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It’s been a while, so this letter is in CHUNKS of time, weather, and adventures. |
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March 23,2023: For us in Colorado it’s been snow, then rain, then beautiful sunshine . . . then rain, snow, then another beautiful day. It’s called SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES. I love it! Today is a beautiful day and my Hiker Ladies group is heading up Ute Valley . . . with Yaktrax on! |
April 27, 2023 The weather is still bouncing around and Robert and I are in an emotionally bouncy time also since we made the decision to change out all our 20-year-old house carpets. OMG! It’s like moving! You pack and move everything from one part of the house . . . like the whole upstairs. Then you move to the whole next area . . . like downstairs. Next these nice guys show up and move all the furniture. They cut and pound for several days while you try to find a place to sleep since your bed is gone, and stay out of their way, yet still be available to answer questions. Of course we worked hard using our 80-year-old memories to try to keep track of where basic things were. We found ourselves asking: “Now which box did I put my toothbrush in?” . . . “How about my shoes?” Argg! So now they have finished. The furniture is moved back in place. Robert and I are slowly going through one box at a time: “Do I keep this? Or give it to someone? Or take it to Goodwill?”
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Robert’s daughter, Jenny, and, next week, her son, Zayden, have been wonderful with showing up to help haul boxes from downstairs to upstairs and from one area to another. Robert has been careful not to lift anything and throw his back out. I wasn’t so smart. Born with the personality of a helper/doer, I couldn’t stop myself from grabbing and hauling any heavy box that was needed somewhere. Well, after a week of this, my back was in huge pain. I was bent over, couldn’t sleep, and was crying in the middle of the night. Then, one particularly painful night, my sweet husband said: “Get your slippers on. I’m taking you to Emergency!” Everyone there was kind. They immediately put me in a wheelchair and rolled me into a room where I was met by a Physician Assistant who interviewed me on the causes of pain, then palpated my back to find the exact problem area. She brought me two different pain medicines to take immediately, then the doctor came in and injected a strong steroid into my lower back area. They both gave me clear instructions on how to follow up over the next week. Then I was wheeled back out to the car and Robert drove me home. Again, I was crying, but this time it was tears of RELIEF! I felt no pain for the first time in a week! For the next few days, I was dizzy and confused about the medicine’s side effects but felt so supported by everyone. My doctor gave me an Acupuncture treatment. My Yoga teacher spent a whole class hour giving me a special Acupressure and Essential Oils treatment, while, at the same time, guiding the class through yoga movement. My classmates there were so supportive and most hugged and wished me well after class. |
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April 30, 2023: Onwards . . . carpeting is done. Whew! Now we just have to unpack all the boxes, find our toothbrushes and shoes again, and practice “LETTING GO”. It feels good, actually to “lighten up”. It might take us a month to finish the job and that’s OK. My back is slowly getting stronger. I’m off all pain meds and I am able to hike, bike, do yoga, and all the physical stuff I’m used to . . . just slowly and carefully, but I don’t HAUL AND LIFT! Jenny and Zayden are coming to help with that. Oh, Bless Them! |
So today a gorgeous Spring is exploding in our Colorado mountains. A brilliant blue sky with tufts of bright green peeking up from the soft brown earth. The birds are singing: “Here I am . . . a handsome male looking for a mate.” The owl calls: “Who’s awake? Me too.” (Can you tell I’ve been studying bird calls lately?) I took a “BREAK DAY” and went to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to relax and get some special animal love.
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May 8, 2023 Okay, here’s the final part of this letter. I do hope it hasn’t been too long, but I couldn’t say goodbye without sharing this last adventure. I just returned from a Trail Crew Leader Training in the mountains near Evergreen, CO. It was a two-day course to teach nature enthusiasts how to lead volunteers in building effective, safe, and environmentally friendly trails through back-country wilderness. |
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Three of us attended from our Trail Crew in Green Mtn. Falls, and I traveled and camped with an old friend, Doug, who’s family I lived next door to in MANITOU SPRINGS . . . probably ten years ago.Oh, it was a strenuous, exciting, and amazing adventure! We learned exactly how to read the environment (water runoff, rocks, gravel, slope lines), how to safely carry and use all manner of tools with weird names like Pickmadox, Pulaski, McCleod, and how to care for the safety of a volunteer crew while teaching them how to build a trail. My back is better, but I was very careful with the lifting, carrying, hoeing, and raking. Still, our trainers supported and encouraged us, and taught us so much! As well as physical, the course was quite mentally challenging as we practiced taking the group through the steps of safety and trail building . . . such as “CUSS” . . . Carry Use Store, and Safety in the use of tools with those unusual names. |
The climate in those northern mountains was beautiful throughout the day and then dropped to just above zero degrees during the nights. The hard part for me on the trip was shivering and shaking through the whole first night in my tent . . . under a gorgeous huge full red moon. Then, the next day, as the group heard about my discomfort, people loaned me sleeping bags, blankets, and ground pads. I was so warm and cozy the next night, I SLEPT LIKE A LOG! Whew!
