Falling in love, Part II
Signs began to show up in the days leading up to my departure. I try not to look for signs, but when you sit next to a wall decorated in baseball caps and the one right above your shoulder is from Boulder, CO, it's hard not to take notice. Or when the restaurant's special of the day is a Denver omelet. Or parking next to Colorado license plates right after making mention of such signs. Or, when I wasnt able to buy the plane tickets for a couple days after I made my decision, the price dropped 15 dollars.
Then I was talking to him about The Lion King. Another bonus, he is a big fan as well. He asked if I had ever seen it on Broadway and no, no I had not. Always wanted to. "Well!" he said, "It comes to Denver with you! Wanna go?"
Oh yes. Oh yes please very much. And wouldn't you know it we managed to find seats near one another. A date! We'd made a date! And then we began to plan our adventures to come. A flea market here, a candy store there. He kept asking, do you have any friends that would also like to come along? No, I didn't not want to invite my friends along, but I did anyway. Gosh, turns out none of them were available to join us.
Another sign, one that is bittersweet, is that the studio he worked for making video games was shut down and he lost his job the day before we were supposed to hang out. He went from being super busy with work to having almost nothing at all. More on that later.
But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. This part is long, and I will do my best to make it interesting, but for the sake of those who are interested but don't want to slog through my bad writing, I will try to separate out the important stuff. Oh, and there are a lot of photos.
Saturday, November 5th
We got the idea to hit the Mile High Flea Market after my cool finds at the Santa Cruz flea. We had a fantastic chat about my adventures antiquing and all the amazing sights and things. We arranged for him to pick me up at Wolf Nymph's place 1o am Saturday morning. He told me his fee for chauffeuring me around was two voles. He is a coyote, you see.
Oh but, you gotta be careful with what you say to artists. Cause you never know what might inspire them to say, sculpt a couple voles.
I remember so clearly how he looked when I opened the door for him. That familiar grin and his lively blue eyes. Short silvery hair that I wanted to touch. There were several things I wanted to do before I left Colorado: I wanted to hug him for a long long time, run my fingers through his hair, and bite his nose. It took a lot of will power not to hug him too long that first day. There was still so much to figure out before I could even try! I bounded away from him and down the stairs, my face flushed and my body overheated under my winter clothes. I spent the rest of the day alternating between too cold and too hot.
I handed him my "toll" as soon as he started the car. He laughed, as I'd hoped he would, and he looked over the little sculpey blobs, then set them on the dash. Toll paid, we were off to the Mile High Flea Market.
It wasn't a very exciting flea, far too organized for my taste, and rather boring. I was interested in the antiques, of course, and after some rummaging, I scrounged up a box with some strange metal devices and best of all, small glass bottles with human teeth! Gross! COOL. Bought.
All the while, he and I were chatting bout this or that. He bought some kettle popcorn and we shared it. We rummaged together. I yammered about atmospheric optics because the clouds were hazy and I was hoping for am ice halo. There was a very faint one, which I pointed out and he instantly looked at the sun.
Everyone always looks at the sun!!! Blagh!
The flea was amusing, I mean look at this.
I need all of these.
He took this photo for me so I can have some nice reference.
A fish! I love stuffed fish toys. I was nervous he was taking my picture. Oh I am...I am posing now?
We left the flea and headed UP!! the mountain to a place called Georgetown. It's an old mining town that is a bit touristy but not overly so, in my opinion. I finally got to see Bighorn Sheep for the first time!
Um, here are some genero shots of the town. Nothing amazing, but I wanna share them with ya'll anyway.
He took me to the candy store he'd been going on about weeks prior. Like usual, I was too excited to remember to take photos and when I did, it seemed like they wouldn't have been very good. I bought some fancy white chocolate and some caramel corn, he bought chocolate covered malt balls and caramel corn. Afterward we visited an old old grocery store, opened in 1883. He was so cute and bought more candy, and then picked out a divine tasting cheese.
Every shred he shared with me, I would allow myself to brush his fingertips. Just a little. More overheating. Could he see my blushing? Did he see how I fumbled and dropped bits of the cheese, picked it up again, then was a bit lost cause NOW what do I do with it? Well it melted on my hands pretty fast.
We were feeling peckish so he took me to a little restauraunt he'd remembered from a Dutch Oven cook off he attended over the summer. Dutch oven cook off? He went to a dutch oven cook off OH I just melted like the cheese. Anyway. we got some garlic cheese bread and minestrone soup. I couldn't eat too much, but...it was our first meal. I'm glad I got some photos while he was away washing his hands.
