April 1, 2011
Dear Family and Friends,
Baseball season opened in Denver today with the
Rockies playing the Arizona Diamondbacks. A full house is almost
assured since state workers are being furloughed for the day (a money
saving strategy) and the temperatures will be above 80° for the
first time since last year some time. While we’re interested but not
avid fans of the “home team,” the beginning of baseball season—or
any season—is always filled with optimism. The same is true for a new
school year or new semester. Or a new job. It’s a chance to begin
again. As the poet Eve Merriam wrote, “Morning is a new sheet of paper
to write on…”
Of course the same is true for a new year. It’s a
time for looking ahead with hopefulness and determination for a better
year than the year before. A chance to begin again. That’s how we’re
looking at 2011. Last year we helped make local doctors and hospitals a
bit more wealthy and medicare a bit more poor. Our bodies have now
nearly
fully recovered and we’ve planned a full plate of new opportunities for
ourselves in the coming year. Lots to do and lots to look forward to.
All good.
We enjoyed a very quiet Christmas at Michael and
Cindy’s. As the picture shows, we were four of the walking wounded:
Michael’s thumb was a bicycle crash casualty; Cindy finally
decided she had lived with shoulder pain long enough and had her
rotator cuff repaired; Hughes was recovering nicely from his heart
attack last spring; and Judy was back to slow running after two major
surgeries in the early fall. The dogs, however, were fit and feisty. A
week later we
celebrated with neighbors on New Year's Eve but left well before the
stroke of midnight, though we stayed past our bedtime.
The first
weeks of 2011 were busy
with local social events—dinners, music making, card parties,
and book groups—and our regular volunteer “jobs,” along with
visits
to various medical folks who checked us over pretty well. January
brought most of the snow we had this winter; February was cold and
March windy, but overall the area has had precious little moisture so
far.
Weather tends to be a large factor when one lives in
the mountains. Roads can get iced over and occasionally blocked, pipes
will freeze when temperatures dip well below zero, power lines go down,
and cabin fever can threaten the strongest relationships. Fortunately,
this year we avoided such problems in spite of what the winter threw at
us. Roads did ice over on occasion, but we managed to move around as
needed. Power
lines swayed in the high winds and sagged under the weight of snow and
ice, but
held steady in the end. When the temperature dropped
to –27°, we strategically set out space heaters thereby avoiding
exploding pipes that hit many in our area during February. When our
driveway was clear enough, packed our RV and parked it at the top of
our road so that it was only ten yards from the pavement to
make our winter getaway when we wanted to.
We had two separate and compelling invitations to
spend the last week of January in Florida. During the past two years,
Judy had reconnected with a cousin with whom she had not seen or
talked in over 60 years. The phone and email conversations
blossomed into an invitation to visit that was impossible to decline.
Coincidentally, a former University of Toledo colleague and
family friend, offered an extended period of time to visit in
Florida, but on the other side of the state. So, Judy went to the east
coast for a few days and then joined Hughes in the Sarasota area for a
few more days. The week was a wonderful and warm reunion for us both.
Florida’s East
Coast
Cousin Joan (on the right) and Judy can remember,
vaguely, seeing
each other in the late 1940s somewhere in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or
New York. They’re not certain. But it was a long time ago and much had
happened in the meantime: marriages, family, careers, etc. Yet when
they met face to face at the Ft. Lauderdale airport, it was almost as
if they had seen each other just the month before (except they looked
much different!).
Joan has a lovely house
filled with an amazing collection of chairs, mirrors, teapots, and
turtles that is well set up for guests, and the hostess was most
gracious. The first evening they spent talking,
fixing a fabulous dinner, and talking more! In the morning Joan had a
hair cut appointment so Judy went
for a lovely run, her first humidity run in a long time! Yoga class
followed and then, yes, more attempts to fill each other in about the
years when they were out of touch. That evening they visited Joan’s
special guy Jerry at his penthouse apartment with a totally
unobstructed view of the water. Rather amazing!
