A Writer. His Wife. A Remote Outpost in Colorado. Lots of Snow. Even More Darkness.

I’M NOT A SELF-DRAMATIZER.

For instance, I rarely imagine myself as the protagonist of classic novels. I have never walked a lonely road to Yarmouth, like David Copperfield. Nor have I had a cage of rats strapped to my face, like Winston Smith in 1984. And I have never once driven around France in a sports car with a mind toward seducing the locals, like Phillip Dean in A Sport and a Pastime.

OK, sometimes it is tempting.

In fact, my recent New Year’s Eve jaunt into the remote, snowy, lonely, spooky, dark mountains of Colorado did have obvious similarities to Stephen King’s The Shining.

For instance:

Our lodgings in Estes Park, Colorado, were solitary. And the weather sucked!

You had to be there. Or not.

We had some trouble locating our room. Hey, it was simple mistake.

You know that, in the novel The Shining, Stephen King identified the room as #217. No wonder we were confused!

The views were less than ideal. I know there are mountains out there. Somewhere.

Nevermore? Wait fifteen minutes.

Fortunately, I’d brought a little work along to keep me busy. My wife didn’t share my enthusiasm for my latest project, however.

She won the argument, naturally.

We had a visit from local urchins. That part was like a Dickens novel. Sort of.

I’d prefer a visit from Tweedledum and Tweedledee, actually.

Despite all that, we were able to chill. Let it go!

A-maze-ing.

May your new year shine on with visions of hope and joy.

Actually, it’s getting brighter every day.

“That’s your job in this hard world, to keep your love alive and see that you get on, no matter what.” — Stephen King, The Shining