Vail Valley and Piney Lake

S. and I spent a long weekend in Vail visiting my parents who were there enjoying their annual two week visit during the season when the aspen trees turn golden. S. and I chose two drives on “improved dirt” roads that were recommended by a local Vail newspaper. The first took us up from Vail village on the forest service road that crosses the ski slopes up Vail mountain for about three miles then is barricaded and you have to turn around. The trees were only beginning to turn but the skies were a stunning blue and it was a lovely day. Next year cars will no longer be allowed to drive there. We passed quite a few cyclists so I am guessing it might be a safety measure to avoid accidents.

Next we crossed to the north side of I-70 onto the frontage road and drove up the road to Piney Lake on a similar dirt road. It climbs the valley on the other side passing some red sandstone cliffs and then travels on north and east through beautiful aspen and pine forests before ending at an alpine lake. We passed several trail head areas that might be fun to explore sometime. The only downside is that there was logging going on and the road is pretty rough where the logging equipment has been working and once we had to wait before passing around the logging crew. Piney Lake is beautiful and looks like a fun destination for a picnic or hiking and canoeing. Our grandchildren might enjoy a day there in a few years.

Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come to visit. We had four generations there at one point when our daughter and son-in-law and the newest baby great grandson came up for a day.

Lou

Lesson: Do not neglect your CEUs

For the past two weeks I have been reading online texts and taking tests to gain the 20 hours of continuing education units that are required for me to renew my professional PT license by October 1, 2011. Whew, it has been a long time since I reviewed the anatomy and biomechanics of various joints or studied PT treatments and precautions at different post operative levels following joint surgeries or joint replacements (arthroplasty.)

Some of the terminology has changed and the names of some of the tests and measurements for evaluating or quantifying progress are completely new to me. Thankfully I hadn’t lost all of the information from PT school and most of the abbreviations used on the patient evaluation forms still rang a bell after a little brain rattling. 

There also are new machines now apparently that can help with balance training in the rehab setting like super fancy Wii boards with computer feedback for every possible weight shift or stance in a variety of settings. A lot of PT still relies on using low tech therabands and dumbbells for strength training and the teaching of basic transfers and ADLS (activities of daily living) that hasn’t changed much over time and probably won’t. 

For those in the family, who maintain professional licenses, you know who you are, do not wait till the month before everything is due to start working on it like I did!

So here are the classes I took; anatomy and biomechanics of the hip, knee, ankle and lumbar spine. That was worth 10 units. Postsurgical module 1 Arthroplasty, covering hip, knee, shoulder, elbow and hand MP joints for 7 units. Postsurgical module 3 Spine, covering spinal surgeries for 3 units.

So there you have it 20 units in two weeks. I am kind of proud of myself. I have two years to complete the next batch of CEUs. Even though I am effectively retired, something still might persuade me to work part time again. 

Lou

A new study shows a consequence of fatherhood

One of my favorite photos of my grandchildren is one of them being held by my son and son-in-law with each holding the others baby. Both men are looking proud and happy. I hate to tell you guys but a recent study shows that your testosterone levels may have dropped since you became fathers. It also can or might be inferred that nature intends this and that human fathers are biologically wired to be helping in the care of their babies. I am glad to hear that!

Here is the study as reported at the Science Daily site. Click on the link to go there.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110912152901.htm

" ScienceDaily (Sep. 13, 2011) — A new Northwestern University study provides compelling evidence that human males are biologically wired to care for their offspring, conclusively showing for the first time that fatherhood lowers a man's testosterone levels."

Lest we think only the women go through hormonal changes before and after the birth of a child.

"The new study's findings also suggest that fathers may experience an especially large, but temporary, decline in testosterone when they first bring home a newborn baby. "Fatherhood and the demands of having a newborn baby require many emotional, psychological and physical adjustments," Gettler said. "Our study indicates that a man's biology can change substantially to help meet those demands."

The study followed 624 men in the Philippines who were in their twenties for 4.5 years testing them them before they became fathers and afterward.

I am proud that both of my grandchildren have fathers who are involved and hands on with their babies. No doubt their children are blessed in immeasurable ways by this and the blessings return to the fathers as well.

Lou

Hiking in the Snowies

We finally got to spend some time in one of our favorite places, the Snowy Range Mountains and the Medicine bow National Forest west of Laramie Wyoming on highway 130. We finished all our weekend chores on Saturday so that we could enjoy two guiltless days away. We had impulsively made a last minute reservation to stay the night at an old Hotel in Centennial near the old stomping grounds of the VC clan. The folks used to own a cabin in town and we spent many a family weekend there when the children were younger. They might remember it from the photos.

