Free To Be Lovely

Ambleside Park Imagine if you will, you are in a beautiful park in Vancouver, British Columbia. Let's say Ambleside Park in West Vancouver. From this park, you can look across the water and see the amazing Lions Gate Bridge and Vancouver's famous Stanley Park. You can also look out onto Burrard Inlet, which opens up into the Strait of Georgia. Incredible! It's a nice day, not too hot, and not too cold. The sun plays hide and seek with the clouds keeping the temperature just right. This is where we were and how it was on Saturday, August 17th at the classic rock festival, Rock Ambleside Park 2019. On this perfect day, at this perfect venue, we saw four of Canada's best rock bands: Pat Travers, Sass Jordan, SAGA, and Tom Cochrane with Red Rider. Who??? If you aren't Canadian (or maybe if you are), there is a chance that you won't know these accomplished Canadian classic and progressive rock bands. But, if you heard Sass Jordan's powerful, gravelly vo...

A few weekends ago, a girlfriend from Vancouver, Canada came to visit with her family. I've known this friend for almost 28 years; We met just after we graduated from university. It's neat because both she and her husband are the same age as Karl and I and our friendship has stood the test of time through the many different seasons and challenges of life. We, all four of us, are on the cusp of turning 50. And so, as the boys chatted about aging, so too did us, girls. And it was refreshing...and helpful. We talked about going gray and dealing with wrinkles. We shared our fears of being marginalized as we get older and discussed how to change our attitudes about aging. It was positive and I felt like I wasn't alone. Truth is, I see more and more women embracing their gray hair, and I love it. I started letting "the wisdom" (as my hairstylist calls it) out about 5 years ago and have never regretted it. I want to share what I've learned about going gray in...