Bandi's Back Country Drive / Phantom Canyon

 

Song:  Holding On To Yesterday

Group:  Ambrosia

Yesterday...

in the midafternoon...

I decided to go into Cripple Creek to have some Vietnamese food.

I was part way down my mountain...

...and I then got on the main road and continued on to the nearby town of Cripple Creek.

I was almost there in this photo.

Creations Everlasting...

my destination.

I had ordered Bahn Min to eat there...

...and I ordered chicken fried rice to go for the next day.

And...

as always...

I got iced Chai Tea.

The Vietnamese chef brought me my order and we talked a bit.

She is very sweet and funny.

She just loves what she does.

I was near the street turn off to the main street leading out of town.

I was on my way home just after leaving Cripple Creek.

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This early afternoon...

I ate the chicken fried rice...

and since it was another beautiful day...

I decided to take Bandi on a nice backroad country drive.

I saw a nearby small reservoir on Google Maps...

just 30 or so minutes away from home...

and so...

off Bandi and I went.

The temperature was a perfect low 50s F. (10 - 12 C).

There is this church with a copper steeple in Cripple Creek...

which signifies to me which street to turn on to get on the rear highway leading to my destination.

I took the above two shots from just above Cripple Creek at a pull out along the highway.

Pikes Peak on my way to the turn off to the reservoir.

I started going down to get to the turn off.

Pikes Peak once again.

Just before taking the turn off down to the reservoir...

I stopped to let Bandi use the bathroom and to take this and the below shot.

After traveling down the road...

I arrived at the reservoir.

Most of it was still frozen over.

There were a few others there.

They just seemed to enjoy the solitude.

Bandi looking at the reservoir.

After a short while...

we left and took another back road leading to a long and winding road

leading south through a canyon.

Bandi and I just drove South on this road for quite a while...

but it was so nice.

The alpine air was just so refreshing...

and I just played my music playlist as we continued on down the road.

I had never before been this way...

but I will be taking more back country road trips in the future...

just for the spirit of adventure of discovering new places.

The scenery and the clouds were just so beautiful.

You can see Bandi just peeking out from behind the left side post.

As the canyon stream flowed near the road...

I stopped so Bandi could get a nice drink.

A second tunnel.

We finally exited the dirt road on to a paved one as we neared the E-W junction of hwy 50...

and after riding down about 13 miles West...

I would take the road leading North back towards home.

Going Westwards to the North juncture.

I sang to the above included song almost the whole of the rest of the way home from this point.

I made myself laugh when I tried to hit some of the high notes.

Bandi must have thought I was trying to howl like a dog

whenever I would try the high notes  :)

I was on the North heading road towards home.

Whenever I see Pikes Peak...

I know home is nearby.

Mount Pisgah is the center peak...

Pikes Peak is the very right...

and Sentinel Peak is the sharp pointed mountain just to the left of Mt. Pisgah in the photo.

I live between Mt. Pisgah and Sentinel Peak.

I was just 20 or so minutes from home here.

They have a few lakeside homes which I thought to be unique.

Bandi and I finally reached home.

Both of us are quite tired.

But...

Bandi had such a great time seeing the countryside as she stood and leaned out her window.

And...

as always...

I just love driving in the country with all of the windows down...

the music up...

and feeling and inhaling deeply...

the refreshing alpine air.

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I thought the chicken fried rice would be enough for the day...

but...

I am hungry again.

As I had not lain out any main meal meat to defrost in the fridge...

I think I will just have to go back to Cripple Creek...

 to Maggie's...

for a Swiss and Mushroom Burger and some Jalapeño poppers :)

Yes...

I think it will be a perfect way...

 to end a perfect day.

A Day Of Music / The Inspirational Loft

 

Song:  Eternal Flame

Group:  The Bangles

Today...

I just woke up feeling like doing nothing but working more on my cover song

(my house projects can wait).

As I tend to follow my heart on things...

what I felt like doing most on this day was nailing the intro for the song.

I have been...

as with everything...

taking it extremely slowly.

There are subtle nuances I wish to capture on the 12 string...

such as accenting certain strings on certain passages.

While I normally reserve the night for musical practice...

and writing...

I just go with the flow when it comes to inspiration.

Sitting in the loft and looking out upon the forested mountains

often makes me inspired to just practice music or to write.

The inclined foot rest is what I use when practicing with the guitars.

I hold them like a classical guitar as I find it eases the tension on my left hand.

I had ordered 5 guitar straps so I may more easily support the guitars as well.

Me in the middle of practice

(wide angle setting on the camera).

This more accurately depicts my view through the windows...

minus the naturally wide view of the eyes.

What I often imagine is that the opposing ridge before my house is a natural amphitheater...

and upon it sits a hundred thousand listeners in a state of rapture as I play

(speakers on the second deck)...

and all wildly cheering me on.

(And, yes...I know...

the EGO on me!  :)

I will, though...

actually play the Bass Flute on the second deck to the birds and deer of the forest...

in the future.

Animals love good music...

but I first must get good!  :)

I find playing music while feeling connected with natural beauty to be so inspirational.

I am so excited to make progress on this particular song...

as it perfectly describes the feeling of living up here.

Hint:  as you can see on the computer monitor...

it is a John Denver song (not well known).

For cover songs...

I just play the song on YouTube over and over as I try to dissect the musical nuances

and apply them to my playing of the song for each instrument.

However...

I will be more free flowing on some of the other instruments...

especially with the Bass Flute.

I will only partially mirror the vocals with it...

but I will be adding many arpeggios and other fluctuations as I improvise.

That part is what makes playing music so much fun.

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Having a creative passion is the last of the sacred four of living life well

(Delicious and Nutritious Diet / Exercise / Deep Restorative Sleep / Creative Passions).

Just as the above song describes

 (as applied to having a creative passion)

it is to have an Eternal Flame which burns brightly

and draws you towards it, as a moth to a flame.

It is what gives life so much meaning.

Music and Writing are my creative passions in life.

And it is through them that I derive much of my deep happiness...

and what allow me to always be happy

(which then sets the stage for being in love with life...

and of deeply appreciating all of the great simple pleasures within it).

In them...

I not only have them for life...

but they are the armor of the emotions as well.

They are something which cannot ever be taken away by anyone...

and not only do they provide a buffer against grief...

but sadness only provides greater amounts of creative material

for even deeper expressions through them

(a win-win scenario...and so...you have no fear of the negatives of life).

In life...

I have known great love...

and great loss...

and through it all...

music and writing have been my sacred refuge...

my pressure relief valve...

and my Eternal Flame which continually draws me forth...

to live a deeply meaningful life...

filled with hope and great and serene happiness.

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I cannot express this enough...

it is the previous three of the sacred four of living life well...

which set the stage for the last...

Creative Passions.

When these four merge...

that is when the eternal flame lights.