What is Basalt?

Basalt is a common mafic extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually gray to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or gray.

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Basalt is a quaint mountain community located at the confluence of two gold medal trout streams, the Fryingpan and the Roaring Fork Rivers. We are a vibrant and diverse community offering a wealth of recreational opportunities both in Basalt and in the surrounding communities of Aspen, Snowmass Village, and Glenwood Springs.

Once again we spent Sunday in Basalt, first attending mass at St. Vincent where Fr. Terry Ryan was presiding. We arrived early, as usual, and took our little walk along the river. This time we spotted an intriguing store. Guess we’ll have to come back on Tuesday afternoon to see about getting one of those antique halos. I hope to find one that was used by someone who acted justly, loved tenderly, and walked humbly. What a treasure!

We spotted this little squirrel sitting on a squirrel-proofed bird feeder, enjoying the banquet at his feet – and hands!

After mass we ended up in our favorite spot, the back garden of the TownCenter Booksellers. We read the New York Times, and remembered to set aside the sports section for Fr. Terry. This little garden is shaded and quiet – a perfect little spot for reading and having a cup of coffee on a Sunday morning.

Headed back to St. Vincent to pick up Fr. Terry but he wasn’t quite finished. There was to be a baptism during mass but the family arrived late (ah, yes, I remember how difficult it was to get everyone out the door when the girls were babies) so………the baptism was celebrated after mass. Baptism and Fr. Terry go hand-in-hand for us and we learned so much from him when we helped him with the baptism program at our church in Boulder. Those were definitely the good old days!

On our way out of Basalt we noticed a pair of fancy gold slippers at the base of a tree. This is exactly how we found them. We looked up but saw no one. Hmmmm…………