Spirit Magazine - May 2014 - (Page 78)

From my house, the road to Happiness passes the meadow where the mountain lion ate the horse, past the pond where the coyotes gather, along the spine of the Continental Divide, and into the town of Nederland, Colorado, where my 2-year-old daughter goes ballistic. "Mommy!" she shouts from the back of the car. "We going to the carousel!" "Yes, we are, Hollis," I say. "Mommy, what animal are you going to ride on the carousel?" "Hmm, the gorilla?" "No! I'm riding the gorilla!" A pause. "Mommy, what animal are you riding?" "Let's see ... the mermaid?" "No! I'm riding the mermaid!" And so on. It goes like this until we come to the turnoff for the carousel, which sits between the police station and a train-car coffee shop. All kinds of Nederland residents mill about, including artists, musicians, ski bums, superathletes, and mountain town entrepreneurs. I pull my car up next to a 6-foot-high spring snowbank, and we enter the Carousel of Happiness. The building, 3,000 square feet, steel-framed, is shaped like a circus tent. A small gift shop occupies the front, and Hollis beelines for a rack of Muppets. I nudge her away from it and toward the front counter, where we hand over our two laminated, reusable tickets. Passing a stout wooden walrus holding a guest book, we come to the merry-go-round itself, a circle of 33 one-of-a78 SPIRIT MAY 2014 kind, hand-carved animals. Here, Hollis takes her sweet, excruciatingly long time deciding on which one she'll ride. Just tall enough to graze the animals' bellies, she passes the one horse on the entire carousel, a feather-adorned pony. He gallops next to a flying pig, also wearing a saddle. Beyond the pig stands a stately giraffe draped in a black-and-yellow snake; behind him, a snaggletooth dragon. Close by but in its own world leaps a stag with real antlers. On a normal day, throngs of other 2-year-olds race for a seat on the saddle-bound calico cat, the lynx with ear tips of real lynx fur, the donkey carrying baskets of waving monkeys, the kangaroo holding the world in her hands (Australia-side up), a bejeweled elephant with a kid-size wicker basket on its back, a leather love seat presided over by a sweetfaced grizzly, and a sprightly, also jewel-adorned llama wearing, of all things, ballet toe shoes. More animals soar above us: a not unfriendly fox peering down at the grizzly bear love seat, a mischievous-seeming raccoon holding a bunch of flowers, a skunk pawing Mardi Gras beads, and, way up at the top, the carving of a little girl,

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Spirit Magazine - May 2014

Spirit Magazine - May 2014
Contents
Gary’s Greeting
Gary’s Greeting en Español
Star of the Month
Freedom Story
From the Editor
Your Words
Your Pictures
Media Center
Eat Drink Sleep
Beef up broccoli (the vegan way)
Bunk over in Kennebunkport
Encourage creativity in the workplace
Wise Guide
Strengthen your sense of humor
Numbers
Lengthen locks
Learn a minty-fresh fact
Business
Uncover indie e-books
Share with strangers
The Art of the Veer
The Carousel of Happiness
Your Adventure In Providence
Promotional Series: Spirit of California
Promotional Series: Spirit of New Mexico
Calendar
Find fun on the fly
Fun!
Spotlight
Community Outreach
Products & Services
Flight Service
Terminal Maps
Information
Rapid Rewards and A+ Rewards Partners
Route Map
Sit down with Sarah McLachlan
The “If” List

Spirit Magazine - May 2014