The following day included more running, walking,
and yoga as well as a trip to one of the largest indoor flea markets in
the country! More walking! That evening they had a special dinner with
another cousin Judy had not seen for nearly 50 years: Wendy (in the
middle between Judy and Joan) was Judy’s
matron of honor at our wedding and was even so generous to lend Judy
her wedding dress! So much has happened with both Judy and Wendy that,
again, there was lots of “do you remember...” talk.
The best of the visit was saved for last! Joan
treated Judy to a trip to the Morikami
Museum and Garden in Delray
Beach. What an amazing place! Judy and Joan wandered through the
gardens, had a wonderful picnic lunch, and strolled through the
exhibits. It was theraputic, peaceful, and magical. They were there so
long that there was only time for a brief visit with one of Joan’s very
talented artist friends before Judy had to be at the airport for her
flight to Tampa to hook up with Hughes.
Florida’s
Gulf Coast
Hughes stayed home while Judy was
visiting Joan and flew to Tampa and waited for Judy’s plane from Ft.
Lauderdale. We picked up a car and drove south to Longboat Key,
winter
headquarters for longtime (42 years!!) Toledo friends, Jack and Anne
Ahern. For the past several winters, they have left their home on the
Maumee River in suburban Perrysburg—where the winters are dark gray,
biting cold, snowy, often blustery, usually dismal—and joined the good
life on Longboat Key on Florida’s gulf coast. In fact, the view from
the deck of their 6th floor condo, is of the ever-changing and always
calming gulf sunsets and ocean breezes.
Our brief visit interrupted their pleasant routines
of daily swims, New York Times
crossword puzzles, adult education classes
(Jack was in the middle of a British Literature course), and lazy
afternoon naps. However, together we celebrated the sunsets each
evening with cocktails on the deck.
Jack loves local history (anyplace he is is “local”)
as much as his convertible. This combination resulted in an
entertaining and
interesting driving tour of Longboat Key and the history of its
neighborhoods and development. We visited Sarasota, which we found
bigger than we anticipated, but a city with a certain pizzazz and
energy. The much larger than life (and controversial!) “Unconditional
Surrender” Kiss Statue stands 40' above traffic along Sarasota’s
waterfront (Jack and Anne decided to mimic the pose!). Judy loved
running on flat sea level paths; Hughes
tried for a bike rental but couldn’t find any. Walking the white sand
beach was a great treat, especially in the middle of winter. Of
course we ate lots of seafood at some of the area’s fine restaurants.
Tucson’s
Desert Trails
If our Florida sojourn took a bite out of our
winter, the month we spent in Arizona was a whole meal. We left in the
RV with two bikes, two dogs, and warm weather clothes on February 15,
planning to spend a couple of weeks with Judy’s cousins Carol and Ken
at Desert Trails RV Park just
a dozen miles west of Tucson. We enjoyed
our time there so much that we stayed another two weeks, returning to
Nederland in time for the start of spring. Details of our time there
can be found on a separate web page.
Desert Trails is a marvel—a summer camp for adults
in the winter! It is much more than simply a place to park for a night
or
two while visiting friends or going to local events or sites.
Rather, we found ourselves part of a community of friendly, welcoming
people (and dogs) who are active, bright, and involved in a wide
variety of interests in which they engaged while at the park: hikers,
bikers, dancers, geocachers, game players, scrapbookers, artists,
quilters, crafters, photographers, musicians, writers, et al. After
active, sometimes exhausting days, our late
afternoons before dinner were times for visiting with small groups of
“neighbors,” or swimming, relaxing in the hot tub, working out in the
gym, or sitting together reading and relaxing with the dogs. After
dinner we attended free twice-weekly free concerts by visiting musical
performers, or game nights or cash
bingo, or talks/seminars hosted by resident campers. We were busy every
day, at least as much as we wanted to be.
[Note: Last year
we were
short-term campers at Desert Trails at the suggestion of Judith, a
fellow camper from Canada we met last March in
southern Arizona. We came to Desert Trails and stayed three nights. We
saw Judith at Desert Trails last year during our short
stay and we saw her again this year. We’ll likely see her again next
year as well.]
