One of my Favorite Places

Have you ever had one of those places you go visit every year and you never get tired of seeing it
We have been 4 wheeling over Schofield Pass and into Lead King Basin for years and never does it look the same. We usually do this day trip in late August or September. It is at it's best during the fall colors as there are so many aspens up around there.
The day starts with a 20 min drive from our house, and we are always amazed that we live in such a beautiful place that we can pack a lunch and drive a few miles and have the most gorgeous scenery almost at our doorstep. We park at Beaver Lake which is right past Marble Co.The road past Beaver Lake changes dramatically within a few miles and this would be no Sunday afternoon drive with the family in the Jeep Cherokee. I feel safe on a 4 wheeler, but you do see some major 4 wheel drive vehicles on this road. And Occasionally a tourist that has gotten bad information and thought they could get over to Crested Butte in their SUV. These tourists are usually trying to find a spot to turn around and there aren't many of those once you get past Lizard lake.The worst part of this section has a steep cliff on your right side heading up, and if you look down towards the river crashing through you will see an unfortunate ending to a Sunday drive.The town of Crystal and the Crystal Mill which is one of the most photographed places in Co is about 5 miles past Lizard Lake and you can't get enough pictures while your there. The Mill is a pretty awesome place to take pictures. There is so much energy there with the river crashing around the old Mill. While we were there this year there was a crew renovating the mill so pictures were a little different on this years trip.The town of Crystal is also interesting and so full of history. This is a picture of the Crystal Club Saloon which was a gentlemans club in the towns heyday.At the top of Schofield Pass the Crystal River (which is the same river that runs through my backyard by the way) crashes down into what is called the Devils Punchbowl and the road up there is the most dangerous section, I've heard there have been quite a few jeeps that have gone over into the punchbowl and a few deaths. The road is pretty darn scary on a 4 wheeler so I can't imagine being in anything bigger.Lead King Loop is just a short drive up the road from the town of Crystal. You take a sharp left at the fork or go straight to Schofield Pass. Lead King Basin is just incredible views every direction you look.

Before you get to the basin there are some campsites next to the North Fork of the Crystal River. A great place to stop and have lunch next to one of the many waterfalls crashing through that section of the river.Then you continue over the loop and the views just get better the farther you go. You end up on the main road right before Beaver Lake.

Another great day spent in this beautiful country, and this year we were able to share it with my brother and his wife.

My Neighborhood

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees beauty..

A friend recently reminded me to never take where I live for granted. I live at the base of a 12,953 ft. mountain with a river running through my backyard. I have lived in this neighborhood for 20 years and it has barely changed in all that time. No 7-11 across the road, and not a Mcdonalds in sight.

NO STERILE COOKIE CUTTER NEIGHBORHOOD FOR ME!!



I love the uniqueness of all my neighbors, we can coexist in this small spot on earth with no written rules, covenants or homeowners associations, which come with fees. A couple unwritten rules, one being.. Don't let your dog bark at night, and usually a few profanities yelled very loud at 2 am will nip this problem in the bud.

If the road needs work, someone will do it.. eventually.. The pot holes are our speed bumps. We have a bridge committee as there are 2 bridges to cross, and all the neighbors pitch in when something needs to be done. It has always worked well since we have lived here. There are pretty much the same neighbors here as when we moved in.

I know I can get caught up in the everyday stuff and forget to savor all the small things that make my neighborhood work so well. so I took a walk along the 3 dirt roads that run through here and took some pictures of things you won't see in a neighborhood that has rules and bylaws. The small unnoticeable things that at close up just make you realize there aren't many neighborhoods left that allow us to LIVE on our property... actually use the land and not just make sure it looks exactly like your neighbor on either side

I don't see any of it as junk.. only a unique quality that shows how my neighbors choose to spend their lives. It's privacy you feel living in a place where no one is concerned about how many cars you have parked in your yard and if they run, Or what color you paint the trim on your house..

All of these small things together add up to a peaceful blending of families. Everyone just goes about their own business of living life. And this is how we choose to live.

And in my neighborhood it works.

7 years today

We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.

I feel lucky for having had a "best friend" for 22 years. For experiencing the bond that 2 women can have together for that many years. I miss knowing she would be at the other end of a phone call at any time, if I needed a shoulder to cry on or just someone to hang with for the afternoon.
I miss those lazy days on the deck laughing.
I miss the days spent skiing.
I miss the hikes with the kids when they were young.
I miss the road trips to CA.
I miss going thru all her magazines to find recipes for Thanksgiving dinner.
Oh how I miss her at Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and Easter. We seemed to always find a holiday to get together and drink some wine and cook some good food.
I miss the days we would just pour our hearts out to each other about things that seem so trivial now that she is gone.
I miss the hysterics of watching our 3 beautiful daughters grow up together.
I miss her smile and her hugs.
I miss the way she could make me feel like I always gave her the right advice, didn't matter if she took it or not, I could always make her smile and feel better about herself.
And these things shared for 22 years made it so hard to say goodbye to her.It's been 7 years today since she died and I have thought about her every single day since then.
At first it was sad thoughts, crying at the mention of her. But slowly with the help of some healing music, I learned to focus on the 22 years we had as best friends and not the 22 + years we won't have.

