Don't Give Up on Me!

Geez it's been way too long for a new post, but ya know, I've been busy. Hosting family for a total of 3 weeks, hiking and socializing like a maniac and finally completing house projects, including the painting of our house.

The tourist traffic has been steady, folks snapping shots from their cars, getting out of their cars, many yelling (mostly positive) comments as they drive slowly by. As Jim says, we live inside of a grape.
In other news, the Bar Mitzvah event was enormously successful. We made a number of fabulous family memories, all as Jake went from boy to man.

Jake did a great job, and their Rabbi from ATL was amazing. The events began with the celebration of his 13th birthday.

Okay, so I had him pose before he blew out his canldes. He did some really big hikes with his dad and his Uncle Jim, another marker of his growth as a young man. Here he is hiking with Uncle Jim.

And finally, my money shot of my sweet niece and nephew.

My Nephew

It's T-minus 6 days until my family arrives here in Telluride for my nephew's Bar Mitzvah. He will turn 13 on Friday, July 24th and have his Bar Mitzvah ceremony on top of a mountain here the following day. I can't believe my little guy is becoming a man. Here he is with his grandpa (my dad) in a shot taken in April.

This is him during last summer's visit.

I can't wait to see him and be with him for this blessed event.

Peaceful, easy feeling

All is fairly quiet and peaceful here on the western front. We had a wonderful July 4th holiday with friends, enjoying the Norman Rockwellish parade down Main Street and our infamous fireworks display that evening. The weather is finally acting like the summers we've always treasured, pure blue skies and delicious sunshine. Our hiking is in full-tilt, and we are both feeling good.

We're having our house painted, and they are supposed to be finished in time for our family visits, beginning in a little over a week. We'll see, as these guys are super laid back (and super painters). I am finished, for now, with my indoor painting projects. We've enjoyed the new look in our mud room -- the main entry to our house -- and last week I finished the side entry, painting it the inverse of the mud room (red walls, brown trim).

Tomorrow we are planning on going to an outdoor concert in Mountain Village with a picnic and a bunch of friends after a big hike with another group of friends.

Somehow we keep busy, but just about always peaceful.

Life is Precious

Jim and I have been dealing with some devastating health news from friends lately.
Our dear friends from Telluride, Melanie and Bill recently learned that Bill has an advanced stage of Multiple Myeloma. We have nothing but the greatest memories of hiking, skiing, wining and dining with them over the last seven years and will miss being with them this summer as was previously planned. Bill is now undergoing chemo and treatments at Duke with Melanie and their adult children there supporting him. These are the closest friends anything like this has happened to, and it is hitting us very hard. We just can't imagine what they are going through on all levels and feel so terribly sad that we can't do anything to make it better.

Also, Jim's former associate just lost his rwo-year-old son, suddenly and unexpectedly. Again, the unimaginable pain he and his wife must be going through, well my words can't even come close to describing.

Ever present is our hope for pain to be lifted from these dear people, and for sweet Bill to have his health return.

Life is indeed precious.

Canyon of the Ancients

Spectacular hike Friday in historical desert land in the SW corner of Colorado, near the 4-corners.


Pueblo Indians in the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries built these brick. fort-like structures and occupied these canyons in what's now called the Canyon of the Ancients.

Wonderful time with friends, even when we got seriously lost on dirt roads in the middle of no-where Utah. Absoultely no sign of civilization, let alone road signs. Somehow made our way back to a highway and flagged a UPS guy who showed us the way. See what brown can do for you?

No Photo, Please

My birthday got off to a rather precarious start. Boomer, the dog that never cries to go out unless he REALLY needs to go NOW, woke me up with one little "Boom Squeak" at 630am. I jumped out of bed and as I went to the door, I stepped squarely in his pile of diarrhea. Frozen only for a moment, I promptly grossed out, then freaked out a bit, then quickly realized I had no choice but to clean up. I looked outside at the unusual morning rain. No birthday hike today I thought, and then I laughed to myself at what an bizarre start to any day, let alone my birthday. I had to stop laughing though when ten seconds later I stepped in a pile of Boomer's vomit.

After clean up, I turned on the coffee maker, realizing that I had zero chance of falling back to sleep, despite my comfy bed in this cool weather. So now I sit, coffee, Facebook & blog, listening to the rain slap off our metal roof and the cars from our little morning rush hour slosh through the puddles on our street.

More home improvement

You have now been into our bedroom. Oh my, and all via a blog! Anyway, we finally got our bedding set, a Christmas present from Jim last year. It's super comfortable, affordable, and mountain and dog friendly. Yea! Note the wood platform bed frame with drawers -- custom built by Michael, a friend and local artist using local poplar/aspen wood. I have more storage space! Double Yea!
Jim also got this custom chest of drawers made of aged beach wood by Michael. His old set of drawers collapsed and is only partially alive, now to be used by guests in the Igloo (basement)

This chest of drawers fits so snuggly into our hallway closet that it's hard to appreciate the detailed and unique craftsmanship that went into it. But it's the only place it can go, and we continue to enjoy maximizing our space and living the simple life.

Unrelated, I just completed my volunteer stint for the Telluride Jazz Festival. It was cold-cold-cold. I was wearing my winter gear in multiple layers! Anyway, I worked in the merchandise tent adjacent to the stage. Next to us, the bar, and well, I knew many of their volunteer staff, so I got to have a couple of cocktails, gratis. Jazz is not my thing, but there were a couple of notable guests. One was Ozomatli -- a must check out. They played Friday night and totally rocked the canyon. The other was a little 8 year-old singer-songwriter who was just playing during the break between bands. I must say, she was the highlight of the weekend, a true rising talent. Don't know her first name, but if you ever see a little jazz prodigy with the last name of Carlson, it's probably her. What poise, and she played a guitar almost as big as her, and even wrote her own songs. Wow.