A Sweet Love Affair

 

Song:  Sweet Love

Group:  The Commodores

I was going to go to the gun shop in Woodland Park today...

but they are closed on Mondays

(I will be going tomorrow).

And so...

I was just going to pick up my mail from the mailboxes just down the mountain...

and which lay adjacent to the main county road leading to all of the towns.

However...

once I got to mailboxes...

the mailman was still filling them...

and as it takes 1-2 hours for him to finish our area...

I decided I might as well go into Cripple Creek to eat lunch...

and then stop by the mailboxes on the way home.

I was nearing the county road here.

After getting on the main county road...

Cripple Creek is but a 5-10 minute drive into town.

I decided to go back to The District to try a different meat taco.

As it was prime lunch hour...

I sat at the bar (even though I don't drink)...

and watched TV...

as I knew all orders are delayed during rush hour of any restaurant

(I usually avoid peak times...

but I wasn't planning on eating out.

I just wanted to kill some time before picking up my mail).

On one TV...

they had two TV stations I had never heard of...

Drone TV...

and Red Bull TV (extreme sports).

I was pleasantly occupied with these two channels

(they played outtakes of each in turn).

I wasn't so hungry...

so...

I just had chips and salsa...

... crunchy fish tacos...

and black bean stew.

There are quite a few different types of tacos I want to try.

Next time I will get the steak fajita tacos.

On my way home to check the mail.

I had arrived to find the mailman still filling the mailboxes (behind me)...

and so...

I just drove back home.

 I will just pick up my mail tomorrow on the way back from the gun shop.

These free roaming cows are fun to look at.

They seem so content...

as it must seem to be heaven for them to be grazing freely wherever they wish...

and just lying in the sun once they had gotten their fill of the delicious weeds and grasses.

I love my home...

my community...

the other communities where I often go...

and of everywhere I have been throughout Colorado.

It is to have every convenience near enough...

without losing the serenity of the open country.

The weather is so good...

the mountainous views and clouds are breathtaking...

especially the radiant sunrises and sunsets...

the mountain breezes and country air are so cool and refreshing...

animals abound in their natural setting...

and people are friendly and polite.

It is a sweet love affair I have with it all...

and of which rewards me so deeply on a daily basis.

My life is just so enchanting and sublime here...

it is my dream home.

It is to feel as if I were gliding from one exquisite view to another...

as everywhere I look...

from season to glorious season...

it is a never ending source of peaceful serenity.

I am ...

and will always be...

 until my death...

in the honeymoon phase of retirement (I fully retired in 2011)...

for life just keeps getting better...

and my enjoyment of life keeps growing greater...

and with an even more magical future on my horizon...

things I have only imagined will soon be coming true.

It is all because...

I am an ANT.

I know of many other people who have also chased and achieved

 their dream homes and lives.

All of them are long term thinkers...

had always practiced deferred gratification and future think (the ants)...

and had always known what made them happy in life...

and so...

had guided their lives towards their beautiful envisioned lives.

-----------

To have a sweet love of life...

is THE dream to chase...

for without this fundamental and deep happiness...

no matter your surroundings...

you will just chase your immediate gratification at the expense of your future...

with meaningless boredom killers

(and dream killers...by design...

as by killing your dreams...

you think to kill any guilt associated with your choice of being a grasshopper...

or even more...you blame the nebulous "society" for your own failures).

As you age...

and your options keep narrowing...

you will become that bitter old man or woman...

the one nobody wishes to be around...

as you don't even like yourself...

and so...

you begin to hate life.

Envy and spitefulness than becomes your cope in the miserable "life" 

you, yourself, had created.

Conversely...

you don't have to have a dream house to be deeply happy.

An internally happy person is blessed in life already...

as they have a deep appreciation for all they have...

and of all of the great simple pleasures in life.

As you continually chase your dreams...

of having hope and great expectations...

the anticipation of your coming paradise in life...

of being on the correct road to the achievement of your dreams...

is, in and of itself...

a self created heaven.

But...

with proper forethought...

you may have it all.

----------

It is all about proper time and resource management.

But...

in order for you to put any real value to them...

you simply MUST look honestly at your own eventual death as a certainty.

This sets the timeline from which everything in life must be based.

To not value death...

is to not value life.

It is in knowing that our time is limited that makes life so magical...

so valuable.

To pretend that life is filled with endless amounts of time and resources...

is to sabotage your drive from the beginning.

Although it is your dream which provides you with the drive to improve your lot in life...

along with an intelligently planned and plotted life...

directly coupled to positive and meaningful action until you achieve fruition...

all of these are absolutely necessary.

If you notice...

it takes the three pillars of life to achieve this.

Emotional: It is the emotions which arouse the subconscious to provide the continuing drive...

which further rewards through positive emotions...

creating a self reinforcing loop of endless drive

of the motor and drivetrain in your vehicle in life.

Intellectual:  It is the mind which converts the power of the motor...

into a plan of action...

giving you direction...

a destination with a designated efficient and effective route.

It is the driver of your vehicle.

Physical:  The actual actions taken following the route laid out by the intellect.

