Did you know that the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve has the tallest dunes in North America? The Sand Dunes of Colorado can reach as high as 750 Feet! The sand dunes constantly shift with the wind, water and time sculpting its appearance and beauty. The dunes are in the shadow of the Sangre de Cristo (“Blood of Christ”) Mountains. The Dunes stretch across 30 square miles with an average elevation of 7,500 feet. ![]() Interesting Facts About the Sand Dunes in Colorado: 1) Members of the Ladies P.E.O. sponsored a bill to Congress asking for national monument status for the Great Sand Dunes. The bill was signed into law in 1932 by President Herbert Hoover. 2) In 2000-2004 the Sand Dunes in Colorado was expanded into a national park and preserve. 3) About 500,000+ people visit the Great Sand Dunes every year because of the oddly beautiful combination of desert dunes and high mountain peaks, the spring-time flow of Medano Creek, and dark, quiet nights in the Dunes wilderness. 4) Camping, hiking, and photography opportunities are plentiful in the area. “Visitors must walk across the wide and shallow Medano Creek to reach the dunes in spring and summer months. The creek typically has a peak flow from late May to early June in most years. From July through April, the creek is usually no more than a few inches deep, if there is any water at all. Hiking is permitted throughout the dunes with the warning that the sand surface temperature may reach 150 °F (66 °C) in summer. Sandboarding and sandsledding are popular activities, both done on specially designed equipment which can be rented just outside the park entrance or in Alamosa.” Source… The Great Sand Dunes of Colorado is a “Must See” Attraction!
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![]() Did you know that new surveys over the last couple of years show that the 'ability to cope' improves with age? Because of the pandemic this last year has certainly been a challenge to our mental health. However, there is a consoling truth: that age and emotional well-being tend to increase together, as a rule, even as mental acuity and physical health taper off! People aged 50 and over score consistently higher (and more positively) on a wide variety of daily emotions. The older crowd tend to have more positive emotions in a given day rather than negative emotions. This is independent of income or education in national studies. Dr. Laura Carstensen led a research team that studied the reality of prolonged stress. Older people have been at a much higher risk both of getting sick and dying of Covid-19 than younger people. “This was, from the beginning, a threat to older people that they simply could not avoid — and, crucially, it was prolonged stress,” said Dr. Laura Carstensen, a psychologist at Stanford University’s Center on Longevity. In April, after the potential scope of the pandemic was apparent, the team recruited a representative sample of some 1,000 adults, aged 18 to 76, living across the country. The participants answered surveys with detailed questions about their emotions over the previous week, including 16 positive states, like relaxed or amused, and 13 negative ones, like guilt or anger. “Younger people were doing far worse emotionally than older people were,” Dr. Carstensen said. “This was April, the most anxiety-producing month, it was novel, cases went from nothing to 60,000, there was lots of attention and fear surrounding all this — and yet we see the same pattern as in other studies, with older people reporting less distress.” In a similar study, psychologists at the University of British Columbia exhaustively surveyed some 800 adults of all ages in the first couple of months of the pandemic — and found the same thing. A "take away" from these studies indicate: Older age was associated with less concern about the threat of Covid-19, better emotional well-being, and more daily positive events. Also, after middle age, people become more aware of a narrowing time horizon and, consciously or not, begin to gravitate toward daily activities that are more inherently pleasing than self-improving. Source...New York Times You might enjoy this recent post: Aging in Place Here are five cake recipes to choose from that will be a hit on Easter Sunday! Growing up we always had cake for Easter dessert. Sometimes it was a layer cake and other times it was a bunny cake. 1) Easter Bunny Cake This is a favorite of mine and is easy to make. It is definitely a topic of conversation at the dinner table. It also makes a great centerpiece! For recipe, Click Here 2) Easy-to-make Bunny Cake! Two layer cake rounds and a little cutting and shaping will make a Bunny Cake in no time! For recipe, Click Here 3) Easter Egg Layered Cake This is such a pretty cake and is easy to make. Kids love the various colors of the layers and Mom’s love the simple, easy recipe. For recipe, Click Here 4) Peeps® Easter Garden Cake What a fun cake for all ages…bunnies in the garden! For recipe, Click Here 5) Tiramisu Layer Cake If you want a more traditional cake dessert, this easy version of the wonderful Tiramisu is a perfect choice for Easter dinner. Enjoy Making and Eating these Cakes for Easter! ![]() Do you feel that the world is designed for couples? Let's face it - retirement and aging can feel scary when you are on your own. This also applies if you become a Solo Senior or Elder Orphan during retirement. Whether by circumstances or choice, the U.S.Census Bureau estimates that there were 19.5 million unmarried U.S. residents age 65 and older in 2016. Experts estimate that around 23 percent of the older population nationwide will age alone and that percentage can be much higher – as high as 50% – in many cities. These aging adults are often referred to as elder orphans or solo seniors. 'Elder Orphans' are older people who don't have a spouse or children they can depend upon. 'Solo Seniors' are older adults who are living alone and don’t have children. In either case, this is a population of older people who don’t have a safety net if they need support, whether that’s physical, emotional or practical. While being single was once stigmatized as a lonely or unhappy state, times have changed, and more and more people are staying single and societal norms are becoming more open to all kinds of different ways of living. About 28% (14.7 million) of all older adults living in the community in 2019 lived alone (5 million men, 9.7 million women). They represented 21% of older men and 34% of older women. The proportion living alone increases with advanced age for both men and women. Among women age 75 and older, for example, 44% lived alone. Source... There are challenges to retiring alone. Here are a few tips for navigating retirement on your own: 1. You need a personalized plan. A detailed retirement plan can be easy to create. The New Retirement retirement planning calculator has received a lot of praise for being a highly detailed tool. 2. Overcome your financial insecurities. According to a study from Northwestern Mutual, “overall, single men and women are generally less satisfied with their financial circumstances than married Americans.” 3. Maintain a schedule. Experts suggest that a major contributor to aging after retirement is the lack of the schedule that a job provides. When you retire - especially if you live alone - having a place to go every day can be an important aspect of staying vital. 4. Special note for people who become single after retirement. Whether you are married now or not, it is important that you try to educate yourself about personal finance. 5. Consider adopting a pet. The research on the benefits of owning a dog is overwhelming and are particularly true if you are single. 6. Cultivate a support network. Maintaining friendships is critical to your health and well being. You need people you can rely on emotionally and science says that you are way better off when you have people who rely on you. 7. Stay social. There are benefits of being social as we age. loneliness may have twice the impact on early death as obesity and is as damaging as disadvantaged socioeconomic status. For the remaining '13 Tips for Retiring Alone' - click here... |
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