Early Thursday morning, when every sane human in Anthem Country Club’s gated community was sleeping, I started my trip back to Aspen. I shared a farewell with this majestic Great Blue Heron , a year-round resident who always enjoys the dawn peace, solitude and fountain mist.

Someone with more insight than I insists the best tools for getting to Happy are 1) Sunlight; 2) Rest; 3) Exercise; 4) Diet; 5) Self-Confidence; and 6) Healthy Relationships.

None are budget-busters. The first is free. The rest we can control and manage ourselves. The effort we commit to each is by choice.

Midway through my trip to Aspen I stopped for the night. The next morning I wandered into the motel’s breakfast room and encountered this memory bonanza of doughnuts. After opting for a healthier breakfast of yogurt and banana, I just had to grab 2 mini-powdered morsels. Got the sugar all over my black sweater. The full-on experience.

Last week I drove to Aspen after spending the best 2-month holiday season ever with my Bishop family and friends in Henderson/Las Vegas where Michael and I last lived. This was a quiet time when I could re-evaluate the Life I lead. Realizing there are no more 10 or 5-years plans in my future, I’m pretty ruthless about my year-to-year scorecard.

Home again in Colorado. Brush Creek, Snowmass Country Club, Snowmass. Colorado.

Which brings me to #6 in the tool chest above, Fostering Healthy Relationships. By necessity as a Caregiver needing to stay healthy, I already had nailed #1-4. Number 5 is still sometimes wobbly. But I believe #6, is the best pathway to Happy.

No powdered sugar donuts to be found in Aspen, Colorado.

Relationships and friendships come in all sizes. Each needs nourishment. Of course, being all about Lists, I have one to share with you. Here’s hoping you’re okay with that. My work in progress….

FAMILY: When returning to Aspen in 2013 my only hesitancy was being 850 miles from my granddaughters. I wailed at the thought. Melissa’s family was the reason we moved to Las Vegas. We saw each other often. Missy kept saying, “We’ll figure it out, Mom. We will.” And, as always, she did. For the past four years Clara and Emma have each written me weekly e-mails. Mom’s rules were “3 paragraphs, 3 different subjects.” At first there were nudges, bribes and ‘not until you e-mail Grandma’ threats. No more. Besides long and lengthy e-mails, they also text, call and send videos. In turn, I write weekly e-mails to each girl. While I only see them 2 or 3 times each year, I am in the middle of their lives.

The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art displayed two Yayoi Kusama installations: Infinity Mirrored Room and Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity and Narcissus.



PERSONAL FRIENDS: Old or new, near or far, I value my friends. I’m too busy to be a constant buddy but I work hard to nurture friendships. If you’re my friend, you know it. What I’ve become less tolerable about in friends are complainers, whiners and victims. Life isn’t always fair but I know I am very fortunate. My personal social landscape beginning with loyal grade school besties up to recently-made friends tend to also be people who realize and are grateful for the good lives we’re privileged to lead.

My friend Ardyth Sohn invited me to The Literary Society’s monthly luncheon and meeting to hear Lisa Ko discuss her award-winning debut novel, “The Leavers.” She writes beautifully and is quite impressive.
The meeting was at the Four Season’s Hotel located in Mandalay Bay. For lunch we enjoyed Tuna Nicoise with Kalamata Olives, Fingerling Potatoes and Haricot Vert covered with a Mediterranean Vinaigrette.
Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse Dome with Raspberry Coulis

CONSEQUENTIAL STRANGERS are those countless everyday people who touch our lives often and influence us personally. Where would my life be without my Gant family enabling me to “live the dream” as Wesy, our Concierge often says. “Mrs. Hirsch, you are living the dream.” And while I am so fond of that crew, respect and admire them, I recognize there is a Homeowner/ Employee relationship we must observe. Sometimes I forget.

Prepare to be impressed. Do you know anyone but Mary Hirsch who has earned a certificate for a Master Dumpling Class? I’m betting, No. The Wynn offers a variety of Master cooking classes taught by Chefs from its various upscale restaurants.

WEAK TIES are acquaintances or not, who can be surprisingly powerful in influencing us. All the food bloggers I’ve followed the past 8 years are Weak Ties. However, the French Fridays with Dorie group (Dorista’s) grew into personal friends through meet-ups, visits and weekly blog posts.

The revolving door of impressive speakers/programs at the Aspen Institute, Music Festival and the like are Weak Ties who profoundly influence me on a daily basis. During the late Eighties while attending a small seminar I listened as Justice Harry Blackmun explained how Roe v. Wade happened. Since that initial magic moment I’ve experienced fleeting but impressionable encounters with the famous and accomplished like YoYo Ma, Renee Fleming, RBG, Congressman John Lewis, former SOS Madeline Albright and the Unknown, like those 300 Opportunity Youth Forum leaders who gathered at the Institute last fall.

There were 17 students in the class with four chefs and four helpers to assist us in making Dim Sum dishes for lunch. Working in the Wing Lei kitchen, we accomplished the task and had fun doing it. Chef Sandy Shi, above, is the Master Dim Sum Chef, and manages her own kitchen and staff. She turns out 30,000 to 50,000 dumplings per month.
Serious business. We are attempting to make Shumai, a type of traditional Chinese dumpling. While I will never make another dumpling, I had a great time in the class.

FACELESS WONDERS are thousands of taken-for-granted people we don’t even know who make our daily lives tick-tock and function. Think 800,000 federal workers victimized by the recent Shutdown. Or, for me personally, a 30-second encounter with 300 firefighters while handing off dinner to them at the Salvation Army Food Truck in El Jebel last summer.

Chef Wei Chan

The upshot? This is the first time I’ve categorized my friendships. I’m realizing, like it or not, we’re plugged into something larger than our own tiny worlds and that’s a good thing.