Fall for me on an island is the hardest time of the year. I miss Fall in a way that I can not even put into words, without the tears flooding my eyes. I wait patiently for the return of the pumpkin spice latte or “Colorado in a cup” as I like to say. It transports me back to Colorado in the first taste and smell and allows me stay and linger in the memories of Falls long past. This time of years reminds me of crisp morning hikes with the dogs up on Rabbit Mountain just outside of Longmont. Cool crisp air and long morning runs. I am always amazed at how the green of summer transforms magically overnight, as if a master painter has dipped his brush in gold leaf, accenting each of the leaves with the last colors of an Indian summer winding down. Picking Choke Cherries along the banks of the Poudre River and putting up jam was a favorite fall past time. I put on James Taylor to write this morning. The music always reminds me of this time in my life. Remembering all the trips up to Estes Park listening to the soothing sounds as we would wind through the mountains to see our good friend Garth blow glass vases and plates in technicolor. Our children loved this time of year when the congested summer traffic had left the mountains, walking and laughing, eating salt water taffy and each of them picking up a new rock or 2 for our family collection. It is this time of year that the last of the 4-H animals are being shown, when the fair comes to town for one last hoorah, bidding farewell to summer and saying hello to Fall and all its splendor.
We have numerous clients from Colorado or who have Colorado roots. Most of them know of our love for Colorado. They spend hours talking to us about places that are familiar. You can always see it in their eyes that no matter how much they love Hawaii they will always miss the fall in Colorado, where the creeks run clear and cold from the high country. Where you take joy in pulling on your good wool sweater in the evening. Decorating the house with mums, trimming back and planting the tulip beds and prepping them for winter. Baking fresh bread, pumpkin and squash soup, Sitting in the stands waiting for the kick off and reveling in the excitement of your teams’ win. Heading to Old Chicago for dinner or Coopersmiths for Tomato Bisque and beer bread....those were the days !
Moving to Hawaii to buy this business, we gave up everything comfortable and familiar. We said goodbye to our family and friends, heading to a place with no idea what we would find when we arrived. I look out the window at the ocean view and am reminded how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to live and work in Hawaii. I am reminded that this is where Jacob is from and where his mom and dad still live. I am watching with baited breath to see signs of growth in our economy and am grateful for the chance to bring countless new options for veterinary care to the pets here in Hawaii. I am thankful for our amazing staff. I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who is so willing to give everything of himself and to this veterinary community, feeling a responsibility to give back to his roots. This fortifies me through the fall and I begin looking forward to the holidays that accompany Fall, and take us in to the winter and it makes me long to pull out our decorations. I am thankful I don’t have to scrape the ice off my car in the morning and I am glad I don’t have to buy salt for the sidewalks. I look forward to the chance of snow on Mauna Kea so we can go and build another snowman this winter and be at the beach the same day.
The Fall will come and go, passing softly into the winter. I will sit here looking out at the miles of ocean, transporting myself thousands of miles with the sip of my Colorado in a Cup. Realizing I have the best of both worlds. It really doesn’t get any better than this.
