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December 28, 2005 |
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Resolutions. Not that big a deal. What do resolutions accomplish other than to jam pack health clubs and running paths for the first two weeks of the year? Plus we’re bombarded in January with commercials for products that supposedly take off weight while ceasing the desire for nicotine. Come February the world will decide getting in shape is “too much work” and maybe it’s better to hold off on the diet ‘til spring, right after quitting smoking. Come next Sunday and the first, it seems we’d be better off making a list of not so guilty pleasures. Your “magic moments” and my trigger trippers are probably different but for starters, may I suggest: 1. Get outside and into winter. Be it a skinny ski afternoon on the Mesa, snowmobiling at Vega Reservoir, spending a morning “making freshies” after a powder dump in Vail’s back bowls or snow shoeing the stillness of a high country morning, make this the winter you are a part of what makes the Mile High State truly unique; snow like nowhere else. 2. Hike the Serpent’s Trail with someone special. The Monument at sunrise is ever-present proof of our living in a special part of the world. 3. Saturday morning. Enjoy the moment, scrambled eggs, toast and sausage, a meaningless fishing show on TV and you in your underwear and a sweatshirt. Life is sweet. 4. Chicago. Great food, (no other city has pizza that even comes close) the cradle of American architecture, Wrigley Field and the lakefront. Just once skip the trip to San Francisco or New York and take in America’s friendliest big city. 5. Stay in the car until the song ends. Especially if it’s Emmylou, Allison Krause, George Jones or Delbert McClinton. 6. Ride a bike over East Orchard Mesa when the peach trees are in bloom. Great road, great scenery and the Palisade Café’ pancakes make for the perfect mid-ride stop. 7. Drop in on a high school game. Sport in its purest form, playing for fun, is the true joy of high school athletics. 8. Leave the Interstate and savor a Bloody Mary from a small town, mid-western bar. If it doesn’t feature a dill pickle swizzle stick you’re getting ripped off. The seasonings are sensational, the taste sublime, but the big honking pickle makes the drink. 9. Forget cholesterol for a moment; chow down on a big ol’ burger and the frothy beverage of your choice some sunny summer afternoon. “I like mine with lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 and French fried potatoes” sang Jimmy Buffet, hitting the nail on the head in describing the perfection unique to a big ‘ol greasy American burger. 10. Be it cookies in the car, toys in the living room or tracking dirt in the house, let grandkids be messy. Neat and tidy, that’s a parental lecture but slobbiness is all grandpa. If you’re bound and determined to start 2006 with a resolution why not resolve to make next year a time to really enjoy the small stuff. Happy New Year. |
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