This morning I checked in at the Moraine Park Discovery Center to get my keys and cabin information. As much as I would like to get right out there and hike again today, I took the day to settle in to the cabin and finish (I hope) adjusting to the elevation. With no cell or internet at the cabin, I also took time to download photographs from yesterday and think about how I want to approach these next two weeks. Besides the obvious desire to hike and adventure, I would like to accomplish some painting, perhaps a bit of writing, and have a game plan for what I'd like to cover in this blog during this residency. Perhaps I'll continue to simply chronicle my days, but I've been considering other possibilities such as providing an useful insight into details of this park or pontificating about national parks, wilderness, and art. These would take more time, and two weeks feels brief enough already. Perhaps the extras will have to wait. Perhaps they could even become part of my ideas for writing about my experiences as AiR at Badlands National Park. As long as I'm debating all these ideas today, I think I'll also finish my plans for my Wednesday night program at the Beaver Meadows visitor center. The one other justification I'm giving myself so as not to feel too worked up about skipping the big hike today is that there has been intermittent thunder about, and reports of lasting storms coming. Perhaps I'll paint from the porch a bit later.
This cabin I have the privilege of calling home for the next two weeks is really something spectacular. I feel as though I have stepped back in time a century. The furniture is largely 1920s era, some pieces are even from when William Allen White and his family lived here. A writer, publisher, and Pulitzer Prize winner, White entertained some impressive guests here such as Jane Addams, William Jennings Bryan, and Clarence Darrow. Long's Peak is framed in the doorway by the pillars of the porch. Though today it's mostly hidden by the clouds.
Panorama of my cabin and the view.
The view from my porch.
Rocking chairs on the porch, which look to be the same chairs in the historic photos I found inside.
