Several weeks ago a powerful storm swept through Rocky Mountain National Park. Two weeks later, we went hiking in the area, and we came across a devastating scene of absolute chaos and destruction. Hundreds of huge pine trees littered the ground, crisscrossing over each other, their broken limbs strewn everywhere. Most of the trees were literally ripped from the ground by their roots. Some trees that may have survived the storm that swept through the forest were split in two by the crashing force of the other trees that succumbed to the gale force wind.    What once was a beautiful forest of tall, majestic trees was now an eerie field of debris and destruction. Along with the broken branches, uprooted trees, exposed roots and huge craters in the ground, I saw several deadly nature...

    I have a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. So do all four of my sisters. Yes, I have four sisters, no brothers. Which always amazes me that my Dad did manage to live as long as he did. It also explains a little bit of his hearing loss. We used to think it was from the constant noise of the years spent working in the steel mills. Knowing what I know now about the nervous system and habituation, I believe it was from the constant high pitched squeals and shrieks that resulted from living with 6 women.     Anyway, last Christmas was an unhappy one for me and my sisters. Our Dad died on Thanksgiving weekend, just less than three short weeks after we lost our Mom. The five of us were together again, preparing to say another final farewell. There we were, surrounded by all of the lights, decorations,...

    Don’t you just love the story about Charlie Brown’s Christmas? Poor Charlie Brown. He starts out so sad and depressed by the thought of the upcoming holiday. It seems his depression was exacerbated by the enthusiasm displayed by his little friends who were eagerly anticipating Christmas. He was so disheartened he even sought help from the local psychiatrist. Why he trusted her with his fragile emotional state is a puzzle to me, since there was already some history between them. She never missed an opportunity to knock him down and call him a Blockhead. True to form, her advice appeared to be the psychological equivalent of smacking him upside the head and still charging him 5 cents for her services. Sheesh. That doesn’t seem right.     Everywhere Charlie Brown turned,...

I started out my weekend in pretty low spirits. When I woke up Saturday morning, I couldn’t shake off the bad mood I was experiencing. It didn’t help that my very sweet little geriatric Italian Greyhound had crawled into bed with us the night before and had become incontinent sometime during the night. Sheesh. I felt the weight of the world coming down upon me. I also felt like the entire world’s population was looking to do the same thing to me during the day that my little dog did the night before. I jumped out of bed, sprinted through the kitchen past the fresh brewed coffee that my husband had just made and directly to the laundry room. I washed the sheets, cleaned the mattress and cleaned my little dog. The nice thing about an Italian Greyhound is that they rarely require...

    My three day Thanksgiving vacation was rich with learning experiences. I discovered how restful, restorative and rejuvenating three days can be, if you just let go of expectations. I found out how much fun winter hiking is, as long as you dress appropriately. I realized that it really is possible to cook a full Thanksgiving dinner in an unfamiliar kitchen, no matter how small it is.         Life is full of opportunities to learn. All we have to do is let go of expectations, dress appropriately, and get a little adventurous!  Be healthy!Cheryl Ilov, PT, GCFP

    Most people do something extravagant and memorable for their 25th wedding anniversary, like going to Hawaii or the Caribbean for a week or two. We kept it simple. We combined our anniversary celebration with our Thanksgiving holiday and spent three days in Estes Park.     Estes Park is located north of Denver and is at the foot of Rocky Mountain National Park. It is also the home of the historic and beautiful Stanley Hotel, where we got married all those years ago. We spent the next three days visiting the hotel, hanging out with the local residents, hiking a few trails, and cooking a Thanksgiving dinner in small, unfamiliar kitchen. All in all, it was a great anniversary and the best Thanksgiving we’ve ever had!     Having our photo taken under the watchful eye of the hotel’s...

    I have always loved Thanksgiving. For me, Thanksgiving marks the end of fall, and a quiet time for reflection before the mad rush of the Christmas season. This Thanksgiving is even more special as my husband and I celebrate our twenty fifth wedding anniversary.     So, I approach this holiday, as usual, with time for quiet reflection. And as I look back on the cornucopia of blessings that have been showered down upon me over my lifetime, the most precious and most sacred of all was the one I received twenty five years ago, when I looked into the eyes of the man I love and said those two simple words that changed my life forever….”I do.” Be healthy!Cheryl Ilov, PT, GCFP