It began to snow, scurling snow, while we ate. I stared at it drifting against the mountainside, dancing in the wind. He began to talk to me about coyotes and beets, a very serious subject, and I laughed. And I fell for him some more.
There are a couple of long long tunnels that run through the mountain up from Georgetown, called the Eisenhower Tunnels, I think? I can't really remember, I will update when I am done with this. It's taking so long to type as it is, and you guys...you seem really interested to know what happens! Anyway, lookie wow, a tunnel.
I was actually pretty excited about the tunnel, and the drive was really pretty. Once out the otherside, I HAD TO PEE. After a brief stop at a grocery store, we both frolicked in the parking lot, bouncing around together, getting covered in snow. Snow is so fun to me. I wonder if I will ever get tired of it. I will never stop marveling in it.
At some point I asked him about a multi colored cord thing on his key chain and he hesitantly explained that it was from his church in California, where he lived for a few years. I said, "Dude, it's ok, I'm Christian too." And I was glad to be able to share that with him.
It was snowing harder as we came down the mountain. Started to see accidents. We narrowly avoided getting hit by a jeep that had spun out sideways and kept slipping backwards across the road. We snicked behind it, all the while he kept saying:
"Oh dear, oh dear....ohhh dear." And I was dying not because we had a close call, but how he was reacting. So cute.
He said that it would probably be sunshine down in Denver. I didn't believe him. But dammit, he was right. We came around a corner before we had even reached the base and the clouds cleared. He took us through a gorgeous canyon, I keep forgetting the name! He stopped at a spot where we could get out and explore a bit. I ran to the water. I have to touch water.
He came and sat on that rock next to me, and we both played in the frigid water, talked about white water rafting. I shivered, and enjoyed his company and the sound of the water. I wanted to tell him how I felt about him, but not yet. Didn't want to spoil things. I had to wait for the end of the day.
The rest of the drive, through Golden and back to Boulder, was beautiful. It was one of those amazing sunsets where the clouds danced with one another, the sun painted everything golden and ochre. At one point it was as through we were driving into an abyss.
Boulder was the epitome of too hot/too cold. He took me to many wonderful shops. An art shop, where I explained I have a tendency to destroy things and a little bit later, I touched something and it FLEW from the wall and skittered behind a display box. A cooking store, where I lusted after everything in there. A tea store, wher ehe drank immortal tea, I bought assam, and I gleefully shared with him my meager knowledge of tea. A bookstore, where he tried to trick me into the children's section. The jerk! I yammered at him about lasagna gardening, one straw revolution, and the four season harvest.
Downtown Boulder is full of...well. Boulders. And other decorative thises and thats. And so we would leap from rock to rock, balance our way over walls and benches, ducking around one another, chasing, press against the enormous rocks, and banter over who's side of the street was better. And that is how we played together. At some point he reached his arm behind me to pet, scratch my lower back and I was so excited, I leaned into him so hard...we nearly ended up in the street.
Smoooooooth.
For dinner, he took me to a Thai place to introduce me to Drunken Noodles because he found out I love spicy food. We both ordered medium spicy, but mine was bland, and his was too spicy. We mixed them, and it was just right. And it was romantic. And I couldn't tell him yet because we'd decided to go see Puss in Boots.
We stopped by his workplace to see if we could still get in so he could ast least show me around a little bit, but his key card didn't work. We peeked inside anyway, and then went to the movie.
As we headed to the theater, we talked about chickens. He told me about a blue bantam cochin he had as kid he named the Captain. And he would hold his rooster and the roo would be grumpy about it but put up with it. I couldn't stand it. I said, "I love that you love chickens!" and I hugged him and we walked a bit with arms around each other's waists. It was a bit awkward and I was shivering so hard from cold and nerves. I spent the whole movie desperately wanting to hold his hand or snuggle into his shoulder but that was far too forward of me, and what might he think and I still didn't know so much about him, I had to tell him.
And as he drove me back to Wolf Nymph's place, I felt so tense and strained. We began making plans for the next day. Oh no! What if I told him, and it ruined another day to spend time with him, get to know him. I felt I should get to know him even more. Once you say something like "hey I like you" it changes things between people. It was something that weighed heavily on my mind. It had been fun and games for months when I talked and joked about it with my friends, but telling him would make everything real. It would then effect two people's lives. It would have consequences.