I had to quit thinking we would never sit on the deck and watch our grandkids playing together, we would not grow old together sharing a bottle of wine and another laugh. We won't have anymore Thanksgivings .. But I will always cherish the memories of every day spent with her. And when I need to visit her I listen to "Songbird" by Eva Cassidy and all the emotions I have turned into good thoughts are right there for me to feel. Simple put it's how I visit her.

I have had a small jar of her ashes on the mantle for years, and knowing she was there made me feel good. But a couple weeks ago I was getting ready for a hike up Thomas Lakes. Spur of the moment decision before leaving the house... I grabbed the jar and threw her into my backpack. Janice is going to soar in the meadow among the wildflowers.

A friend I was hiking with had her cats ashes also. She had grown up with Benny for 18 years. And we had no idea the other was bringing ashes. But thought it was pretty cool that Janice and Benny could hang together.. forever..

So Janice here's to you, To the good times and bad, happy and sad. To the laughter and tears.
I will think of you every time the wind blows and know you are floating on a gentle breeze.
A rainbow will always remind me of the colors streaked thru the sky during your memorial and after your ashes were swirled up high.
I will come to the meadow and visit you every summer and never forget the peace I have found having had you in my life.
I miss you my dear friend
I will give your grandkids a kiss for you
Love you Debbie

Rainbow

A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a nearly continuous spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the sun shines onto droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. It takes the form of a multicolored arc, with red on the outside and violet on the inside. A double rainbow includes a second fainter arc with colors in the opposite order.

Double rainbows are said to be rare, but since rainbows are an optical illusion, it may be that we're not in the right position to see the secondary rainbow most of the time. This double rainbow was over Mt. Sopris on 4th of July this summer

The rainbow is a symbol of hope and good fortune, a blessed bridge between heaven and earth, but a double rainbow... blessings multiplied...

Witnessing a rainbow always brings feelings of happiness and hope to me, a feeling of dreams realized. I can't help but sense the magic in their beauty and I feel blessed while experiencing one.

I see it as a small miracle of physics that raises my spirits every time.
And I'm sure if you follow a double rainbow, there will be two bowls of lucky charms at the end...


may you always have work for you hands to do.
may your pockets hold always a coin or two.
may the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
may a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
may the hand of a friend always be near you.
and may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you..

I wonder as I wander

I like to hike...no I love to hike, just being out there moving and seeing things that change daily intrigue me. A simple daily hike for exercise can entertain me in so many ways. The many different ways the gnarly tree trunks twist and turn, and the flowers that bloom different colors every year, why I wonder? maybe from the rain or drought... I just think about these things as I trek uphill leaving the stresses of the day behind. There is just something about being on a mountain that I love.



I was hiking up to Thomas Lakes this
past week and had to wonder about a few things we saw..

On the first part of the trail up to the lakes, on what used to be a 4 wheel drive road years ago, buried in the trail is this old car. You can see the old metal springs and parts of the engine sticking out of the trail.. Just buried there like a mudslide came down the road during a violent rainstorm, while some unsuspecting adventurers where caught unaware of the storm.
I wonder if these adventurous people had to outrun the terrifying mudslide and make it to higher ground never to retrieve their vehicle, or was it simply abandoned due to car trouble and left to become one with the trail....
Hmm I wonder...

On the same hike we noticed these
aspen trees...
A huge forest of Aspens, and right down the middle of where we were standing was a swath of gnarled trunks. From one side of the trail down through the other side. We wondered.. was it a snow slide years ago when they were very small trees... but it didn't seem to be steep enough terrain to have snow cascading fast enough to do this much damage to the aspen forest.
You just never know what happened to cause this... Makes you wonder... if it was just there to entertain me on my wandering...

The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes... But in having new eyes to discover what is already there.

Eileen

How far you go in life depends on you being
tender with the young, compassionate with
the aged, sympathetic with the striving and
tolerant of the weak. Because someday in
life you will have been all of these.






















I know everyone that has ever been apart of
Eileens life knows of her huge gigantic hugs,
it's the one thing I've always loved about her.
When I first met Phil and he introduced me to
his mom, she gave me one of her hugs..
just engulfed me in her arms and made me
feel so important. I remember her attacking
Lucas and Jamie when they were young with
her hugs and kisses.. I love the way she can
wrap her arms around me like the hug matters
so much. She still does that every day I go to
visit her, Like she hasn't seen me in years.

She has been doing so well the last couple
years, very delusional but still some reality
about life and things around her. Lately thou
she seems to be slipping into a different phase...
she is still able to do the daily things for herself
but her delusions are getting very unusual and
she is forgetting what some things are.
Like the other day we were taking a walk and
she noticed a sprinkler head in the grass and
was telling me it was something else..
Little things like this along with the delusions
getting very out there lead me to believe she
is taking a step farther along in this disease.

I want to make sure everyone in her family has
an opportunity to see her if they can before
she looses the ability to give us her wonderful
hugs and smiles.

life is full of beauty

Life is full of beauty.

















Notice it.























Notice the bumble bee,


















the small child and the smiling faces.
Smell the rain, and feel the wind.



































Live your life to the fullest potential,
and fight for your dreams.