BLACK HAWK — WOW, what a weekend. It was so action packed I barely caught my breath. Friday I took half a day off of newspaper work, to work my other job. That time included a lot of brainstorming, some lovely time in the sun, even a beer at the end of the day.
Saturday I set up our booth at the Gilpin County Fair. I started at 8:15 a.m. and worked til 2:45 p.m. and then thankfully, my friends Steve and Tara took over the booth for a few hours so I could go home and get cleaned up.
But while I was at the fair, I talked to so many people. I had a record day, sold nine subscriptions, gave away a bunch of tye-dye shirts and a few hats, and caught up with so many people I rarely see. I have missed this.
Saturday night I attended the final opening night of the Central City Opera. We had wine, hors d'oeuvres, and I got to catch up with a few friends I love talking to. Every time I sit down with a different group of people, I learn something. In this conversation I learned a little about REMS units, how long it takes to hike up to a glacier for skiing, some fun thrift shopping ideas, and even some hair advice. Because that is the group of friends I was blessed to sit with.
Then “Master Class.” WOW! What a beautiful presentation. I learned so much more about opera, about opera diva Maria Callas conducting a Master Class at Julliard in the 1970s. I have so much respect for these incredible performers, and now maybe a little more understanding of what it takes to achieve greatness.
And Sunday, back to the fair. I arrived early to pop the booth back up, fill it back up with what was left of our papers (thank you to Brightwood Music for sponsoring a give away of papers for the weekend again). And then, breakfast.
Not only breakfast, my favorite breakfast of the year. The Timberline Fire pancake breakfast. Not only did I get just the right amount to eat, I met a few new people, said hi to a couple dozen that were flipping pancakes, stirring eggs, handing out coffee and more. And I get so many hugs. I’ve missed that too.
I think of myself as slowly extracting myself from the front end of the paper and working the back end (I’ve always worked both). But this weekend reminded me how much I need to go out and just socialize, about the paper, about my kids (I updated so many people about where all my kids are), about life. I miss the human side of things.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still headed in the right direction overall, but I’m going to be more conscious of also being out there, participating in things, talking to people, making sure I’m available in person more. I needed this. And for that, I am so thankful.
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Thanks for reading, the Voice of the Peak to Peak since 1977.