And so I chickened out/changed my mind/made an informed decision. It could wait another day. We hugged goodbye, see you tomorrow!
I felt a slight emptiness when he was gone.
Tomorrow...
End Part II
Then I was talking to him about The Lion King. Another bonus, he is a big fan as well. He asked if I had ever seen it on Broadway and no, no I had not. Always wanted to. "Well!" he said, "It comes to Denver with you! Wanna go?"
Oh yes. Oh yes please very much. And wouldn't you know it we managed to find seats near one another. A date! We'd made a date! And then we began to plan our adventures to come. A flea market here, a candy store there. He kept asking, do you have any friends that would also like to come along? No, I didn't not want to invite my friends along, but I did anyway. Gosh, turns out none of them were available to join us.
Another sign, one that is bittersweet, is that the studio he worked for making video games was shut down and he lost his job the day before we were supposed to hang out. He went from being super busy with work to having almost nothing at all. More on that later.
But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. This part is long, and I will do my best to make it interesting, but for the sake of those who are interested but don't want to slog through my bad writing, I will try to separate out the important stuff. Oh, and there are a lot of photos.
Saturday, November 5th
We got the idea to hit the Mile High Flea Market after my cool finds at the Santa Cruz flea. We had a fantastic chat about my adventures antiquing and all the amazing sights and things. We arranged for him to pick me up at Wolf Nymph's place 1o am Saturday morning. He told me his fee for chauffeuring me around was two voles. He is a coyote, you see.
Oh but, you gotta be careful with what you say to artists. Cause you never know what might inspire them to say, sculpt a couple voles.
I remember so clearly how he looked when I opened the door for him. That familiar grin and his lively blue eyes. Short silvery hair that I wanted to touch. There were several things I wanted to do before I left Colorado: I wanted to hug him for a long long time, run my fingers through his hair, and bite his nose. It took a lot of will power not to hug him too long that first day. There was still so much to figure out before I could even try! I bounded away from him and down the stairs, my face flushed and my body overheated under my winter clothes. I spent the rest of the day alternating between too cold and too hot.
I handed him my "toll" as soon as he started the car. He laughed, as I'd hoped he would, and he looked over the little sculpey blobs, then set them on the dash. Toll paid, we were off to the Mile High Flea Market.
It wasn't a very exciting flea, far too organized for my taste, and rather boring. I was interested in the antiques, of course, and after some rummaging, I scrounged up a box with some strange metal devices and best of all, small glass bottles with human teeth! Gross! COOL. Bought.
All the while, he and I were chatting bout this or that. He bought some kettle popcorn and we shared it. We rummaged together. I yammered about atmospheric optics because the clouds were hazy and I was hoping for am ice halo. There was a very faint one, which I pointed out and he instantly looked at the sun.
Everyone always looks at the sun!!! Blagh!
The flea was amusing, I mean look at this.
I need all of these.
He took this photo for me so I can have some nice reference.
A fish! I love stuffed fish toys. I was nervous he was taking my picture. Oh I am...I am posing now?
We left the flea and headed UP!! the mountain to a place called Georgetown. It's an old mining town that is a bit touristy but not overly so, in my opinion. I finally got to see Bighorn Sheep for the first time!
Um, here are some genero shots of the town. Nothing amazing, but I wanna share them with ya'll anyway.
He took me to the candy store he'd been going on about weeks prior. Like usual, I was too excited to remember to take photos and when I did, it seemed like they wouldn't have been very good. I bought some fancy white chocolate and some caramel corn, he bought chocolate covered malt balls and caramel corn. Afterward we visited an old old grocery store, opened in 1883. He was so cute and bought more candy, and then picked out a divine tasting cheese.
Every shred he shared with me, I would allow myself to brush his fingertips. Just a little. More overheating. Could he see my blushing? Did he see how I fumbled and dropped bits of the cheese, picked it up again, then was a bit lost cause NOW what do I do with it? Well it melted on my hands pretty fast.
We were feeling peckish so he took me to a little restauraunt he'd remembered from a Dutch Oven cook off he attended over the summer. Dutch oven cook off? He went to a dutch oven cook off OH I just melted like the cheese. Anyway. we got some garlic cheese bread and minestrone soup. I couldn't eat too much, but...it was our first meal. I'm glad I got some photos while he was away washing his hands.
