My husband and I are wrapping up a three-week vacation in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, which we have done several times before. But this trip we found changes, changes in ourselves. Feeling the altitude more. Being more tired. And other little happenings that remind me that I have a young spirit in a body that takes longer to adjust to things than it used to.

A wise friend, 10 years older than I am, shared her wisdom on travel: choose happiness, choose peace. Try to walk some and rest every day. And most of all, patience, patience, patience.

Whenever I come to the mountains, I feel at home in a way I can’t explain. Like I’ve come back home after being away. I breathe deeply and I say,  “Yes. I’m home again.”  And my age and my minor ailments fall away. Peace and happiness are here, for the taking.

For the last part of our vacation, we came to a tranquil cabin at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park. An unexpected guest came with us: Covid.

We had told ourselves that when we got to Colorado, we really wanted to rest. Well, we ended up doing so for a week, in a spacious cabin surrounded by mountains, pine trees, and  a quiet disturbed only by magpies and crows.

If you’re going to have Covid, you couldn’t think of a more beautiful place to be.

One day we took a respite from Covid and drove to one of the highest points here at YMCA of the Rockies, an outdoor chapel overlooking Rocky Mountain National Park.

We sat in the sun and watched the breeze make music in the trees.

I rested and let the wind blow the cobwebs out of my brain.

I sat there until I stopped asking questions.

Until I could just be.

One benefit of Covid is that you don’t feel like moving.

So, we sat there, long enough to stop thinking and just be.

“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well,” said Julian of Norwich, an English mystic.

Yes.

Patience, patience, patience. And choosing happiness. Choosing peace.

The last two days of our vacation we were well enough to go back into Rocky Mountain National Park. We explored, did a little bit of hiking, and drank in the beauty.

And that is what we are taking home: the peace of the mountains, the beauty of this place, and the memory of quiet moments, sitting on benches here at the YMCA, or walking slowly around the grounds.

“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well,” said Julian of Norwich.

She was right.