Girl Cat Snoozing: Granny and Grandpa

We arrived late on Friday night a little delayed but Gudrun, David, Maya and Sage were there to meet us.

Colorado Springs is a relaxed college town, all leafy, broad streets, coffee shops and small shops in the centre. The campus, which we are on, stretches several blocks with parks and trees. The town is right at the edge of the Great Plains, up against the first of the uplands; Pike’s Peak at 14000 feet dominates the western horizon. We went west of the Peak on our first day to visit a fossil park with petrified tree trunks and had a slow stroll around some of the trails. In the distance were mountains so high I thought at first they were clouds. Naively I assumed that not far over those mountains was the Sierra Nevada, California and the Pacific, David said ‘no’! Looking at the map when we returned I could see that I had misjudged by about 1000 miles! This is a big country.

On Monday morning David invited me to his class where I sat at the back and was reminded of the great distance between 20 years olds and 60 year olds! They discussed the set passage … Andrea Barratt’s Ship Fever (most had never previously heard of her). Several thought it was old hat…. Written as long ago as 1995! Then they discussed a couple of their own efforts. They were great students though, the class was relaxed and David clearly had their respect … no doubt he was in charge … he’s a born teacher of creative writing.

So far it has been warm (70), dry and sunny … just the thing after a Shetland summer! On Tuesday morning I walked the mile or so to the centre of town to one of the two secondhand bookshops where I spent 2 and ½ idyllic hours and $70 on books for the winter when we get home.

This morning Mum and I walked back to the bookshop (via a coffee shop, hot chocolate and chocolate cheesecake) and found a book for Gudrun on the New Mexico artist Georgia O’Keefe that she admires … we can see why.

It’s a great place for the family, great apartment college town America, so close to the mountains and a wonderful climate. Maya continues to draw nonstop and I covet a couple of her pictures. At the moment she is writing (on a spare laptop) and illustrating a book on her favourite subject … cats. We bought a chess set so I am teaching then, although Sage seems to know the rules quite well. The only problem is that in his eagerness to take one of my pieces when I make a mistake he usually end up scattering all the pieces across the floor. You can see that he is enthusiastic, which is no bad thing. It’s great to be here with them all.