Month: September 2024

The Magic of Autumn

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

Happy first day of fall! Every season has its wonders. The first soft snowfall of winter, the emerging colors and flowers of spring, lazy summer afternoons by the lake as the sun sets, and then… there is fall. Or, as I prefer to call it, Autumn. Autumn casts a quiet magic that tells us to stop and take a break. Breathe in the crisp air. Let the foggy mornings wrap around you. The deep golds, faded reds and muted shades of brown calm your soul. While spring is expectant, autumn is contemplative. I like contemplative. Autumn has a touch of magic to it.

Top 10 things I love about autumn:

Making soup again. Sure, you can make it in the summer, but that is just wrong. Soup is a fall/winter comfort food. The best thing about soup is that it can simmer for hours, releasing aromas that make your house feel warm and cozy. Bonus if you have warm homemade bread to go with it.

Fall festivals and markets. Celebrate the change of season with others by attending a fall market or Oktoberfest. Think pumpkins, hay bales, corn stalks, fresh squeezed apple juice, and festive music to go with it. Just last night we attended a fall party at a favorite local brewery. Great music, beer and company.

Fall music party at a favorite brewery last night (left). Mr. U in Gatlinburg last fall (right).

Pumpkin everything (to borrow an overused cliche). I know that you can buy canned pumpkin any time of the year, but there is just something about warm pumpkin bread in the fall. Every autumn we try to make a trip to a group of family-owned farms and get pumpkin doughnuts hot off the press. Sooo good! I am anxious to try a new recipe for pumpkin snickerdoodles. Pumpkins and snickerdoodles sound like a pretty decadent combo to me.

Football. I did not grow up loving football, but I learned to enjoy it through osmosis. With a spouse that loves sports and four sons that all played football, I had no choice but to join in or be left behind. Now I have a decent understanding of the game and can appreciate what it contributes to the feeling of fall. It is especially fun when your grandson is playing, and his sister is one of the cheerleaders.

Being outdoors in the crisp sunshine collecting autumn Roadsidea. Take a walk and kick up some leaves. Breathe in the scents of autumn. Bring the vibrant colors and textures inside by gathering acorns, chestnuts, pinecones and colorful leaves to create a fall tablescape. One of my favorite rituals for fall is to gather these items to decorate for autumn inside and out.

A few items harvested from the garden and acorns gathered as “roadsidea” to decorate the entry table. I made “Simon #1” years ago.
Fall decorating. I made the upcycled pumpkins from old sweaters. Post here.

The autumn garden. Gardens are fabulous most of the year, but there is nothing better than the garden in the fall. The colors are vibrant and there is a quiet, calm in the shadows that tells you the work of watering and weeding is over. It is time to reap the last of the harvest. Pumpkins, gourds, sunflowers and corn stalks waiting to be gathered for the porch.

Pictures compliments of Mr. U’s garden.

Fires and candlelight. Who doesn’t love pulling up to a cozy warm fire on a chilly day. We have a wood burning fireplace in our living room, which is one of the delights of winter. (Fortunately, we have an easy source for wood because son #2 co-owns a business that has wood trim ends as a by-product.) And then there are the fall slash fires outside. Nothing beats the sound of a crackling fire, but when we don’t have several hours to enjoy a real fire, we will light our gas fire pit outside. It begs you to sit and enjoy the last dregs of summer. It whispers of quiet fall evenings before the snow starts to fly. It is literally, the calm before the storm of winter sets in. September also commences the “bring on the candles” months.

A gas fire is a great way to spend a few autumn hours when it is still too dry for an outdoor fire.

Sweata Weatha. Personally, I could stay in shorts, t-shirts and flip flops all year long. It feels suffocating when I put on that first pair of long pants. But once I succumb, it is fun to bring out all of the comfy fall clothes. It is like meeting up with old friends again. One of my favorite clothing items are my beautiful, comfy wool socks that my dear friend makes for me. They are like wrapping your feet in a warm blanket of love.

Autumn travel. As much as I love being home to experience autumn, traveling this time of year feels mystical. It is also much less crowded after Labor Day and prices are more reasonable. When we travel in the fall, we try to choose places that are an autumn experience. Our top favorites have been leaf peeping in Vermont, the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee, and most recently, the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. All three of these lovely places were named in Country Living as the Best Fall Towns in the US for Foliage — Fall Foliage in the US (countryliving.com)

One of the many covered bridges we got to see on our trip to Vermont several years ago.

Apple harvest. It is so disappointing to bite into a soft apple. They need to be crisp, fresh and flavorful. Sure, you can get waxy apples all year long, but they are the absolute best in the fall picked right off of the tree. It is part of living by the seasons. Apples grow abundantly in our neck of the woods. My dad has a couple of apple trees on his property, so it is always an event to gather together to pick apples.