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Well, now, I’m home, cuddling with my sweet, supportive husband, watching and listening to the spring birds sing through beautiful, bright Colorado days. |
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Thank you for reading and, I hope, enjoying this newsletter. I do love staying in touch. Yes, I’m still offering treatments in Craniosacral, Lymphatic, Essential Oils, and various other bodywork therapies on Fridays at my home in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado. and am loving seeing all of my old friends and clients. Thank to my friend and our Mayor, Todd Dicksen, I am now officially licensed to work in this town. So I look forward to seeing those who show up for a treatment. I’m not great at immediate online connection, so people usually just call or text me at 719-684-0112. |
This is the season when so many people; young folks, old folks, and families show up in our little town of Green Mountain Falls to explore the 20 miles of trails we’ve built over the years. These pathways are so green and and filled with beautiful flowers, the New York Times has described us as “the best Trails Town in Colorado”. And I’m having fun meeting and greeting people, in my job as a Volunteer Trail Ambassador. We walk up and down the main street to welcome the hikers, show them maps, and offer direction to the various trails. We’re out every weekend for the summer, and the hikers love us!
But there’s more to draw people to this little town. Now we’re becoming famous for our annual GREEN BOX FESTIVAL. This year it will run for two whole weeks over the 4th OF JULY WITH OVER 150 PROGRAMS, INCLUDING DANCE, ART SHOWS, CLASSES, HIKES, EVENTS, AND GATHERINGS. We are so honored to have well known dancers, artists, and teachers from all over the world become “ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE” for two weeks in Green Mtn. Falls. Yes, of course they love it here. If you’re interested, go to 
Of course, there are so many birthdays of close friends to celebrate! Such as my long friend Julia Wright, who manages my website, and helps me put out this newsletter. For her birthday we bonded and relaxed at Desert Reef Beach Hot Springs.
Now we have the interesting challenge of needing to train/prepare our eighty+ year old bodies to “gear up” for more activity. It’s like training for a race…pushing a little further each day . . . feeling the creaks and groans, and ultimately . . . GETTING STRONGER. Right: “Aging is not for the faint of heart” as the famous saying goes. So true! But . . . it is do-able! And it’s so good for us to feel these bodies getting stronger when we CAREFULLY work them. More and more doctors, magazines, and periodicals are proclaiming the power of exercise, healthy eating, and drinking plenty of good water. Yay! We’re waking up as a culture!
Erin Go Bragh is the common expression for Irish everywhere and it means “IRELAND FOREVER”. Happy Irish Day, March 17, 2024!
Robert and I are doing well. We recently celebrated his eighty-ninth birthday with a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was a great time! Here we are at MEOW WOLF.
So now I have just finished a seven-hour, online workshop with longtime friend and teacher, Dr. Michael Shea. We took a deep look at Embryology; or how we humans are formed, grow, and how that amazing process is still going on in our adult bodies! It can be felt and encouraged with a certain touch to enhance deep healing anywhere in the body. I still have much to learn, and it’s exciting to be learning again. I haven’t really studied anything for a couple of years, especially since I sold my school, and, at eighty-one, my brain can still learn!
Other than those studies I’m doing my favorite thing . . . getting outdoors. That’s where our Health is, right? I’m hiking, some biking, Maximum Energetic Lengthening Technique (MELT), Physical Therapy two times/week for a spinal nerve challenge, and . . . I’M DANCING! Remember I mentioned in my last letter that my spiritual teacher said: “Keep on dancing!” So I am. I found a Zumba class with a very talented East Indian dancer and teacher. It’s great fun, and I haven’t wriggled my fingers and hips like that since I was in my 20’s, when I performed with a Middle Eastern dance troupe in Northern California, and it seems to still be inherent in my body. So, is there anything physical that you’d like to try, that, maybe, you did in your youth, and assume now, that it’s gone? No! it’s still there! Go for it!
I’m happy to be in touch with all you longtime friends and family through these letters. I’ve not been too good at responding to your replies online in the past, as I’m rarely online. But I’m going to work at being better at responding. Promise. It is absolutely exciting to remember the times we’ve had together. And to possibly even plan something together in the future. I just went skiing with my old friend and colleague, Robin, who I haven’t seen in several years. We rode the chairs lifts, caught up with each other’s lives, and had so much fun, we’re going skiing again next week!
One of my favorite towns, Manitou Springs, just celebrated their 31st CARNIVALE parade with a theme of ARTOPIA. I had heard from a friend earlier, that an artist, Sophia Hernandez Crade, was working hard to create a giant puppet of my dear old friend, and beloved artist, Rockey, who died a few years ago. So, I had to go see this for myself. OMG! It was incredible. It looked so much like him; I had tears in my eyes. He traveled on a forklift and his head turned as he smiled on the cheering crowds. Of course, the judges awarded the first place prize to the artist for the best entry in this year’s theme.
The birds are everywhere around the feeders. Robert and I spent some time sitting by the fireplace watching the birds, drinking tea, relaxing. After such a busy few weeks, we were “forced” to relax.
One of the fun things I did this summer, was to visit this fascinating sculpture of RITA near a little mining town called Victor just up the pass from Green Mountain Falls. She represents “Putting the Earth together again.” She is acting as a guardian of the mines there. She was created from all recycled and repurposed wood.