It began to snow, scurling snow, while we ate. I stared at it drifting against the mountainside, dancing in the wind. He began to talk to me about coyotes and beets, a very serious subject, and I laughed. And I fell for him some more.
There are a couple of long long tunnels that run through the mountain up from Georgetown, called the Eisenhower Tunnels, I think? I can't really remember, I will update when I am done with this. It's taking so long to type as it is, and you guys...you seem really interested to know what happens! Anyway, lookie wow, a tunnel.
I was actually pretty excited about the tunnel, and the drive was really pretty. Once out the otherside, I HAD TO PEE. After a brief stop at a grocery store, we both frolicked in the parking lot, bouncing around together, getting covered in snow. Snow is so fun to me. I wonder if I will ever get tired of it. I will never stop marveling in it.
At some point I asked him about a multi colored cord thing on his key chain and he hesitantly explained that it was from his church in California, where he lived for a few years. I said, "Dude, it's ok, I'm Christian too." And I was glad to be able to share that with him.
It was snowing harder as we came down the mountain. Started to see accidents. We narrowly avoided getting hit by a jeep that had spun out sideways and kept slipping backwards across the road. We snicked behind it, all the while he kept saying:
"Oh dear, oh dear....ohhh dear." And I was dying not because we had a close call, but how he was reacting. So cute.
He said that it would probably be sunshine down in Denver. I didn't believe him. But dammit, he was right. We came around a corner before we had even reached the base and the clouds cleared. He took us through a gorgeous canyon, I keep forgetting the name! He stopped at a spot where we could get out and explore a bit. I ran to the water. I have to touch water.
He came and sat on that rock next to me, and we both played in the frigid water, talked about white water rafting. I shivered, and enjoyed his company and the sound of the water. I wanted to tell him how I felt about him, but not yet. Didn't want to spoil things. I had to wait for the end of the day.
The rest of the drive, through Golden and back to Boulder, was beautiful. It was one of those amazing sunsets where the clouds danced with one another, the sun painted everything golden and ochre. At one point it was as through we were driving into an abyss.
Boulder was the epitome of too hot/too cold. He took me to many wonderful shops. An art shop, where I explained I have a tendency to destroy things and a little bit later, I touched something and it FLEW from the wall and skittered behind a display box. A cooking store, where I lusted after everything in there. A tea store, wher ehe drank immortal tea, I bought assam, and I gleefully shared with him my meager knowledge of tea. A bookstore, where he tried to trick me into the children's section. The jerk! I yammered at him about lasagna gardening, one straw revolution, and the four season harvest.
Downtown Boulder is full of...well. Boulders. And other decorative thises and thats. And so we would leap from rock to rock, balance our way over walls and benches, ducking around one another, chasing, press against the enormous rocks, and banter over who's side of the street was better. And that is how we played together. At some point he reached his arm behind me to pet, scratch my lower back and I was so excited, I leaned into him so hard...we nearly ended up in the street.
Smoooooooth.
For dinner, he took me to a Thai place to introduce me to Drunken Noodles because he found out I love spicy food. We both ordered medium spicy, but mine was bland, and his was too spicy. We mixed them, and it was just right. And it was romantic. And I couldn't tell him yet because we'd decided to go see Puss in Boots.
We stopped by his workplace to see if we could still get in so he could ast least show me around a little bit, but his key card didn't work. We peeked inside anyway, and then went to the movie.
As we headed to the theater, we talked about chickens. He told me about a blue bantam cochin he had as kid he named the Captain. And he would hold his rooster and the roo would be grumpy about it but put up with it. I couldn't stand it. I said, "I love that you love chickens!" and I hugged him and we walked a bit with arms around each other's waists. It was a bit awkward and I was shivering so hard from cold and nerves. I spent the whole movie desperately wanting to hold his hand or snuggle into his shoulder but that was far too forward of me, and what might he think and I still didn't know so much about him, I had to tell him.
And as he drove me back to Wolf Nymph's place, I felt so tense and strained. We began making plans for the next day. Oh no! What if I told him, and it ruined another day to spend time with him, get to know him. I felt I should get to know him even more. Once you say something like "hey I like you" it changes things between people. It was something that weighed heavily on my mind. It had been fun and games for months when I talked and joked about it with my friends, but telling him would make everything real. It would then effect two people's lives. It would have consequences.
And so I chickened out/changed my mind/made an informed decision. It could wait another day. We hugged goodbye, see you tomorrow!
I felt a slight emptiness when he was gone.
Tomorrow...
End Part II