The Most Beautiful Place is Burning

I had meant to post earlier this week, but my soul is not yet recovered from the news that the most beautiful place in my world is on fire. Yes, I know that sounds like lame after-the-fact adulation... Here's my case for it's truth.

I first laid eyes on Colorado Springs as an 18-year-old kid, doing the stereotypical "see the West!" family road trip... Maybe less stereotypical in that the "kids", at ages 18 and 20, were doing most of the driving, while Mom and Dad whined "are we there yet?" and threw fries at each other from the twin captain's chairs in the middle of the Astro minivan. Of all the stops we made that trip, Colorado Springs, and Garden ofthe Gods in particular, captured my imagination - tied only by the magical formations of Arches National Park.

Fast Forward about 8 years. Career found? Check. Man of my dreams? Check. wedding? Check. Honeymoon.... Where to go? There was some discussion of Disney, but money was an issue, and we decided that after all the stress we'd been under, between wedding planning, a death in the family, and overly long hoours at wor, we'd frankly rather go somewhere we could just relax. B.H.E. (though I suppose he was still. B.F.E. at that point) told me to leave it to him. And let it be a surprise.
So, "just married" sign still painted in lipstick on te back window, our hand-me-down Crown Victoria finally limped into beautiful Manitou Springs, where we spent a magical week alternating adventures, food, and lots of sleep. We said as we left that Colorado Springs was a great choice, and wouldn't it be magical if we could live there?

Wavy transition, 5.5 years go by. Work is still insane (love what I do, but 70+hour, 7 day weeks start getting to a person), and B.H.E., tired of my grumpiness, tired of Kansas, and knowing it would take some serious incentive to convince me to move from our 3-year-old dream house, polishes my resume and sends it across the country to likely cities, Colorado Springs chief among them. lo and behold, a call, an interview, and an offer materialized before I even had time to think... So off we went.

For 6 magical years we spent weekends hiking, photographing, and just soaking in the beauty of the red sandstones, the pink Pikes Peak granite, the tall mountain pines, and glittering gold of Aspens in the fall, the same vistas of purple mountains majesty Stowe was staring at from the apex of Pikes Peak as she wrote those famous words.
Though I was farther than I've ever been from family, we managed to create a new family of sorts with some locals, and countless transplants from other places, like us pulled by the beauty, the mild sunny climate, and the delightful reasonableness of living in Colorado Springs.

Alas, in the end, even the gravitational pull of that huge mass of granite looming over the city wasn't enough to hold B.H.E.'s wandering feet in one place. Again he knew it would take significant reason to tear me away from our house, with the final renovation that made it perfect barely a year old. So, he brushed up his own resume, sent it around, and when an offer quickly came, pointed out that Austin is far closer to family than the 1000+ miles we faced in Colorado. And so we packed, said tearful goodbyes, and started our new adventure as Texans a few short months ago. When we tell new friends where we've come from, those in the know always ask why would we ever have left? And every now and then, I'm tempted to agree.

Epilogue, 6 months later. We've already been back to Colorado once, with plans to return again at least once more before the year is out. News of the Waldo Canyon fire has been wrenching our very souls. Our friends there are our family. Our family is hurting. Evacuation has affected several, With early reports that some may have lost homes. (Specifics haven't yet been given out by authorities.) Photos and maps of the fire and damage show that many favorite trails, picnic spots, and quiet book-reading lookouts will be forever changed, never to be seen again as they stand in my memories.

I prefer to write of upbeat and imaginative things, that the sad and gloomy thing might see they are unwelcome in my head, and leave.
Gloom I do not like to spread.
But today, this week, the gravity simply pulls too hard on my brain.
My heart is breaking.
The most beautiful place in my world is on fire.