My mom came in for Thanksgiving and discovered that flying in and out of Rocky Mountain Colorado can be an adventure. After mechanical difficulties and lost pilots, the airline brought her in to us a day late. We had a good time touring Lake City and the next southern metropolis of Creede. We saw lots of deer and ate lots of food on Thanksgiving Day. (Sara says she won't cook for the last two weeks we're here--my orders are to get rid of the leftovers before we hit the road on the 12th of December.)
We hunted for several hours for elk, but they had not yet descended from the high country to be spotted from the road. But on one elk-seeking trip Mom and I discovered one of the few organized attractions in the Lake City-Creede area: the 16th Annual Chocolate Festival.
So on Black Friday, when the rest of the over-developed world is flooding into shopping malls and fighting off other price-gouged parents in the checkout lines, we were strolling down the three-block main street of Creede, tasting nuggets of chocolate delicacies meant to impress the most cultivated Western palate: brandy-soaked chocolate-covered cherries, white and dark chocolate fudges, pure Bavarian hot chocolate over homemade marshmallow, orange chocolate truffles, and nineteen other sweet morsels. Everyone in Creede (and some surrounding areas) came out for the event, flocking into the streets and making the town bustle in a season when most towns in the region seem like ghost towns. Who knew?
When we weren't off hunting elk or devouring chocolate, we played a lot of cards: casino, solitaire, and a little bit of bridge (Sara and I had never played before). Thanks to the inventor of playing cards for offering humanity a challenging and social way to pass the time!
This morning I dropped Mom off at the airport and waited for the requisite delay to discover if the plane would be able to land and pick up outbound passengers. Since she hasn't called again, we can only assume that Mom is somewhere between Denver and the Lehigh Valley, on a re-arranged flight schedule. Meanwhile, folks in the Lake City Community Presbyterian Church were decorating the sanctuary for Advent and Christmas. Our worship space is now especially festive, ready for the most extravagant time of the year. And Sara and I sit again in front of the wood stove, waiting for the "ten to twenty inches of snow" that Mr. Weatherman says is supposed to drop in our area of Southwest Colorado. We've got extra wood for the night, and nowhere to drive until Tuesday. Bring on the snow!
The pictures that follow are: one of the ubiquitous deer of Lake City; sign on the south end of Creede; a mural in downtown Creede, depicting the landscape of the Western Slope; and Sara enjoying a "fondue fountain" of dark chocolate. Enjoy!
~ emrys
