Happy 2014! Views from Bear Lake, RMNP

Happy 2014!  A new year, and a new beginning.  Every year brings its share of happiness and sadness, challenges and surprises.  I hope this new year will bring us all many new blessings.
When my husband and I visited Rocky Mountain National Park for the first time last September, I was in awe of the beauty that surrounded us at every turn. One of our first stops in the park was Bear Lake, where we walked the nature trail. I decided to share that trails photos with you, along with some inspiring quotes for the new year...remember that each photo will enlarge if clicked on once and then again...

"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end, meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells..." ~ Edward Abbey

Bear Lake

"To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life."  ~ John Burroughs

Hallett Peak

 "Your success and happiness lie within you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties." ~ Helen Keller

Longs Peak

"I remember a hundred lovely lakes and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns, and saffron sunsets. It has given me blessed relief from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day. It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful. Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy."  ~ Hamlin Garland

"I have the opportunity, once more to right some wrongs, to pray for peace, to plant some trees, and sing more joyful songs."  ~ William Arthur Ward

At 9,475 foot elevation, Bear Lake Trail is a popular and easily traversed trail which loops around Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. All of the photos above were taken along the 0.8-mile trail. My husband and I were fortunate that the trail was relatively empty the day we visited the park, and we were able to enjoy the serenity of its views. 

After living in New York City all of my life up until last year, in particular, the borough of Brooklyn, which has 2.5 million people within its borders, I find the beauty and seasonal rhythm of these abundant natural areas of Colorado to be very peaceful and uplifting. As much as I loved the energy of the city and all the cultural opportunities it afforded me, I find the natural beauty of the west even more alluring.

I hope to show you more about my new state of Colorado in the coming year, and I look forward to this new year full of many more adventures and discoveries!

What are you looking forward to in the new year? Wishing you good health and happiness in the year ahead!

Christmas Eve and Day--Much Food and Many Smiles!

I admit I overcooked for Christmas Eve dinner at my house, but after a few years of not hosting the holiday, I felt as if I wanted to cram those absences into one night. I made the traditional fish feast of linguine with calamari tomato sauce (not pictured), stuffed lobster tails, fried shrimp, lagostino scampi, salmon stuffed with crab meat, scallops wrapped in bacon. and baccala (dried salted codfish) cooked two ways-fried and in a spicy tomato and olive sauce. Plus, to please the nonfish eaters at my table, I made eggplant parmigiana, rib roast with vegetables and veal marsala.  For dessert, we had an assortment of cookies that I made and decorated a few days before.  It was a true Italian "abbondanza" feast with enough leftovers to last a few days.

The best part of the Christmas Eve evening was watching my granddaughter take her first steps on her first Christmas! She is close to eleven months old and I believe she will be fully walking by her first birthday. How quickly time flies!

Christmas morning we went over to my son and daughter-in-law's house for brunch and watched our grandsons open gifts. There was lots of gleeful exclamations and many smiles as they played with their new toys.

Later that Christmas afternoon we went over to my daughter and son-in-law's house where we watched our granddaughter open her gifts. She liked the wrapping paper and bows almost as much as her presents!

Children really make the holidays "merry and bright," and after spending this Christmas with our grandchildren, my husband and I know we made the right decision to move west last January to live close to them.  2013 has been a wonderful year for us, and it is with joy and anticipation that we look forward to 2014!

Thank you to all my blog readers for your friendship and comments throughout the years! 

Wishing everyone good health, happiness and many blessings in 2014!