A little schizoid

No theme to this post, but lots of photos.

On our hike yesterday, we came across a large skeleton of some animal torso. Riley thought there might be something yummy left, but other, bigger animals had beat her to it.
Folks have been asking me if the Aspen leaves have been changing. Not so much on most of our hikes, though the local paper just featured a photo of changing leaves on a tree in town.

Fall is definitely in the air with temps about 40 degrees in the mornings then warming to temps in the 70s for the day. Still hiking in shorts and t-shirt for all you Southerners who think we are "cold" out here.

A rare break to snap a photo. We hardly ever take our camera on hikes, but when we do, it's nice to capture the moment.
Forgot to post some photos of our first party in the Purple Lillypad last week.

Beautiful evening with good friends.

Boomer's Birthday

Hard to believe that this little puppy is our 5 year-old Boom today.

Boomer started his birthday by taking an enormous dump in our basement. He's had an upset stomach on and off, and that's his new and unfortunate habit. After force feeding him an antibiotic, we all went on a hike where he did his typical, joyful frolicking. For Boomer, every day is his birthday.
Let's not forget about Big Sister Riley who showed him the ropes from Day 1.

And shared her favorite spot on the sofa.

Until he found his own spot "in" the sofa.

Boomer loves his life in Telluride. He hikes everyday.

And he likes to watch football with Jim.

But most of all, he's our Boom.

All year round

Somehow, we seem to be in heavy socializing mode all year long. That's not a complaint, just an observation. It used to be that our social activity here peaked in the summer time with both locals and our part-time Telluride friends. Then we started to notice a lot of activity in ski season. Now that we are full-time locals, it's just all year round. We seem to need breaks from time to time to re-charge our batteries.

Anyway, tomorrow night, we are (read "I am" cuz I do 95% of what needs to be done) hosting another dinner party. Having three local couples over to the Lillypad for a Mexican extravaganza. Appetizers are nothing fancy, just some chips and guacamole. Then I am making a mexican lasagna and some jalapeno cheddar cornbread for dinner (salad provided by one of our guests). My homemade Key Lime Pie is cooing in the frig I type this.

What a gift it is to have good friends over to break bread at in our home.

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.