Denver 2017 - Berthoud Falls #2 / The Nickel

This is what the falls look like on the other side of the evergreen, with an expanded crop below of the same frame, in which a portion of the falls can be seen through the branches of a small deciduous tree.  Like I said, worth a precarious climb up a snow hill, then trodding a hundred feet down a slippery path with city shoes on.
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I've never liked the beach, and don't care much about life on the coast; this is where it's at for me.  Always said, and still maintain, that I'd be perfectly happy up in a mountain cabin somewhere, in a hermitage if possible.  We all dream like that, don't we?  The romance of being out in the world alone, conquering the elements and fighting to survive, has a powerful allure.

One time when I was probably seven or eight years old, my dad had one of his friends over for a visit.  This fellow was a gregarious one, and chummy with children.  He'd break the ice with us by pulling a nickel out of his pocket and asking, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  Of course he expected lofty ambitions and civic-minded answers such as policeman, fireman, or -even better - lawyer, president or business tycoon.  Well, when that question came my way I answered with honest sincerity, "I want to be a hobo!".  After a moment stammering and really not knowing what to say, that nickel popped right back into the man's pocket and I never received his blessing for describing the life of my dreams...