Once upon a time in Aspen

An interesting thing has happened: yesterday on my way home from work in the rain and mud and the big crazy city I live in now, I found myself profoundly missing Aspen. Aspen, Colorado, where I spent last year living and which, as anyone who knows me well already knows, I did not love. But the problems I had there were mostly financial, philosophical, automotive. It had its great moments, more than its fair share of sunshine and blue skies (maybe it bought out Moscow's share), and it was a tiny, secluded, mostly calm mountain-town paradise. I waited tables at night in a cozy, classy restaurant, met some interesting people, and used to lean on the counter in the kitchen and look out the window at a wall of snowy mountainside with tiny sparkling lights all over it. ...aaaahhhhh, aspen... As a shout-out to two good friends still there, here are some photos of a surprise they left for me outside my window while I was at that restaurant job one night.