The Church

It wasn't that I had planned to go up and see the most boring sights that Colorado had to offer. It wasn't like I had a choice. Susan, Michelle, Tino, and I all needed to complete the same report for our final Colorado Minerals Study class at Metro. I wasn't doing bad in the class but I needed to get at least a B on the final project to get the credit. General studies were just that generally passed by not trying to fail. Susan had been the one to come up with the idea that we could do some kind of report/road trip to some place like Leadville or something. We had been taught enough about how the mineral riches of the region had shaped the state by the professor that it seemed like a good subject use. Over beer and french fries at the Boiler room in the Tiv we decided to do the trip. We could take some pictures grab some brochures and then race back and type up the whole thing in shifts. That way we all did are own work but still would not have to the whole thing on our own. Susan was always good at sounding convincing. It was the brunette hair and stylish glasses that made her look like she knew what she was talking about.

There was a three day weekend before the project was due. Some kind of teacher in service or national holiday I didn't care. Susan and Michelle would meet us at the park and ride off I-70 near the Morrison exit. I got there last. Tino and Michelle were packing there stuff in Susan's Jetta. Michelle and Tino talked in that chit chatty way tag alongs always did. Michelle was a pretty blond but there were issues there you could tell. Tino, I don't know how I got myself involved with Tino. He was just there and seemed to tag alone from the first day of class till now. Susan was sitting against the hood of her car. She was waiting for me. I liked being around Susan and she seemed to like being around me. But this was the most involved that we had gotten. She had her life and I had mine. We both didn't ask the other question about it. After class and sometimes before we would walk with each other around campus and talk. I was hoping in the back of my mind that the two of us could use this trip to start some kind of relationship. But I knew that I was getting ahead of myself.

"You run into traffic?" Susan asked me when I got out of my car. She had stood up and was standing close to my car.

"No, the idiot who was supposed to relieve me at work was late." I had to maneuver around Susan as I got my duffel bag out of the back seat. When I turned toward her car she was eye to eye with me. She and I stood there for a second. Longest second of any I could remember. I felt the a weight in the pit of my stomach. It was there and then it was gone and Susan stood aside. I walked with her back to her car.

"We need to get going," said Michelle. Tino just nodded. I through my bag in with the others and we all jumped into the car. We drove up I-70 on Friday night. We talked none stop on the way up. Susan showed off her new stereo but the radio reception was crappy. Tino brought out a MP3 player with a FM transmitter. Michelle commented after only five minutes that Tino's play list was not making the trip any better. Tino then wiped out a cell phone and began a debate with Michelle about which songs they should be listening too. They were in the back seat. As they became more obsessed with their own song list debate Susan and I began to talk about our lives. We went through the basics and had begun to move onto the more personal when we got to Silverthorne. Tino and Michelle were near blows in the back seat plus it was late. We stayed at a hotel in Silverthorne and would get any early start in the morning.

We left at six the next morning. We took highway 91 up towards Leadville. Before we left Susan told me that she called ahead to the Climax mine. She got us a short tour and interview with a foreman. We stopped off and did the tour. The interview was just a monosyllabic question and answer. We didn't really know what to ask and the foreman didn't really want to be there either. We went onto Leadville. Taking the historic tour of the town we copied down some good information plaques and we were heading out of town by two.

I am not sure why I ended up driving but I was when we left Leadville. We had decided that we had nothing to even start the project so maybe if we drove on we could find something worth while. I got on highway 24 and headed south. Susan and the rest were tried and asleep in a few miles. Highway 24 runs along the floor of the valley and in some places is almost wide and flat. I hadn't driven more than an hour when I saw the sign.

"Haven historic sight," read the sign. I remembered something about the town of Haven. The professor had said something about the incredible amount of gold that had been mined there. But like all mining towns it was there one decade and gone the next. Maybe the town of Haven would be more interesting than Leadville. I tried to shake Susan awake but she just mumbled and rolled over in the passenger seat. We wouldn't lose anything be stopping. Buena Vista was the next town with a hotel and that was another hour or two. I turned off the highway and onto a dirt road. The road went up into the mountains and soon I couldn't see the highway anymore. The sun was beginning to set. I was not sure that the employees of the Historic town of Haven would stay past sun down. They may have left already. When I finally got to the church I was ready to turn around. (to be continued...)

I believe in the fear of the unknown

I have come to believe that every morning when I am sitting on the edge of my bed trying to wake up. My subconscious is asking me whether I am ready to face the unknown again. I don't know what my answer to that question is each day but I get out of bed and try to face up to the unknown. The unknown is not the things that I don't know. No man can learn everything and by that process conquer the unknown. No, the unknown is that I don't know what comes next. I cannot tell you if I will make it to work on time, or if today will be the day I will draw my gun and kill a person.

I believe in the fear of the unknown. I believe it is the shocking reality of adult life the unknown. When we are kids the unknown is so great that it is not something that we can rap our brains around. I only have to look at my children to see that truth. My son lives in a wonderfully blissful life of superheroes and robots. Where the worst thing that happens to him is that I turn of the television in the middle of his cartoons. But in my son I see my own life reflected, and I weep for the cold reality of the unknown that he will discover.

Adults all fear the unknown. I most often see the adults who cannot deal with the unknown so they turn to drugs, violence, and despair. I believe that we all deal with the unknown in our own ways. I believe that my God helps me get up to face the unknown every time it slaps me in the face. (to be continued)