Mr. U with a robust apple harvest (left). The picture on the right is from DIL #2 and their beautiful apple harvest this year.

Happy fall y’all

The full on colorful, lovely crisp autumn days do not last long. In a blink of an eye, the frost settles over the garden and the weatherman forecasts snow. So, take time to revel in the beauty and wonders of this season made for the senses. Indulge yourself fully in the magic of autumn.

A moody autumn sunset.

Rocky Mountain High

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

We try not to travel much in the summer for two reasons. First, everyone is traveling, so places are crowed. Secondly, we live in a beautiful area during the summer, and I want to stay home and enjoy it. Heck, people travel to be here in the summer months. But now, Labor Day is over, the kids are back in school, and it is the off season for many travel destinations. Sounds like the perfect time for two retirees to pack up their bags for a little mini vacation. (Mini means not too far away.) Oddly enough, we have never spent any time in Colorado, even though it is a short two-hour flight from our home. We have dropped down in Denver briefly many times, or spent a few nights there at conferences, but that is about it. We have never explored the Rocky Mountains. It was time for a little “Rocky Mountain High.” Warning: proceed with caution – photo bomb ahead.

As I mentioned in my previous post, it has been a busy summer, which seems to be continuing into the fall. Thus, we could only carve out four nights to be away. We dropped down in Denver early in the morning and jumped into our rental car. The first stop was Golden, Colorado. I did not even know it existed, but what a charming little town. It’s claim to fame is that Adolph Coors opened the first Coors brewery there. It is still a thriving brewery, so we had to stop in to see it and do a little test tasting. The town of Golden also has a festive main street with Clear Creek running through it.

We enjoyed the paved walking path along Clear Creek in Golden, Colorado.

If we had time, I definitely would have rented a tube and joined the float down the river (above). But we had reservations that night in Breckenridge, Colorado, so we headed over the (11,000 feet) pass to Breckenridge. What a lovely town tucked up in the Colorado Mountains with Breckenridge and Copper Mountain ski resorts close by. We found the rest we craved in this lovely town tucked in the Rocky Mountains. We stayed at the Lodge at Breckenridge for two nights. It is an older lodge, so the bathrooms were small, but it maintained the cozy wood beam, mountain lodge look and the views were amazing. Bonus that a hot breakfast and free parking were included.

The Lodge at Breckenridge sits up on the mountain with beautiful views.
Now this is my idea of having morning coffee (left). We had an amazing view of Breckenridge Ski Resort from our deck (right).

Breckenridge was probably our favorite town. It had a charming main street with lots of restaurants, shops and pubs. We stopped to visit the iconic troll – what a work of art! My grands would have loved this character.

My grands would have loved this troll in the woods.

We underestimated the change in altitude. After dinner that evening, we returned to our car, which was parked a couple blocks up hill, and we were both out of breath. It felt like COVID all over again. I know that I have not exercised as much as usual this summer, but it shocked me, until we realized that it was from the “thin air.”

To go even higher, the next day we traveled across Independence Pass (elevation 12,095 feet). I am not a fan of heights, so the drive was a little unnerving, to say the least. But the views! Amazing to see the Continental Divide from that vantage point. We are such small specs in the universe.

It was windy and chilly (not shorts weather) up over 12,000 feet overlooking the continental divide.

We headed over the pass for a short stop in Aspen, Colorado. Not impressed. The downtown was full of VERY expensive name brand shops and there wasn’t really a fun, downtown area otherwise. We walked around for about an hour and then headed to Vail, Colorado for the night. We expected Vail to be what Aspen was, so it was a pleasant surprise to see a Bavarian themed village with brick walks winding through it. We were fortunate to hit the last night of Oktoberfest, so we enjoyed a German beer and listened to the Polkanauts play. They describe their band as, “bringing Poka fear and destruction to the masses!” They play metal, rock, punk and surf songs with a decided polka twist. So different and fun to listen to. Afterwards, we meandered down the brick streets to Alpenrose for a German meal of sausage, a pretzel and fondue.

The Polkanauts (left). All of the streets, shops and restaurants had either a ski or Bavarian theme.
Mr. U eating dinner at Alpenrose (left). Same restaurant with a night view (right).
Vail had beautiful flowers and mood lighting everywhere.
We enjoyed a soak in the hot tub at our hotel after a full day of sightseeing (right).

While Vail was overpriced, as expected (you pay about 1/3 more for everything,) it was worth it for the night. We stayed at Tivoli Lodge in Vail Village, so we were able to walk everywhere, although they have free bus/shuttle services available too. Our hotel provided a complimentary bottle of wine on arrival, and we took advantage of the hot tub before bed that night. They also had e-bikes to use, so we took a bike ride the next morning before checking out. Both of us had a little “holier-than-thou” attitude toward e-bikes, but I have to admit that we really enjoyed using them. Something we may consider… in the future. There was a lovely, paved bike/walking path along the river. What a great way to start the day, but we were excited to jump in the car and head through Rocky Mountain National Park.

