etc. Maybe Philly and I can reconnect and walk hand-in-hand for a little longer.