Sally Gerard

What is it about starting something new? It’s exciting, scary, daunting and challenging. It opens your mind and body to new possibility. It reminds you of past failures, you know, those New Year resolutions that gather dust in your mind or on the crumbling sticky note you taped to the fridge or your desk.

But at first, it’s like the crackle of the book binding when you open it for the first time. You’re eager and ready to begin. Maybe, if you’re smart, you’ve enlisted a friend or two to launch with you and to keep each other engaged, on track, and to stay the course. Having a team, even if it’s only two, is always easier.

Case in point: Last summer, Elaine and I hiked up to Lion Lakes. We knew it would be tough, just to the main lake. We also knew there were two more upper lakes and we’d never be closer. The “trail” from the main lake to the higher lakes was little more than suggestion. We were determined and eventually found our way to the first upper lake.

Taking our “us-ie,” we agreed, as a team, that this lake would have to do for the day. Seventeen and a half miles from sun-up, our very tired feet heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the coach and four, Elaine’s Subaru, at the trail parking lot. Being in it together made all the difference.

You can join our Make-a-Wish team by donating today and by sharing our link with others who could donate: Make-a-Wish with Educators in the Hills

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When I drive by the abandoned church, I always slow down wondering when the roof will finally cave in and collapse. I wonder about the congregation that worshipped there, how far away they came from and how their pastor was. How many were baptized there? Married? How many funerals? Church suppers?

I don’t know if anyone is left who might still know some of the stories. No one cares for the building anymore, and it will soon go the way of old barns, sheds, and homesteads. It served as it was intended and stands now, teetering, in rest.

If it were you, what would you wish for? You’re sick and you’ve been in and out of hospitals, maybe what you have is terminal and maybe it isn’t. But either way, your life has been structured around doctors and treatments and missing out on what every other kid does every day with no thought about what will come tomorrow. I’m fairly certain mine would be a long pack trip on my horse to places deep in the wilderness with a writing notebook and some Pull n’ Peel licorice.

So, Make-a-Wish steps in to say, “Hey, we know you need a break from all of this. If you could do one thing, go to one place, experience being something (firefighter, photographer…), have one thing, meet a special someone, or give something back, what would you wish?”

Why do we want to grant a wish? Because it lifts their heavily burdened spirits and gives them the “fight” to press on through treatments and hopefully to wellness. They get to be a kid for a while and step out in front of their medical diagnosis for a minute and into joy, awe and inspiration. That is why we, Educators in the Hills, are hiking. And that is why we need you to donate what you can to help. We’ll hike and you can be our support team. Won’t you consider a donation: Make-a-Wish Educators in the Hills

Tightening up the laces on my hiking boots, securing my pony tail through the back of my red ball cap, and snugging down the straps on my Camelbak, I’m ready to hit the trail. I love the name of my pack, Cloudwalker, cuz’ it keeps me going and inspires my feet to be light.

We need your inspiration and your donations to “Make a Wish” Trailblaze a reality helping to fund wishes for those special kiddos! Click here for our donation page-tax deductable!

The heaviest weight I carry is the water, 2-3 liters depending on the hike distance. I love setting off, filling my lungs with the smell of pine and the chill morning air, and having the cheery company of Elaine.

Over the last few years, we’ve learned a lot about hiking. We’ve come to understand that you don’t hike all the way to your destination without fueling as you go. That drinking water all along the way stops a dehydration headache. That good boots save your feet, but even then, after eighteen miles (or less!), the dogs will bark. Loudly. That you cannot continue to push on when you still have to hoof it back to the trailhead parking and you’re on the edge of “that little bit more is going to do me in.” That a well-earned Salted Nut Roll from your hiking fairy-godmother can get you just that much further on the return trip. That a destination “us-ie” is essential. And, if at all possible, McGill’s World of Ice-Cream is a must upon returning to town.

Dear friends, family, and those of you I’ve never met:

If you don’t read any further than this, click here: Educators in the Hills

Have you ever wanted to change someone’s life? I know I have – that’s why I am participating in the 2019 Trailblaze Challenge with my hiking partner Elaine and raising money for my local Make-A-Wish® chapter. And I want you to join us by spreading the word about what Elaine and I are trying to accomplish. We’ll be hiking 23.7 miles of the Colorado Trail on August 10th. The good news is that you don’t have to slog along with us; you can simply enjoy our stories and support the wishes of some awesome kids by donating towards our goal which we hope to exceed!

Together, we can raise money to help grant the wishes of children with critical illnesses. Their wishes and afflictions may vary, but something unites each of them: the need to feel optimistic and to think about something greater than their next medical treatment.

