What does it mean to CowGirl Up?

I sit here today, Sunday, September 15, 2013... it is raining again... I would seem to be on an island where, in some ways, I have not been affected by the "hundred or as some are now calling it, the five hundred year floods" across the front range of Colorado and the Denver metro area. The flooding first began in Manitou Springs in southern Colorado earlier this summer. I nearly missed being swept away by flooding July 10th on hwy 24 while on my way to visit Cripple Creek and Victor Colorado where my grandma's family is from... as I made my way back home... I saw the devastation... to homes, businesses... people's lives. Some lost their ;lives. Flash floods are dangerous, unforgiving..... one can try to contain a wildfire with water,,,  little can be done to stop the force of water.

Monsoon season is usually in July and August. So  far in the month of September areas across the front range have endured more rain than we get in a year... too much... to fast... the ground is saturated and has nowhere to go... the water carves out it's own path... through homes, businesses... washes out roads... covers and isolates towns. Boulder, Loveland, Estes Park, Lions are only a few of the affected communities. Two women from Maine are stranded on the top of Long's Peak. They were at least prepared, but due to an ice storm and torrential rain were stuck. They were able to get out a text message of their location and situation. I am certain they had no idea of the disaster occurring in towns and communities they passed to make their way up one of Colorado's 14,000 foot peaks. After spending two days trapped... and no rescue (not that plans of a rescue where being made to enact) they where able to hike down to the trailhead and evacuated out from that point.

To me, those two women are the definition of "Cowgirl Up".  The urban dictionary defines cowgirl up as, "Be your own woman, make your own path, and take responsibility for who you are and what you do." The front range of Colorado from Manitou Springs to Fort Collins, Evergreen, east to Evans and Greeley, are being tested by mother nature. I learned along time ago that nothing ever stays the same... nothing. Our lives will be subjected to change from the time we are born until the time we die. Some changes will be celebrated; many will be mundane day to day changes; a few will be life altering.

I hope when my time to depart this Earth comes, I will look back and say to myself, "I cowgirl up-ed!"

For now, I am on my island... metaphorically speaking. Like the song echos in my mind from Simon and Gurfunkle, "I am a rock.... I am an island... and a rock feels no pain... and an island never cries."

For now I remain on my island. And unlike others who have Cowgirl Upped, I am doing what I need at this time to survive. I am taking control of my situation... making my path... taking responsibility for who I am... and what I do.... or don't do...