Dear Mom...

Dear Mom, Dang! I sure miss picking up the phone and calling you like I used to just to share the highlights of my day! You would’ve been thrilled about the raptor that Mark and I keep seeing flying over the valley for the past two weeks. We looked it up and discovered it was a rough-legged hawk. I bought you two dozen of your favorite yellow roses this morning and went down to the Rio Grande River like I do each October 1st and flung them in the river. I wonder what all the runners, bikers and walkers on the trail think of this woman throwing beautiful roses in the river. It HAS to be such an odd sight so early in the morning. I took my camera with me and am glad I did as it keep me focused (ha! what a pun, huh?). I was hoping I would see a beaver swimming below the bridge like I did a few years back, but no such luck. Instead, I reveled in the spider webs and decaying leaves. I was amused by the signage for horse etiquette on the path. Looking at my long shadow was even more amusing and I had to take a picture of it. It looks like a caricature! Driving home from ballet class later in the morning, I went down Edith Street (you know that is one of my favorite streets to drive down) and did one of those rubber neck things that cartoon characters did when I spotted an old Chevy pick up truck in a lot. This place specializes in repairing old vehicles and this one was theirs. It’s a 1948 Chevy and EVERYTHING on the truck is still original. Hard to believe! The guy let me take pictures to my heart’s content and even lifted up the hood for me. It’s too bad our lives aren’t as simple as that engine is. So, there you go, mom. Punchbowl Cemetery is too far away to go see you, so my trip to the river will have to do. I was wondering how I would get through today since this makes it ten years. It is my family and friends that carry me through it, but the camera and truck provided the distraction! Love, P