Dear Mom,
Today, well...actually today and this week hasn't been the best, but it is simply job stress and this all too intense lunar cycle. Call me a hippie, new age, whatever you want...but I've noticed that I am highly "weepy" on full moons. Anyway, focus! Today I wanted to tell you about my experience so far in my new and AWESOME home in Denver, Colorado!
In no particular order whatsoever: Yoga, People / Culture, Shitty non- New England born drivers, Adventures!
I've fallen madly in love, Momma. I am in and in deep with yoga. I honestly never thought I'd love an activity / sport as much as I love figure skating (thanks for getting me started by the way). Yoga, like skating puts an emphasis on power, grace, strength, endurance, beauty, and self-exploration. I also enjoy the added emotional and spiritual aspect of my time in yoga. It suits my age, my personal growth trajectory, and my body is looking pretty good lately. I've been going to the classes offered as a part of my gym membership. Some may not think this is the "purest" or the way yoga "should be" experienced, but may i politely say...uh you're an idiot, and a hypocritical one at that because yoga is about the self and getting to know it while it succeeds and struggles physically and emotionally. Nothing else. Location is not important = hippies, and maybe me this summer, doing yoga in, on, under anything and everything. Nonetheless, I am loving my classes and go about 3 times a week now. Denver is a very fit town and I kind of fell into yoga one night while being "lazy" at the gym...now i'm more toned, happier, and following where this new exciting and rewarding pursuit takes me.
Denver has some of the shittiest drivers I've encountered. No. The most lackadaisical. Free spirits behind the wheel need to seriously learn how to read a traffic flow. Only in Denver have I learned that 1. passing happens more often than not in the right lane 2. no one moves to the other lane at a stop light...so often I'll see a line of 10 cars in the right lane and ZERO in the left lane. FOR NO REASON. hahaha oh they make me giggle. Then it "snows" and they freak. It is kind of cute and sad all at once. Denver gets lots of snow. The secret...shh don't tell 'em I gave it away...is that it always melts within the same week. ALWAYS! The mountains aren't to be played with, but Denver...oh Denver.
"ho fuoco nelle mie vene" will probably be incorporated in my next (non cover up) tattoo. I heard and read it a lot while living in Florence, and it means "I have fire in my veins." Denver has turned my sense of adventure to a steady 8-9 and lots of peaks to 10. I regularly take a different way home to learn new streets and neighborhoods, I have danced and drank with complete and very friendly strangers, I've joined a social group that meets up to drink at local breweries, I've been to a live music show featuring local bands, I've meet some really fascinating people, some friendly people, some very people with a very high status in government / business, I've attended a large public concert and fell in love with strangers for the night and danced with them simply because...so many more too! I'm not sure why Denver has sparked this in me to such a degree...perhaps I'm just high from all the oxygen at this altitude. hahaha ;)
I also really love that the Denver culture means: I no longer get looks for bring my own tote bags to the grocery store. There are plenty of sober options for a night out on the town. Free doesn't mean town meeting with stale doughnuts and decaf coffee. I love that I see at least a dozen walkers, runners, cyclist a day, no matter the weather. There are beautiful parks everywhere, and they are used and loved and taken care of by all. Recycling is almost a cult here. Good food is easy to find, and the quality as well as flavor profile is always impressive.
Denver is definitely going to be my roost for a few more years. I don't feel "good at" this city yet, and I like that I'm not bored. Everyday still feels fresh, new, lively, and filled with potential adventures.
I miss you terribly lately. I'll love you always.
-Me
P.S. thoughts on weaving some gorgeous flowers in and out of my back tattoo of your name?! It is pretty but I'm feeling like a bit more couldn't hurt...well not literally ;)
