Thursday, October 25, 2007

The View...

and no, not the silly show with those women who make every effort to be more and more obnoxious than another host each day (ps. I used to really like the show, however... well this is a meme and so that's for another day)

no "the view" from my blogging "window" -- I've been tagged by Jen over at 'Never a Dull Moment' -- to post what is 'outside my blogging window' -- whoever started this meme clearly assumes everyone has a blogging window -- I think this is a broad assumption, though, I've always had a window since I've had this blog - this being Colorado, where we shrivel up and die without sunshine, this isn't that big of a surprise. In fact, windows are a very big deal here -- people who want to appear to be 'green' (a new term, here in Colorado as far back as the 70's (those are my earliest memories) actually referred to it as being a 'tree hugger' - and with some pride even if you were from Denver and drove a huge gas hog of a car all around the city buying gasoline for your hideously inefficient outdoor playtime toys - have always justified all that glass by referring to it as "passive solar" -- which usually means that your house gets cold at night and on cloudy days and you have to heat it with less efficiency - and it gets so freakin hot in the summer that you absolutely must use air conditioning or you will actually bake your pets and your plants.

I used to have a view from the 16th floor of a downtown denver window - it looked out on 17th Street and I could see Long's Peak. From home - where I seldom ever blog, I look out my living room window across the street at my neighbors house - not exactly a spectacular view -- but nothing bad either, just a typical suburban view -- well unless you count when the little brats from the local juvenile delinquency facility (read junior high) are walking down the street smoking, sometimes even pot, and making out with their butts hanging outta their pants and their potty mouths shouting stuff to another kid - ugh! Now of course I have this amazing job working for a non-profit organization that I LOVE, because every day is interesting and everything I do, even the mundane like filing, is helping someone somewhere! -- anyhow, along with less that spectacular pay, comes less than spectacular accomodations -- we pride ourselves that we spend less than 10% of our total budget on administration -- this means that if you give us $100 - $90 goes to patients or research!!! -- and administration includes things like salary (remember the less than spectacular pay), office space (donated), office supplies (often donated), equipment expenses (servicing the copier), telephone, electricity, internet, postage, etc. -- in fact anything that can't be charged to an event or a program. Well the view from our donated office space is so wonderful that there is one office without a window -- and the boss took that office and gave me the window office -- don't be impressed!...

picture coming soon -- having trouble with the cell phone picture thingy, ugh

Yes... that is a dumpster, isn't it great!?! Strangely, I have NEVER seen it being emptied by the trash company, but it does indeed get emptied. And yes, those are weeds -- better yet when it rains/snows, the parking lot doesn't drain, so I get a view of dumpster in standing water -- so nice when you are thinking about west nile virus.

Don't get me wrong, because the benefits of working here far outweigh the view -- and my window has blinds, so generally I just ignore the outside world and work -- I've usually had my back to any windows I've had anyhow, so as long as the sunshine is there, I won't shrivel up and I can enjoy my day in other ways.

Now, if you've been over to Jen's pictures from her Kitchen (of Long's Peak) -- be assured that I can see Long's Peak every day as I leave my house and as I return home -- I live on a hill and I look out over the front range everytime I look west (I just don't blog looking west) -- I can also usually see Mt. Evans, and often Pike's Peak -- and there is nothing that rivals the beauty of the Front Range spread out before you -- I've lived here all my life and it still takes my breath away, probably as frequently as once per week. In fact the very day that Jen took her picture of Long's Peak, the view of it took my breath away, the snow was glowing in the morning sun and the Flat Irons were jutting up in front of it above Boulder and my daughter and I came up over the hill and just gasped at the beauty!