These are the wheels and tires (of which converts the drive into usable motion)...

without which...

you would end up going nowhere...

no matter how powerful the engine (amount of drive)...

and no matter the steering input from the driver (the greatness of the plan).

Although...

with the previous two being solid...

the physical usually follows suit...

however...

because of discomfort, pain, or fear...

people will often find excuses to not execute the actual plan.

Of course...

this is all common sense.

Yet...

so many people do any number of things to sabotage their own lives.

It is more than sad...

it is infuriating.

If you decouple the three...

and especially...

follow merely the emotional...

it tends to lead to a state of discombobulated thinking...

and so...an unrealistic view of, and relationship with, reality...

leading into subsequent actions which sabotage any realistic way of living

which the person could have had...

especially when made into something permanent.

-----------

But...

the most common sabotage used by the feckless...

is one of killing the dream...

and so...

the drive.

These are the grasshoppers...

who choose immediate gratification over long term gain.

Strangely enough...

although I don't really know...

but I can only surmise...

perhaps they had somehow developed a fatalistic view of life...

perhaps because they see death as a hopeless scenario of wasted effort...

and so...

in deciding to merely get what pleasure they could at each moment...

they had sought out any distraction to elevate themselves out of their depression.

Again...

I don't know.

I have never lost hope...

and I have never experienced depression...

and so...

I really don't understand their way of thinking.

But...

I do know that they tend to abuse drugs of all types...

pharmaceutical as well as legal drugs or illicit ones...

to escape their despondency because of a lack of hope in their ability 

to provide themselves long term happiness...

not realizing that instead of seeking the immediate highs at the expense of their own

long term health and happiness...

that if they merely paid themselves forward through their planning and efforts...

with the fruition of each objective...

their highs in life become permanent...

and self reinforcing...

 which then provides for an easier walk forwards 

with each subsequent objective completed.

---------

As I love life so much...

I want others to also love life.

Again...

although it can be thought of as simply selfish of me...

as I get pleasure from helping others...

because...

once again...

it automatically doubles pleasure in life

(that of giving...as well as that of receiving)...

and so...

makes me love life even more.

Who cares?

I certainly don't.

It is the actions of people in the face of duty...

the inactions of people in the face of temptation...

and the reactions of people to those deemed to be at a disadvantage to them...

which actually determines their inner goodness...

and which actually determines what they are inside.

I am a good person...

and this allows me to fully enjoy life.

It is to be free from the bindings which tie the wings of the emotions...

allowing me to soar the skies among the clouds of the mind...

and so...

to deeply feel and treasure all of the great simple pleasures of life.

As a fundamentally good person...

I suffer from earned guilt...

and from earned shame.

And so...

in order to soar the skies of my mind...

I must not only not do anything which would evoke those negative emotions...

I must fulfill my duty to help guide others...

thereby stimulating positive emotions in me...

because that is the only way to live a wonderful life.

In this manner...

I earn the transcendent beauty of sunrises and sunsets...

of feeling music to the depth of my soul...

of having the appetite for great feasts...

and experiencing the deep serenity and grand beauty of all of life...

and without which...

having a sweet love affair with life would be impossible.

Two Restaurant Busts - The Search Continues

 

Song:  New Horizons

Group:  The Moody Blues

The other day...

I had a craving for BBQ.

As I am still in search of the perfect BBQ...

I decided to drive North of Colorado Springs to a highly rated one

in a small mountain town.

I ordered two 1/4 pound BBQ shredded pork sandwiches...

and one 1/2 pound sliced brisket sandwich...

along with a side of beans and three bags of chips...

and an iced sweet tea.

While it was okay...

this just wasn't what I was looking for...

as my favorite type of BBQ is Texas style...

and this was more of an Alabama or St. Louis style (sweeter...not so much tang).

As I was driving back...

I couldn't even believe it myself...

but after eating a pound of meat...

I was still hungry...

...and so, just as I was entering old town Manitou Springs...

I stopped in at KFC to buy a 16 piece bucket of chicken...

and although I nibbled at it some on the way home...

I saved the bucket of chicken to eat on the morrow

(I ate the whole bucket in one sitting the next day.

I don't know what it is...

but sometimes...

my hunger is such that I will eat twice my normal amount...

and no...

I still don't gain weight.

The key is not eating within 6-10 hours before bedtime...

and if you wish to lose weight...

perform endurance exercise within 2-3 hours before bedtime as well).

On my way home from KFC...

just leaving Manitou Springs.

I had a nice drive home...

especially with this sunset...

as I continued looking at it as I drove perpendicular to it.

Today...

I just wanted to try a local sandwich place...

just a 20 minute drive from home in the small town just South of Cripple Creek...

Victor...

a very small old mining town.

It was 70 F (21.1 C)...

and I drove with the windows open and enjoyed the views

until I arrived at Victor...

20 minutes later.

Just a few minutes from the town of Victor in this photo.

The very old and small town of Victor.

They really should have a dedicated heat shield behind this wood stove.

I had tried their Miner's Pastie...

a meat pie.

Although it was okay...

I thought it should have had more spices added.

