The Warren

For last six months or so I have been traveling to my company's facility outside of Boulder, Colorado.  From where I live south of Denver this trip can take up to 2 hours per day.  It is a long drive to and from work and definitely not the favorite part of my day.

The facility I work at is very large.  It was built in the 1960's and at the time housed the production of mainframe computers and printers.  Over the years all manufacturing at this facility has ceased.  Today much of the facility is used for data centers and office space.

Because of it's original purpose, this facility sprawls over many hundreds of acres.  There are at least 20 different buildings on the site all connected by a network of breezeways and connecting walkways.  There is a large amount of open land on the site and the office I typical sit in overlooks one of these areas.  On the edge of this area is a very large growth of shrubs.  I can't really estimate how big it is, but in my mind it must occupy at least 1500 square feet of ground.

In the afternoon when I am done with lunch I will stand there at the office window and stare out at this massive growth of shrubs.  My mind begins to wander and I imagine what life underneath those protecting branches must be like.  There are dozens of rabbits who make these shrubs their home.  I am sure it must be a warm and comfortable warren for the rabbits that call it home.  They dart out from the protecting branches to find a meal of cool green grass a few feet away.  Warily they scan the sky to see if any hawks or eagles are on the hunt.  When a threat appears the rabbits make a mad dash back to the protection of their guardian - the giant shrub.

I like to imagine what life for the rabbit and other animals must be like under this giant mass of shrubbery.  I tend to think of it in romantic like terms - like in the book Watership Down.  I imagine that the rabbits live in comfort and in warmth.  It kind of makes me think of a hobbit like setting from Lord of the Rings.  I can imagine the rabbits conversing and carrying on commerce and living in their special little world.  Kind of helps take the stress out of the day to be able to imagine something like this in between the stress and strain of the meeting and issue resolution.

Our life rebuilding continues...  Just trying to get through each day and keep sane.  Zack is doing well and started a new after school activity - Destination Imagination.  This is an activity where the kids work together as a team to solve a problem.  They will spend the next five months or so preparing for the district competition that will take place in February or March.  We are also going to get back involved in Boy Scouts.  Unfortunately the Boy Scout Troop in which we joined only had one scout at Zack's level.  Therefore it hasn't been real conducive for his participation in activities - he would have to do them alone.  So - we are going to join another troop in Highlands Ranch.

We hope everyone's week is off to a great start.

Thanks and peace to all! ~J.