The sun rises in the west?

I find Colorado beautiful for many reasons. Not just the majesty of the mountains, the crisp air, the beautiful rivers and lakes... but also for her juxtapositions. I can play in cold snow in my shirtsleeves while I tan. I can look down on a bird in flight. I can stand in the rain and feel the sun on my face. And I can watch the sunrise in two directions at once.

As the rising sun casts it's glorious shades across the eastern horizon, I also watch it's rose hues reflected on the western mountain range. It keeps you running from once side of the house to the other to take in every subtle variation until the pinks and peaches give way to high-altitude, clear-skied, unadulterated sunshine. Double blessing.

I wanted to share the loveliness of aspens from my walk a couple of days ago. If you want to fully appreciate aspen groves, you really need to look up, look down, look all around - then get up close and personal. When you are so often surrounded by the impenetrable green of coniferous trees, you really appreciate the aspens with their slim trunks, high branches, and grassy undergrowth. And there is a bit of charm in the way they only grow in groupings. You don't find a lone aspen. They like their own company best.

And with our unreal clear blue skies, even stripped of foliage they make a striking appearance.

And they wear their hearts on their sleeves. Or trunks. You can see every insult they have suffered, each abrasion and trial. Their trunks always tell a story.

Have you told your story lately?