Wherever you are, health care is the story of the summer.

I was far from home when 2,400 people filled Everett Memorial Stadium’s ballpark to hear and share opinions on the hottest of hot-button topics. Away from TV, computers and The Herald, I was at Priest Lake, Idaho, oblivious to news of U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen’s jam-packed health care forum a week ago.

One day last week, we hiked eight miles. We trekked over a wooded hill from our rented cabin to Kalispell Bay and back. Most days, we went swimming and beach walking.

I’ve been off work for seven blissful weeks. We crisscrossed the state. I visited my parents in Spokane. I stayed at Lake Coeur d’Alene with my sister. She’s a second-grade teacher, a beautiful mom who has spent much of this year fighting cancer, enduring surgery and chemotherapy.

Anyway, wherever I went, health care came up. What do you think? Even within my family, common ground is hard to find. What I think is that in a country as wealthy as ours, no one should be without health coverage.

Today, tempted though I am to dash off a piece on “how I spent my summer vacation” and get outside, I have more on my mind.

In all that time off the job — with hours to swim and take long walks, cook more carefully, sleep well and take deep, deep breaths — I have felt my own health improve. Several weeks into my vacation, I mustered up nerve to see my doctor for a long overdue checkup. Year after year, I’ve hidden behind the excuse of not enough time.

It turns out I’m fine, with enviable good-cholesterol and blood-pressure readings. I’m also lucky to have coverage had there been a need for more care. As my dear sister’s illness taught my family this year, anything can happen to anybody at any time.

For me, it’s been a season of personal reflection as I’ve followed the national discussion of health needs, costs and priorities. Much of the debate centers on financial responsibility. Who should pay? Patients? Employers? Taxpayers?

As I noticed small changes in behavior bringing nice payoffs in my own health, I started thinking more about personal responsibility.

The saddest sight I saw all summer was a woman sitting outside another cabin at the Priest Lake resort where we stayed. Smoking isn’t allowed in the cabins. Every time I walked the path between the lake and the cabins, morning or evening, this woman would be perched on a picnic bench smoking a cigarette. Extremely overweight, she appeared to be in no shape for hiking, swimming or simply enjoying the beauty of the place with her family.

On its own, the best health plan in the world can’t cure some of the deadly conditions many of us bring upon ourselves. After my summerlong lessons in personal health and well-being, the challenge is sticking with those good habits as days get busier.

I missed plenty of news while away. In going through e-mail Monday, I read a Snohomish Health District announcement of the agency’s 10-year strategic plan. Dated July 14, the plan lists this among its goals: “Support healthy lifestyles and environments for the prevention of chronic disease and injury.”

Does government have a role in seeing that all Americans have affordable access to health care? If you ask me, the answer is yes.

Supporting healthy lifestyles? That’s the responsibility of each of us.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.