Well – I am back from vacation, returning to what seems to be a blissfully slow week at work – thank goodness for that! Needless to say, vacation was wonderful.
Greg and I spent several days in Colorado, visiting family, adding a side trip to Wyoming – just because. Words cannot express how much I absolutely love this area of our country – all those wide open spaces… and ranches… and mountains… and prairie dogs – hmmm strange little animals, those prairie dogs.
I’ve always known that I crave a lot of personal space – explaining why my daily subway commute leaves me feeling spent. But this – it’s like finding my own personal sense of calm.
As we drove over miles of the Snowy Range Scenic Byway – towards our planned hike in the Medicine Bow National Forest and feeling just a tad nervous about all the snow I was seeing – I found myself humming “never fear those mountains in the distance…” (thank you, Lee Ann Womack)
But – I don’t think I’ve ever had a more stunning lunch stop. As sea level dwellers, we were duly challenged by the altitude – 10,000+ feet.
The need to make frequent stops to breathe – just breathe – served to enhance our hike.
This East Coast city girl seriously needs to learn to sllloooowwww down.
Follow where the path leads…
Back in Colorado – we enjoyed a beautiful hike in Rocky Mountain National Park – can you tell these two are cousins 🙂
And while this park may not be the path less taken, we could not have asked for a more beautiful hike.
Every turn brought increasingly jaw-dropping scenery.
After making one last stop to take in the beauty of the wildflowers (and a little twirl while singing “the hills are alive” – ummmm, but only in my imagination) – time to head back home. Sigh…
A new book awaited my return home. Yeah – I know – that simplicity-minimalist thing, again.
While reading, I found myself thinking – is this what our society has come to – that we need books advising us to focus on the things that are most important to us? We don’t already know this? And then – yes – I know this to be true. It is all to easy to get trapped in the rat race.
So – I am back to my closet purging and minimizing, a jumble of thoughts coming together. And maybe it is a bit ironic that after years of purchasing – purchasing things to wear and things to fill my home, that what I’m seeking is just a bit of space. Space to breathe – space to slow down – even if just a little bit. I don’t need to relocate to Wyoming to do this.
I would like to thank Greg’s cousin, Helen, and her family for allowing us to invade their home. If the doctor didn’t order this trip for us, she certainly should have!
I hope your summer is going well – that you find your own space to slow down and enjoy!
P.S. I am truly grateful to those who emailed me to let me know there was a problem with commenting on my last post. I am hopeful that I have fixed the issue – but honestly, I have no idea what I’m doing…
Anyway – I am always happy to hear from you and appreciate that you took the time to reach out!
12 responses to “Finding space to slow the pace”
hi karen, your vacation sounds lovely, the views of the mountains are breathtaking! i am envious of your ability to hike and that you appreciate it and enjoy it!! i enjoyed all of the images, the red winged black bird is a stand out, i know, me and my birds!!! don’t be so hard on yourself karen, you know what’s important, how to really enjoy life but we all have to work as well. you have a great attitude and you are going to LOVE retirement!! i love that Lee Ann Womack song and i might check out that book!!! now, fingers crossed that this posts!!!
Fabulous pictures of a wonderful visit. So glad you came and hope you return soon. Enjoy that book. I liked her acronym for SIGH Sit in God’s Hands- it is a nice image when I need to slow down. Also- I really like your blog site and how it ties to your instagram photos- sharp setup.
I understand the open space, that is what the beach nearly every morning is to me. I need that quiet, space, and muted color palette. Your hikes looked gorgeous. Rocky Mountain National Park is beautiful. We have done that for vacation a couple of times. Sometimes I think I need to stop reading books and just do some of the things I know I need to do. But then I pick up another book. A viscous cycle!
You certainly slowed my pace down this morning! I’m oohing and aahing over these gorgeous pictures., although they do leave me a little breathless. I’m sure you had a wonderful, relaxing time!
Thanks for sharing the spectacular views of your vacation, Karen. We’re also hoping to go on a road trip this summer and looking forward to many changes of scenery. It was nice to see the snow, even though I’m in no big hurry for winter to return to NE. Sometimes getting away for awhile is all that’s needed to recharge and show down. Can you tell me why I need to re-enter my information when leaving a comment? It doesn’t discourage me, but just I had to re-enter my email a couple of gtimes after getting a message to do so.
I wish I knew the answer to your question! I think the simple answer is that WordPress and Blogger don’t always play nicely together. When I comment on Blogger blogs, on some blogs I am able to use my wordpress id, but on others I have to use a google+ id. I wish I understood it better.
Your pictures spoke . . . wonderful views . . .
Wide open space . . . free . . . miles and miles . . .
I love that land too . . .
Altitude adjustment takes a few days . . . (for me anyway)
We were avid Colorado skiers . . . in my younger years . . .
Happy you enjoyed some vacation . . .
YES . . . those two look like cousins . . ,
My goodness, Karen what beautiful views you had.
I am so glad you had a wonderful time.
Thank you for taking us along with you!
Everyone needs some speed breakers to slow down their ride so that they hold chance with others… traveling is one of the best, alike reading a book taking us into different scenarios – like the one you had – we need calmness to rekindle ourselves. Loved the views and natural wonderful
testing…
your blog is temperamental, today, it likes me!!!
Colorado has some spectacular scenery (Rocky Mountain National Park is such a gem) and I do like Wyoming as well. I think these landscapes can truly calm someone – I think nature can in general. I always feel when I’m out in nature my heartbeat slows down, I’m more balanced and my mind clears. It’s a weird thing that I can’t really explain, but it works every single time.
Your images are very beautiful and I can almost smell the mountains in them. I would love to hike along that path.