It was roughly nine years ago that I posted my very first blog post as my new adventure started to unfold. That was over 660 posts ago. Even after taking a break from the blog for a few years some time back that is quite a few posts.

I had actually left Colorado around Labor Day in 2012 but the first post didn’t happen for a week, in part due to the fact I had no internet since I was in Theodore Roosevelt NP in North Dakota. I was also busy getting used to my new reality, trying wrap my head around what was happening. I finally gave up trying; I just went with it…and that is what has happened for the last nine years. I have enjoyed life as much as I could amongst all the good…and the not-so-good.

It has been an interesting and exciting nine years (don’t take my word for it…go back through the posts and see for yourself!). I have gotten to see and do so many things and I have made some really good friends here along the way.

I am pretty fortunate that I am still walking the planet. It’s still an odd thing to say and think, but I know that I am very fortunate. When I went to the local Urgent Care facility on Valentine’s Day for what I originally dismissed as a backache from sleeping in a weird position and then found out I was having a heart attack, I really was focused on the future and how to fix it. I was not having this heart attack nonsense – eff that, I have no time for that shit. There’s a problem and I need to address it; I was not looking at my own mortality while lying in that ambulance – I was looking to the future. I was not going to be defeated. Luckily I had healthcare professionals that had the same opinion.

I “graduate” from cardiac rehab next week. I am actually graduating early since I am meeting all of the goals they have set. I have learned quite a lot the last six months and have taken very seriously the lifestyle changes I have had to make, starting the day I got home after my heart attack. Being a foodie, the diet thing has been challenging but also it has been an opportunity to try new things along with eating better and losing a bunch of weight. I have had to exercise more, which is never a bad thing.

And so, the adventure continues. And WILL continue!

Last week I went to a friend’s house and we made pizzas in their new wood pellet pizza oven. Oh man…was it good. So good. Simple pizza with simple ingredients baked in a wood-fired oven. It really was very tasty – smoky and crispy yet chewy crust with sauce, fresh basil leaves, mozzarella, sautéed onion and spinach.

It’s really beginning to feel like Fall here at the house now and I have seen bright red maples already and some of the other trees are starting to go yellow. It is getting into the mid-50s at night but perfect 70 degree days – great for a hike in the woods. We have actually gotten a little much-needed rain this past week, but that will pick up over the next few months with the monsoon season coming. That also means constant grey from the omnipresent cloud cover. Doesn’t bother me at all after being here this long.

That’s about it for now.