my friend kate took this photo in steamboat on the 4th of july. isn't it simply stunning? it reminds me of so many of the reasons i loved the life there. adorable downtown strip, river flowing through town, sloping mountains, wide open sky, and the heavenly glow of the sun setting.

there's an interesting article in today's steamboat paper. there seems to be an exodus of folks in their mid-to-late twenties rolling out of steamboat this summer. many of us found it to be time to move on and it's interesting, but not surprising, that that is true beyond my crew of friends there. i knew joel, the author, but don't know many of his friends. as a good friend said last week, "now that some of you have left, and we can see how well you're doing outside of steamboat, it makes it seem a little bit easier for us to leave too." there comes a time when you either commit to life in the boat, or you leave before your roots grow too strong.