I had gotten a ham and cheese sandwich.

Not only was the bread too vertically large

(I had to make like a python and almost unhinge my jaw to take a bite)...

but, it simply did not wow me...

it was rather flavorless.

It was disappointing...

as it was the second restaurant in a row which would prove to be but a one time visit.

I thought that both being in a more isolated community...

that they would have to be good in order to continue to get return traffic

from their rather small communities...

but...

it seemed to be more of a case of having a semi captive customer base...

and so...

either they didn't feel the need to improve...

or perhaps...

they couldn't survive competition with a much larger customer base...

and that is why they had chosen to open their restaurants there.

After leaving Cripple Creek on my way home.

Just before my mountain ridge turnoff.

-------------

Just like with the many small or large disappointments in life...

they make us appreciate even more...

the good times.

They are all part of the adventure that is life.

And so...

the search for the best restaurants continues.

It will be part of a long process...

but an interesting gourmandic journey nonetheless.

I still just love the country drives while playing my favorite music.

It is all part of running towards life...

instead of having disappointment or our own lassitude drag us down...

or running away from life out of fear.

Do not live the life of a rabbit...

fearing to stray from your safe underground den.

Brave the skies...

and soar free.

Know what makes you happy...

and go out and get it.

It is all worth it.

Acknowledge death...

for it comes for us all...

and so...

gives us a sense of urgency.

Extract everything out of life before then.

That is our mission...

if you choose to accept 

(dun dun...dundun dun dun dundun dun  :)

Smoked Brisket Tacos At The District Saloon

 

Song:  Drift Away

Artist:  Dobie Gray

As it was about 8 PM...

and I had again gotten a craving for tacos...

I decided to try The District Saloon in Cripple Creek...

as not only is it less than 15 minutes away...

but it has some unique tacos I have never had before.

I was heading down my mountain here...

in anticipation of a great meal.

Once again...

a cow was just crossing the road...

so...

I stopped for it as it walked on without a care in the world

(I certainly do not mind...it is all part of the flavor of my community).

I had arrived at one of the many restaurants in Cripple Creek...

and The District Saloon is now my new taco place of choice.

I picked this table...

and in a few minutes...

the waiter arrived.

I had seen that they had smoked brisket tacos...

and as I had never seen this type of meat in tacos before...

I knew I just had to try them

(they were out of the steak fajita tacos...

but I am glad...

as the smoked brisket tacos were the perfect tacos).

Above my seat there was this chandelier made of deer antlers.

I am so glad I had chosen the Smoked Brisket Tacos.

These were fantastic!

They are now one of my favorite types of tacos.

These were very large (finally...man sized tacos)...

they were stuffed full with fresh ingredients...

delightfully spiced with traditional flavors and sauce...

and the smoked brisket just worked so well in these tacos.

I will be going back to The District Saloon in the future...

and I will be taking my guests there as well.

The flavors were so amazing...

and the freshness of the ingredients led to a satisfying crunch with each bite.

I am so happy to have found another great place for tacos (my new favorite place)...

right in town.

I love Mexican food...

and my favorite type of Mexican food...

is the taco.

These tacos are such a great example of how delicious a taco can be...

simply and absolutely...

soul satisfying.

For dessert...

I just had one scoop of vanilla ice cream with caramel drizzled on top.

It was very good as well...

superbly rich and creamy.

I am going back to try some more of their delicious tacos...

for they have many different types...

and the kitchen in the saloon is open everyday until 9 PM

(the saloon portion is open until midnight).

The District Saloon is now my favorite place for tacos...

and as it is less than 15 minutes from home...

I shall be visiting there often.

Another new restaurant opened up in town not too long ago.

There have been a lot of new restaurants opening in town lately.

There was a Japanese restaurant in town...

but it closed a few years back...

but...

they mentioned they will be back sometime in the future.

I hope so...

I love Japanese food as well.

The Chamonix hotel and casino is the largest and most modern casino in town.

Even though it is summer...

it still gets chilly at night...

just the way I like it.

This particular steak restaurant is one I have no plans of visiting...

not only because I already have a favorite steak restaurant in town...

but this one is made for high rollers.

Even were I a billionaire...

I wouldn't spend such money for a steak...

especially with such an excellent steak house 

already existing at the Golden Nugget Casino in town...

and with it having suburb steaks at a fraction of these prices.

After walking around a bit...

I then departed for home.

I always feel so happy after having found another excellent restaurant...

especially one so near home...

and with such superb and varied tacos.

I have found my new favorite taco place to fill all of my taco cravings in the future

(they have other types of food...

but I will just be going there for their tacos...

as they are simply the best).

-----------

Just the simplest of things in life make me so happy...

just so deeply satisfied.

Some people are the opposite...

where every little thing irritates them...

and they get in the habit of looking for things in life

that "trigger" them.

What obnoxious beings.

Statistically...

I've got...

maybe...

ten years of good life left.

I am going to fill that limited time with all of the 

happiest and most magical times I can...

and this includes highly memorable meals.

That is what we all should strive to do...

for without magical memories made...

we are merely existing.