At the end of October, I will be celebrating my 80th birthday. During those eight decades, I have forged precious relationships and made priceless memories. I’m planning to spend the next year tying up loose ends, getting my memoir finished and showing my loved ones how much they mean to me.

October is my favorite month, the most scenic time of year if you are lucky enough to live on a lake in northern Wisconsin. The end of summer brings not only fall colors but new rhythms of life as Mother Nature prepares for a long winter nap.

I was shocked Aug. 26 when I read online that Dolly Parton had died.

“That’s impossible,” I thought. “I’ll turn on the TV to see if it’s true.”

It was. Breaking into tears, I had to sit down, unable to process the idea that Dolly was gone. Though I never met her, it felt like a part of me was gone, too.

To say 9-11 was a seminal moment in American history is a huge understatement. Most people of school age in 2001 can tell you exactly where they were that day. Though it’s 25 years since it happened, the events are seared into my memory as they must be in yours.

As I have mentioned in previous columns, I became hopelessly bewitched by the spirits of long-dead lumberjacks when I joined the staff of the Holt and Balcom Logging Camp in Lakewood. The camp was badly deteriorated, and subsequent efforts to restore it took seven long years.

In the early 1970s, scientists were sounding warnings about climate change which seemed far-fetched. Out of curiosity, I attended an event featuring a man who’d become known as Earth Day senator; Wisconsin’s Gaylord Nelson.

I was starstruck. Sen. Nelson was congenial and charismatic, respectfully listening to comments and answering tough questions. I stayed for the meet-and-greet, a life-altering decision.