Has it really been four months since our my last newsletter?? OMG!!How has your summer been going? Has it been wild, fun, family filled, adventuring, and, sometimes, exhausting? I had a magical moment with family on our deck with a rainbow behind them.

   And so, Life Goes On. My daughter, Shawna, calls it: “Joy In The Gap”.

   Then, a little later, when I tried to get my bike out of my car, after a nice ride one night, the back hatch would not open! I finally called my mechanic, Charles, down in Manitou Springs.

  “We’re totally booked!”, he said rapidly, then paused. “OK, get it in here, and we’ll see what we can do!” So I immediately drove to Manitou . . . grateful to Charles.
  When I got there, he sent one of his guys out, who crawled inside and out of Elmo (my car), and, finally got the latch to let go. I’ll need a new latch, but I know Charles will find it for me, and I was able to get the car home, and my bike out.

  BREATHE,  BREATHE,  FEEL MY MOUNTAIN INSIDE.

   So while I was down the Ute Pass, in Colorado Springs, I figured it was a good time to get my medical stuff organized . . . like: What is my Medicare Supplemental, exactly, and What does it do? Why are two different primary care docs calling me and wanting me to book appointments? Why did PT suddenly say that they don’t work with the doc I’ve been with for a year? Some health issues have surfaced, and I have to book an MRI, Blood labs, and a Neurology check. How? Plus, LOOK OUT! When you turn 80 years old, no matter how healthy you are, you’re supposed to get yearly Heart, Hearing, Vision, Blood Pressure, Mammogram (for women . . . for men, it’s Prostate), checkups, and all these providers start calling you to get you booked. It’s a bit overwhelming.
But, hey, I’ve always been a “health nut”. So I’m a very healthy 80 year old. Some back issues have come up (probably due to all the hauling and lifting I mentioned in the last letter when we had our carpets redone). And my blood pressure is a bit high, probably due to how active I always am . . . have a hard time slowing down. So, I’m being a good girl and doing all the labs and checkups. But it’s a lot and I got overwhelmed today, until I connected with a lovely woman, Robin, at the Medicare Resource Center. She answered all questions, helped me establish priorities and book appointments one at a time over several weeks.

Then . . . these last couple of months have been an incredibly active and fun time in our little town of Green Mountain Falls. Thanks to our kind entrepreneur with the Kirkpatrick Foundation, the Friends of Ute Pass Trails, and the town itself, we have had beautiful art unveilings, artists; dancers, musicians, and art builders brought in from all over the world. Up by the Wallace Reserve a giant wooden egg was created using pieces of pine bark.
   We created beautiful lanterns and floated them on the lake one evening. The pavilion was silhouetted against the mountains behind Green Mountain Falls