Dear Maia, Isaac, and Virtual Wanderers,

If you want the short version of the letter (about 1.5 minutes) please visit the video below. Otherwise, buckle your seatbelts for the full-length written version (below).

Once upon a time, I wrote Christmas letters, then shifted to video. This year, I thought I would write a blog Christmas letter to accompany my video. I always choose a theme or focus for my year vs a resolution – this year was the year of exploration. I chose that not because I planned a huge trip to someplace amazing, but because it was my first full year of not working (or going to school) as a nurse since 1981.

The year started with some trajectory-changing events. On the positive side, I got my basement floors redone and the area sealed. It’s funny how we don’t realize how bad it is until it’s better. Unfortunately, the art co-op I was part of had decided to close in May. The biggest thing, though, was my little disabled chi, Sazi had complications from her disc disease and I lost her in March. I’ve never experienced the intense bond that can develop with a disabled fur kid before. It really tore me up because she was not that old and otherwise pretty healthy for being 12. The pups and I had started a 365-mile walking/hiking challenge with the hopes it would be her rehab, so Kachina and I set out to “bring it home” for Sazi. (We got to 365 miles sometime in August and a tree will get planted in a National Forest as soon as I get the paperwork filed.)

It was a cold, wet spring. It felt like winter would never end. Losing Sazi threw me into depression and, after much deliberation, I decided to take on a little chi mix hospice dog in April to help ease the pain. Kokopelli was thought to be 12-15 with such a bad heart that she couldn’t be spayed or have the other surgeries that she needed. She came from a place called Harley’s House of Dreams in the Denver area but originally was rescued from a hoard in Texas after having many, many litters. The rescue got an echocardiogram on her just before I adopted her that cleared her for surgery. I ended up taking her to a vet surgeon in Carbondale to have her bilateral perineal hernias and umbilical hernia repaired. She was spayed and had huge ovarian cysts removed. Despite 2 weeks of strict crate rest and a 12-16 week rehab, she decided to live. And with gusto – she is the family comedian. Her DNA says she is primarily Chin-Chi-(Chow.)

It was between bringing Koko home and taking her for surgery that we took our annual April Arizona road trip. It was a fun trip – no brand new stops this year, but a lot of old favorites in a new order of appearance. It was great to be away from the never-ending winter and the superbloom near Tonto National Monument was something I won’t forget. The pups got a chance to bond!

The week we got home, I moved my business (Art from the Hartt) to a new location downtown called Country Flair. It’s been fun, but also a fair amount of work without as many sales as I had the previous year with the art co-op. This store is more of an antique (second-hand) bargain store. My booth also got hit by a rat who ate about $100 in plants last summer. I will be re-evaluating if it is cost-effective to continue at that location in the spring. I am also in the process of revamping my Etsy shop and adding a shop on GoImagine.com.

Summer heated up seemingly overnight. It was hotter than usual, which made the daylilies fairly happy (for desert daylilies that are always hoping for rain and humidity.) The pups and I did a little camping and hiking when the heat wasn’t prohibitive. Mostly, I worked on making inventory for my business in my garage studio.

In August, we set off on an 11-day camping road trip. We spent a few days in the Dinosaur National Monument/Flaming Gorge area (Kachina, Koko, and me) area. Then, on to Pearl Lake State Park (Grandma’s Lake) for a few days. Then, we shifted course to the Front Range to pick up another senior rescue dog from Harley’s. This sweet chi mix girl is thought to be part Italian Greyhound and she spent her first night with us in a tent – then we packed up and headed home. Her name was Simone but she is now Cimarron Esti. (She is from my childhood hometown of Estes Park.)

A couple weeks later, we took our annual trip to Hovenweep National Monument. There was some fall in the air by then, but still warm and windy during the day. One day, there was cloud cover and no wind and we got in a longer hike to the Holly ruins. I was scared to death that Cimarron would back out of her harness and run away, but she seemed to enjoy herself. And, that concluded camping season.

Things slow down so much as far as adventure and travel in the fall – but we did get a few fall hikes in. The dogs are settling in after a few months together and my art studio is back in the new basement area for winter. I am getting a new roof on my old house currently. It’s odd to think that my home is nearly as old as the family’s cabin at Hahn’s Peak. I have several other upgrades planned for the next couple of years.

Next year my theme will be the year of Blue Zones as I work to improve my well-being in new ways. I really need to build a better community network of friends. With that, I wish everyone a heartfelt “Happy Holidays” and a new year filled with optimism and resilience.

Love, Cathy