Will you join me and Educators in the Hills (Hey, we had to have a team name!) as we raise the much-needed funds to support Make-A-Wish? Many of you know that Elaine and I hike weekly in the summer, and we’ve decided that this summer our goal and purpose will be to help make some wishes come true for some very special kiddos!

We really believe that wishes change lives. Doctors, parents and wish kids share so many stories about how wishes inspire hope and build emotional strength that kids need to fight a critical illness. Together, we can make more stories like this happen.

Our goal is to exceed $5000.00 and I think we can!

Please visit our fundraising Web page to donate today! And thanks in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Sally Gates

Educators in the Hills   (It’s so easy to click on this link and donate. Easy Peasy.)

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Sitting in the airport, my laptop open, I distract myself from a lonely day of travel with my work. Speakers add to the din with the call to board this flight or that flight while carry-on luggage the size of trunks roll in all directions. Hard plastic chairs filled with people in all manner of travel dress from tight skirts to suits to pajamas surround me. I grade, answer email and sip the rich hot mocha I grabbed on the way in.

An older man approaches, “Are these taken?” He indicates the two empty seats to my right.

“No,” I say, “help yourself.”

Motioning to a woman a few feet away, he says, “C’mon Honey. Sit down while I find us something to eat.”

She glowers at him but sits. There is a muffled argument about what to get. The woman tells him there is nothing around to eat and he should have gotten something when they were in the main part of this terminal.

Within my view, there are at least five places to grab a bite ten or twenty steps away, everything from sandwiches at a deli to a sit-down Italian place. The man is clearly practiced in patience. “It’ll be hours before we’re at Mellie’s place. I can get us a couple of turkey on ryes at the deli there and we can eat them on the plane.”

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“I don’t want a sandwich.”

“Okay, let me grab a menu from that place over there,” he points to the Italian place, “and we can get something to go.”

She wants nothing to do with it and he continues to go through the options he can see until their flight is called, at which point she says, “Why didn’t you go down and get me something from that place we passed on the way here?” But it’s too late now because they are boarding.

I send the man a sympathetic look and go back to my work.

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While I always hate to kiss winter goodbye, it is nice to see everything greening up. The pear trees and plum trees are blooming, and the cherry trees aren’t far behind them. The chokecherries are full of tiny flower buds ready to shoot out and berry, but it is too soon. We will see another freeze and depending on how long it lasts and how low the temperatures go we may not have a fruit crop. The trees have been lulled to life by the warm spring sun and I can only hope that same sun saves them after the cold.

I too can be fooled by the early warmth of spring, chomping at the bit to get the garden in so I will have plenty of squash for summer eating and for winter. The last of the spaghetti squash put up for the winter met the sauce last week. The mulberries gracing breakfast cereal are gone. And I am dreaming of grilled zucchini. But no, my mind tells me, no. Wait until at least Mother’s Day to plant. Patience.

When have you experienced grace in your life? I try to notice the little things but I don’t always see them as grace. Grace allows us to regenerate, to inspire others, to impart strength to endure, to assist, to give even when it isn’t deserved. Grace brings holy moments into our lives.

There is grace in each rising of the sun on a new day. In the response of neighbor to a call for help, even just to tighten a loose belt on a piece of equipment. In the unexpected card arriving in the mail with that simple message that says, “I care and I think of you.” In the arms that wrap around and hold you close when you are hurting.

We need more grace in our lives. And we must show more grace to others. I remember a saying that teaches grace, “You can’t get mad at a cat for being a cat.” It applies to everything. It’s easier to jump to anger, but we are called to grace. Let grace abound, even if it’s only in one tiny encounter.

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Many are gearing up for the start of the final season of Game of Thrones, myself included. Although, I won’t get to watch them until the season is over. Meanwhile, we are having our own season of fire and ice. Expecting a high of 80 degrees today with 35 MPH winds, the fire danger is high.

But, I guess if there is a spark, the rain changing to snow with blizzard conditions ought to put it out. The predicted snow ranges anywhere from 1-8 inches and the winds at 35-40 sustained with possible gusts upwards of 60. Right now, baby calves are charging around the pasture playing various games of tag and red rover. Perhaps on Thursday, those will change to “let’s dig a snow fort.”

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No matter where you are, we all do our best to prepare for incoming weather. But that doesn’t always guarantee that everything will come up daisies. But there is blessing in the work and in the fierce beauty of the wind and weather, and God is good all the time. Plus, we do have a store of hot cocoa on the ready.