Eliza!

Find Eliza in the center of this crew!

August 4, 2012.  Eliza's 26th birthday on Mt. Elbert, Colorado's highest mountain.

Hi All,

Yes, where have I been you might ask!
I am just back from a writing retreat in Taos, New Mexico. Years ago I posted all kinds of great pictures and commentary about my time there on this very blog. This year I stayed away from my computer entirely, trying to really focus on the writing and meditation practice and the landscape at hand. Sorry to desert my readers! I did have a wonderful time.

It is my habit to report on family news on this blog as well as my own meanderings, so let's focus on Eliza for a moment. Eliza drove out west with Zand Martin somewhere in the middle of July. He went to work for NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School...Eliza is a trained leader also for this organization) leading a month long trek in the Wind River Range in Wyoming and Eliza headed to Leadville, Colorado, her new home. She spent a week with family, the Boulder McLeans, and was so grateful for that home base before her Rocky Mountain work began.

She is working for the High Mountain Institute in Leadville as Residential Life faculty, advisor and trip leader. She is presently in the back country for ten days with the new group of high school students who are taking an academic semester away from their own high schools (mostly on the east coast) and learning in all new ways in the mountains of Colorado. Above are some photos from the staff trip taken before students arrived. They climbed Mt. Elbert and camped for a few days. When did Eliza become this rugged? we all ask ourselves. She is fully functioning at 10,000 feet and above as if it's nothing!

She returns to Leadville from "the back country" on September 5. Please keep her in your thoughts. There are certainly dangers out there with afternoon lightning storms and other unforeseen natural events. We look forward to her safe return!

David and I are  fully at sea level at the moment living on Martha's Vineyard for two weeks. We are house sitting, taking care of dogs and cats for my friend Laura while she is away for vacation. Carrie and Tim have joined us for a few days so there has been all kinds of surfing, kayaking and  paddle boarding  going on. There is so much to explore on this island! We are also enjoying cooking, shucking oysters, going to farmer's markets and watching sunsets from the porch. We are enjoying the last gasp of summer in style. Sending warm regards to my readers!