Sunday we packed up our picnic supplies and loaded up the dog and headed out west. We decided to take the road to Albany and Keystone instead of driving directly to Centennial as we had extra time and wanted to see the area around Lake Owen and The Rob Roy Reservoir. I also have a friend whose family owns cabins in the Keystone area and we thought we might stop by there if we could find it.

The gravel road to Lake Owen is dry and dusty. Off-road vehicles were out in force with the long holiday weekend. When a car encounters a string of such vehicles the lead driver holds up a hand showing how many more are following in the dust cloud behind him or her. Many of the drivers are young and drive way too fast crossing over the center line around the curves. It is an accident waiting to happen.

We walked part way around the lake when we got to Lake Owen which seems to be primarily a destination for camping and fishing. We had a nice picnic there. Penelope proceeded to jump in the lake to cool off and had a great time.

Driving on west to Keystone we took a few lucky turns and managed to find the place we were looking for but no one was home. It is in a beautiful forest area alongside a creek with rustic log cabin homes. We found another road on a map to take us on a short cut to Centennial a distance of about 15 miles. It was an unimproved jeep trail and quite rocky and bumpy, it took an hour to get there but was a nice adventure as long as we didn’t get stuck.  It was fun to see a different part of the forest as we drove north. It got steep on the downhill side and there were some drop-offs on my side as we neared Centennial. We got to town just in time to check in to the Buffalo Roam room of the 100 year old hotel and have dinner across the street at The Old Corral.

The rest of the evening was spent up the mountain at the lakes and the overlooks waiting for the sky to darken so we could see the stars in all their splendor at ten thousand feet. The Milky Way gradually appeared overhead. It was cold but there was no wind which is highly unusual. The drive back to town only takes about fifteen minutes. Penelope settled in on her bed at the hotel and thankfully did not bark at any strange noises in the night.

 Monday was spent taking more photographs and hiking the alpine trails from the Sugarloaf area. We tried a new portion of a trail that climbs and then levels out and follows along to view several alpine lakes at the base of the mountain range. The day was perfectly sunny and cool and quite a few mountain flowers were still flowering in the sheltered areas. Penelope ran miles and swam and drank from every lake. The scenery was spectacular! A good time was had by all. All three of us are extra stiff and sore today.

Lou

Thoughts triggered by the movie “The Help”

S. and I went to the movie recently and it triggered memories of my girlhood and our black housekeeper Ida Mae. I grew up in Omaha in the 1960’s so some of my life is similar to the time setting of the movie, but it wasn’t the deep south. Ida Mae had her employers deduct her social security from her wages and she did not wear a uniform. She had no childcare responsibilities only housekeeping ones. She took the bus to our neighborhood and my mom picked her up at the bus stop. She was our friend and I recall my mom working alongside her on cleaning days doing chores of her own. I loved Ida Mae and still feel sad that I wasn’t really able to say a goodbye. I heard of her illness and death well after the fact. She had moved back to her “people” in Port Arthur, Texas in her senior years after she could no longer work and no doubt lived on her meager social security checks. 

Ida Mae called me “Miss Lou” even though I had told her she did not have to. That was her background, I do not know how much actual education she had but she had a dyslexic signature like a child. We exchanged Christmas cards long after I left home to go to college and then married. I sent her photos of my kids. She wrote back asking for prayers and including little bits of wisdom and news. She was humble and gentle and laughed easily. She had no spite in her yet she would tell stories of doing the housekeeping and cooking for orthodox Jewish women and all the extra work that was involved in keeping the Kosher rules during holidays. I can’t imagine her ever baking the infamous chocolate pie like Millie in the movie. She had a difficult life, I don’t know whether she was widowed or divorced but one of her son’s had mental disabilities from his service in the Vietnam war I think and she was raising a grandson who gave her trouble. She had a strong faith and her church meant a great deal to her. She had funny ways of saying things. I remember her telling me “don’t take any wooden nickels” when I started college. She cleaned the old fashioned way scrubbing floors on her arthritic hands and knees, she wouldn’t use a mop. She could make a bathroom shine.

When I saw the scene in the movie where the main character is given a copy of the book signed by all the other maids and noticed all the perfect cursive signatures I knew that wasn’t authentic. I knew Ida Mae’s signature and bet most of the other maids of her era would have signed similarly given their lack of educational opportunities. 

The movie is a portrayal of a certain time and place and it is good for people today to know how things were then. It was a sad time for our nation, things are different now but the poverty and lack of opportunity continue for many today. Injustices will always remain this side of heaven, what matters is how we deal with what we are given.

I still love Ida Mae for her way of encouraging others and making the best of things. She trusted in her Lord Jesus and leaned on Him. She was a gentle soul. 

Lou