Every day in May, I rolled myself out to the patio to enjoy what spring had to offer.
This was the beginning of brilliant, sun-filled days that included shape-shifting clouds drifting overhead. People around me made great use of Adirondack chairs and wooden picnic tables with vividly colored umbrellas.
Looking across the patio, my eyes settled on a crabapple tree, the sun needling its way through the green plumage. It was warm and bright, the air dense with the smell of flowers, furry seeds and everlasting sweetness.
In the sky, a group of mountain pelicans circled higher and higher before disappearing. Prairie dogs played games with each other, running around, then freezing to let out a high-pitched warning chirp, alerting their colony of the red-tailed hawk overhead. A raven, regal in its stance on a nearby fence, eyed me boldly, then lifted its wings and floated away. Then a flash of yellow streaked across the sky as a peregrine falcon plunged down from on high to plunk a goldfinch from the air, leaving behind only a puff of feathers.
It felt like I was on the back deck of my mountain home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. In fact, I was enjoying fresh air from the largest women’s prison in Colorado, Denver Women’s Correctional Facility.
When our warden, Ryan Long, offered myself and the women of Unit 2 a patio, I initially rolled my eyes at the prospect while others jumped with delight. Unit 2 is an incentive unit, which means that our housing resembles a college dorm and we are allowed more freedom. I thought the idea of a patio in prison was a useless and irrelevant gesture.
But I was wrong. This patio has changed my life.
The patio itself is small and unremarkable, fitting about 15 to 20 women at once. Nearby, a red gravel pathway following the boundary of a prison fence offers magical views of snow-topped mountains in the distance.
But ever since this patio was built last spring, it has allowed me to catch my breath from the mayhem of prison. My general sadness lifted every time I visited the patio. There, I could read and write without distraction, and I could reimagine my life without prison.
With every visit, I offered more kindness to myself. On the patio, the overflowing thoughts in my head ceased jostling for brain space and my mind became less crowded, quieter.
The patio has been even more meaningful because the women incarcerated at the prison built the patio with their sweaty bare hands.
They had to construct the patio with dinky tools, sweltering in the heat. They used small garden shovels to clear hard soil for the concrete. The work moved so slowly.
“We spent hours in the hot sun trying to get the space ready, and we hoped that we would actually complete the patio so that everyone could use it,” Maria Lopez said. “We all know how often the promises made by the Colorado Department of Corrections fall short. But we continued to work every day.”
Construction finished in May 2024, perfect timing that allowed all 216 women in Unit 2 to enjoy the patio throughout the summer, sunrise to sunset, every day.
People have used the patio to hold Bible studies and leisurely picnics with friends, and to engage in mindfulness or yoga, play cards or crochet.
Rhaiyanna Early uses the patio every day for Bible study and to support her mental health.
“Enjoying the outside is a great mental boost for all of us,” Early said. “It creates a normal environment where we can forget the daily constraints of prison life.”
This spring the patio vibrated with color. Foxglove, milkweed, tulips, marigolds, daisies and columbines surround the patio. These plants have created a playground for butterflies and hummingbirds, who flock to the nectar.
The patio has offered an oasis in the midst of chaos, where lockdowns, loud noises and disruptions from guards, even deaths or suicides, can dominate our days. But this small, unremarkable patio has changed our lives for the better. It has shifted the pressure of prison off our shoulders and allowed us to temporarily breathe in the brilliant air of freedom.