Wow! The views in the park were amazing. I could hear John Denver quietly singing in my ear, “rocky mountain high.” We came across several herds of elk. Just for the record, a male elk with those big horns is a bull and not a buck. Won’t make that mistake again.

The elk in the park were undisturbed by the gawking humans.
There were quite a few glaciers near the summit in Rocky Mountain National Park.

We spent our final night in Estes Park and enjoyed a delicious, abundant BBQ dinner at Smokin’ Dave’s BBQ. The price was a welcome respite after Aspen and Vail.

Delicious BBQ dinner (no greens on this platter). Almost ran into this guy (literally) on our way home from dinner (right). Apparently, these are the street gangs that roam at night in Estes Park.

After our night in Estes Park we headed back through Boulder towards Denver to catch an evening flight home. It was a delightful mini get-a-way that gave me a new appreciation for the song “Rocky Mountain High.” Who needs mood altering drugs when you can get high on nature?

Boulder, Colorado

Living Our Best Lives

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

I am back from my month long “blogcation.” I really needed to take the month of August to have a reset. It has been a bumpy summer. It started with Mr. U and I both getting COVID. Then there were a lot of projects that I didn’t particularly enjoy or want to do, fulfilling responsibilities, and some health scares. By the of end of July my bike was gathering dust in the garage, I only had my kayak on the water a handful of times, and we still had not unwinterized our camper. Suffice it to say… I was not living my best retirement life. And lingering in the back of my mind was that nagging question… how many more summers do I have left? I can’t afford to miss even one. Do you ever worry about that, or is it just me?

I decided I needed to salvage what little bit of summer I had left. It was time to make a point of living my best life, right now, despite the challenges. My best retirement life is not expensive or glamorous. Aside from some travel, it is pretty simple really. In the summer, my best retirement life is:

  • going out to the garden to pick fresh vegetables and herbs for dinner or a colorful bouquet of flowers to liven up the kitchen counter.
  • a leisurely afternoon kayaking with a friend.
  • a picnic dinner out on the boat watching the eagles soar.
  • taking the four wheelers into the mountains to pick huckleberries.
  • dining al fresco… bonus if it is by the water.
  • that first steaming cup of coffee in the morning when you are camping.
  • late morning bike rides armed with a pack lunch and journal.
  • a lingering afternoon on the water with my family, followed by the smell of the B.B.Q. being fired up.
  • feeling the unfettered joy of being with my grands.
  • laughter gathered around the fire pit.
  • quiet conversations as the sun sets behind the mountain on another summer day.

It was the end of July, and I was starting to feel like a caged animal that had not been outdoors enough – pacing and anxious to feel the sun on my shoulders and the gentle ripple of water under my paddle. So, to kick off taking my summer back, a friend and I loaded up the kayaks and headed to the river for an afternoon on the water. It was just what my soul needed. Towards the end of the afternoon as the sun was getting low, we tucked our kayaks into the reeds away from the waves of passing boats and poured a glass of chilled white wine. A ski boat drifted by and one of the beautiful young ladies waved at us and yelled, “I want to be like you two someday!” And at that moment, I realized, this is it. I am living my best life. I just needed to pull back and carve out some time for it.

Kayaking the Coeur d’Alene River with my beautiful friend (left).

During my “blogcation” I cut down on social media and screen time. I spent mornings with a cup of coffee reflecting. How did I get away from living my best life and how do I make sure that I don’t let the weightier things in life keep me from finding the joy and beauty in every single day? How do I peacefully blend the responsibilities of life with enough time and energy for play? I had to rethink my priorities and what I wanted my life to look like. And while the blog break was nice, I also missed writing.

I pondered how/if writing my blog fit into my best life. What I noticed was that when I did not blog, I spent a lot more time writing in my journal. I guess some people just need to spill their thoughts on to a page. I concluded that writing and taking photos for this blog are part of my best retirement life right now. The challenge was the commitment to post every Monday. I have tried to stay consistent with that, because that is what the social media gurus tell you to do. However, the intent of this blog was never to make me rich or famous, so what do I care about blog rules? Heck, I can post when the muse hits and not post when I am having a super busy week. The shake down is that you may find my blog posts a little less consistent. They may be less or even more than once a week and they may not always show up on Mondays. They may include short blurbs or long rants. I hope that you will stick with me through it and if you want to be notified via email when a post comes out, please sign up for my newsletter.

How peculiar that, even in retirement, we can get so bogged down with the worries and responsibilities of life, that we forget to live our best life. As the old saying goes, “if not now, when?” What does your best life look like and are you making the time and effort to live it, or are you just drifting by?

Sunsets are a vital part of my best life.