When my brother told me he was going to be at the Day Program all day yesterday, I decided to stop in for a visit to see how he liked it. I needn’t have worried. The activity yesterday morning was drum circle. He has loved the drums ever since he was a little boy and asked Santa for a set of bongos. I enjoyed every minute watching him really get into the music and the rhythm. It was so much fun to see him enjoying himself.

I stopped at the cemetery on my way to town and visited with Mr. Virgo again. I was disappointed the night before at the state of the cemetery. The weeds were over your knees in some places. I was also disappointed there were no bluebirds. I always see bluebirds when I go and it wasn’t the same.

Mike is the volunteer caretaker and usually keeps everything really well mowed and trimmed. This year, the rain and cool weather made everything grow so fast, it all got ahead of him. When I arrived there yesterday, he was mowing next to Mr. Virgo’s grave. Three years ago, when I visited the grave for the last time before I made West Virginia my permanent home, Mike was working on some new pine tree seedlings nearby. I went over and introduced myself. I slipped him a crisp $100 bill and asked him if he could keep watch over my husband’s grave for me because I wouldn’t be back for a year. Tears ran down his cheek when he saw the money and he shook my hand warmly.

“I’d be honored to.”

I have to say, there were a lot of weeds everywhere, but Mr. Virgo’s grave was neat and tidy. I called Mike over and thanked him profusely for his gentle care. We chatted for a good while as I pulled what little weeds there were. I laughed as I told him how Mr. Virgo would never pull the right plants when he worked in a flower bed because if it had a flower on it, it wasn’t a weed in his book.

After visiting with my brother, I decided to drive up the road toward Sunlight Ski area. That is where we first lived when we moved to Glenwood in 1986. We had a five bedroom log house on two acres. As I drove up the narrow blacktop, a wave of vivid memories washed over me and I let myself go back to that place in my mind…how it felt to be 33…young, fit, my whole life ahead of me. There were times in the past after the divorce from that marriage where letting myself feel that would have been unbearable. But yesterday was sweet. It was a warm, good memory of when Daughter #1 was Little’s age and I was a stay-at-home mom for the first time in her life.

Once I’d seen all I needed to see, I headed for Denver. But, I kept being drawn to the river. I stopped at Grizzly Creek and watched a guy in a wetsuit swim out to the middle of the raging water to capture a runaway kayak. It was shocking how fast that water was. I could easily see how people could drown in situations like that.

I stopped at Eagle Water Park and watched kayakers battle the man made waves and rapids on the Eagle River. I ran into a guy that was camping in his truck and told me the clouds were actually angels and he had some really great pictures of them. I think maybe he’d been partaking in a little “herbal refreshment”, if you catch my drift.

My next stop was Minturn. There used to be a really cute yarn shop there but it was gone. I went into a little antique store there and chatted with the owner for a while. I purchased a gift for my son-in-law’s birthday. The owner suggested if I had a few minutes to spare, I should go out behind her store and sit on one of the benches along the river and just enjoy…take a minute. I smiled because I’d been seeing signs all over Glenwood the last couple of days imploring people to slow down as they drive through town. 

I went out back and watched a hawk hover on the warm wind currents over the river. The sun was warm on my skin and a soft breeze blew my hair across my face. I closed my eyes and listened to the white water rolling big rocks along the riverbed. When I looked across the river, my eyes wandered up the slope noting the incredible variety of wildflowers in full bloom. There was a cliff that ran along the roadside. In it, there was a large hole…a den, I’m sure. I wondered what creatures had called it home over the years. 

I finally pulled myself away and got back on the road. It was going on 3:00 when I got to Vail. I’ll bet I haven’t been in Vail proper in twenty years. I pulled into the parking garage and wandered into the village. There were tourists everywhere, wandering around. I stopped and had a fabulous pizza for an early supper then got back on the road. I hit Denver at about 5:30, but most of the rush hour traffic was heading west.

It was a beautiful day for a slow meander through the most amazing scenery. I arrived back at my little camper feeling as though I’d been gone a month instead of just a quick overnight. I felt good getting up there. I’ll be back to see my brother and take him with us to the wedding in a couple of weeks. Time is flying!

❤️

““But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.”

Job 12:7-10 NIV