IMG_E2210In thinking about the Favorite Place challenge, I thought immediately about this humble little place in the Rockies.  The roots that bind me to this little old miner’s cabin near Boulder, CO run very deep.   My father’s family has been in the Boulder area since the 1890’s.  My dad was born in Boulder, in 1933, when the hospital building was just a house.  My grandparents bought this tiny cabin somewhere in the 1950’s.  It’s only about 1200 square feet but it has so much character and historical charm.  It’s made out of the original log and chinking dating back to the 1920’s.  The cabin does have electricity, rigged by my grandfather, but is not winterized.  When we were little kids we still had to use the outhouse.  I remember having to run in the pitch black of night outside to use the outhouse.  To a small kid, the blackness of the night made the distance to the loo feel like it was a mile from the cabin.  In reality it’s about 20 yards.  The porch screen door has that familiar slam I’ve heard for the forty plus years I’ve been going to this wonderful place.

Growing up, we visited our grandparents at the cabin frequently.  The back bedroom was the kids room and the beds in there were jammed together so it was like one big mattress.  With the cool mountain nights, we had lots of blankets piled all around us making it so cozy, it felt like camp.  The primary feature of the cabin is a giant river rock hearth which roars with a huge fire and heats the place so warmly.  When we were little we used to play pick-up-sticks in front of the fireplace and roast marshmallows.  We still have those same pick-up-sticks and still play in front of the fire.

 

I learned to tie my shoes here on a water tank which.  As kids we would go to the creek and bring back big buckets of water from which my grandmother would then boil the water on the stove.  This was very often our drinking water.  My father’s relatives, would come up and we would all go on long hikes into the Indian Peaks Wilderness where we would fish and mushroom hunt.  Pam, Todd, my nephew, and I all spent a recent Halloween up there in the pitch black night watching scary movies.  My favorite memory, however, is when my best buddy in life, Todd, and I got married there.  Sixty-ish of our best friends joined us under the pine trees for a very simple ceremony.  It was the perfect spot!

The flyspeck of a village where my family cabin is, is part true ghost town, part eclectic community.  There is only one stop sign in the town and 2 dirt roads.  The mushroom hunting is pretty great, last summer we saw a moose every weekend we were there, and the darkness of the night and stars on display is mind-boggling.

This is the place that makes me the happiest.  There isn’t any internet or TV in the cabin, only a DVD player.  I love waking with the sun, going to bed when it’s dark, watching the hummingbirds at the feeder, going for hikes, hearing the roar of the creek, having the neighbor dog, Saber, come over to great us when we roll up to the property, coffee on the big back deck, and just being in the moment with nature all around.  No matter where my Life Bus rolls, this is where I always want to come back to.

Here’s to your happy place!!

Thanks to Word Press for another great challenge!