During the two weeks we were with Carol and Ken (who
left before us to prepare for their trip to South Africa to visit their
daughter), we visited other cousins Bob and Ginny in Tucson and their
son Bob who lives in Sierra Vista. We spent a very brief visit at the
Sonoran Desert Museum
where were
greeted by a friendly cardinal—and hummingbirds and butterflies by the
hundreds, as well as examples of Sonoran desert plant life. We
plan
to return again next year and purchase a membership so we can go often.
It is an amazing living museum where there is too much to see in a
one-day visit.
Desert Trails is, without question, the most
enticing campground/RV park we have found among the scores we’ve
visited. Granted, there are no tall trees like in the
Rockies and higher elevations (palo verdes provide precious little
shade and are greatly coveted by those who are there for the long
haul);
there is no stream nearby to
throw a line into or lake to sit quietly watching the sun go down.
Saguaro and cactus cover the nearby mountains, and the Sonoran desert
flowers are abundant. And, Oh the sunsets!
As gorgeous as they were from Jack and Anne’s deck on Longboat Key,
Desert Trails sunsets are spectacular.
Much of the reason for the climate of activity and
friendliness rests on the shoulders of the British-born owner, Pericles
Wyatt, whose personal history is as interesting as his name. Pericles,
along with his step-daughter Andrea,
set the tone and nurture the atmosphere that attracts repeat guests
who come from all over to Desert Trails for 4–6 months every year, many
for all or
most of the 13 years the park has been in existence. There are other
parks
that may look dressier from the outside, but they lack the warmth
and soul of what has evolved at Desert Trails. Thank you, Pericles, for
all you’ve done for us and many others who have visited Desert Trails.
And thanks to all those campers who made us feel so welcome during the
winter of 2011: Judith from Ontario (thanks for steering us to Desert
Trails in the first place); Ron and Edna from BC (the new margarita
recipe and the Best of Bridge
cookbook are winners); bikers/hikers/geocachers Jack and
Ada (we’ll have that test on number bases next winter); geocachers Dave
and Loretta (your foot will be as good as new when we see you again);
hikers/bikers Russ and Pat (Hughes will bring his own guitar next
winter); jack-of-all-trades Stan and Judy (the RV repair looks like
new—many thanks); and bikers Jerry and Martha (we’ll do it all again
next year).
We’ve already made reservations for two
months next year.
The End of Winter
The two weeks we’ve been back from Arizona have been
mostly cool without much moisture. In fact, this March is the fifth
driest on
record. It was the gusty wind that told us we had truly arrived home
and
reminded us of
what living in the mountains is really about. The winds plus the lack
of moisture and low
humidity have created an earlier start to fire danger season. Red flag
warnings have been out regularly for weeks and Boulder
County already has had several small grass fires and one good sized
wildland
fire in the foothills north and west of Boulder. They have served as a
glimpse of what might be on tap for us as the year unfolds. We have our
evacuation containers ready for the unthinkable.
Postscript: The Rockies lost today in 11 innings,
7–6. Arizona
scored on a wild pitch. The players who were interviewed following this
tough
loss each seemed to say, “It’s just one game—there are another 161
to go.” Even in losing they remain optimistic. And so are we as we look
ahead to the coming spring: a week of serious R&R in Sedona (no
dogs this time, but lots of biking and hiking in this beautiful red
rock country, along with time for poolside reading and relaxing); a
long awaited visit from Judy’s adult niece from Massachusetts; another
Bolder-Boulder medal for Judy; and at
least a month driving and camping through the Canadian Rockies, a trip
we’ve been looking forward to for years and haven’t seemed to get it on
our schedule. Michael
and Cindy made the trip a few years ago and we’ll spend a good deal
of our time following in their footsteps. The photos on their web site
are enticing. We’ll report back in July.
In the meantime, we would love to hear from you. All
good wishes to you and your families.
Judy and Hughes
