western mercantile

Squirly Peak

went back 2 the Peak today for another hike. handful of people compared to Saturday. nice little hike. caught this lil' guy above here scoping out the territory b4 moving along. surprised I caught him for they're usually running too fast to get a look let alone a photograph. it's been a quiet day for me. I first stopped @ Western Mercantile wanting to do sum shopping. (I had already shopped online this morn). anyways, finally bought a nice leather clip on cell phone case. will post it here in a moment. it was the right price AND held my phone in place once I turned it upside down. I'm always bending over with the phone falling out of the case. so I'm happy with this purchase. now I don't have to carry my phone in my back jeans pocket. sittin' on it, I rarely heard it ring. after the buy, I headed for sum brunch on the side of the mountain. Cedar Point Grille where I always ate while residing on that side of the mountain. sat outside and continually saw the hummingbirds feed only 5ft away. camera was in the car and I figured I wouldn't capture them anyways for being so close. the slightest movement would have shooed them off. so I just enjoyed the moments they were there. so beautiful....now I'm home in the quiet still. not sure what I'll do. but it's been nice to have that time alone. yesterday was too much, even after the memorial. other than a 10minute stop at the church and one phone call, it's just been me today. much needed too. may take a road trip tomorrow. if knot, will do so this saturday. there's a place that's only an hour away i've been wanting to get to. they were closed today, otherwise i wood have went there. entry fee is free tomorrow, but saturday they have a special showing going on. so i'll think about it tonight....it's a beautiful day!

Tweety

a toast!

Suzanne

today was Suzanne's day. I'm still in tears...got to the service an hour late ONLY because the time I was given was not correct. the viewing started @ 8:30 a.m., not 9:30a.m. I arrived on time with the info given me, but I didn't get to see her body. they had already closed the casket. I wanted to see her so as to help this sink in a little more. but in light of that, her sister had these photos of her she was passing out. so I now at least have a photo. I still can't believe she's gone. I did learn that she only found out about a month before she died that she had cancer. they did try to operate on her brain tumors, but they were too deep giving her only 2 weeks from that point on. 2weeks 3days later she was gone. I got to meet her family a bit. saw her 2 grandsons whom I was told by her daughter (their mother) they were wild as Suzanne....lol. apparently Suzanne gave her sisters a hard time to as much as she did me at work. guess that was just Suzanne. I hold her in my heart always....there were numerous postal employees there, active & retired. more than I thought I'd see there. it's monday and I expected most to be at work. I'm grateful they took the time out for her. tons of other family and friends which is not surprising since they're Hispanic origins and they always have big families. we met at her parents house afterwards. if I understood them correctly, they will bury her body later. will have to learn where so I can take some flowers to say my final see ya laterz. it was a learning experience for me for they are Catholic. different service than the ones I've attended at our church where we are allowed to get up in front of everyone and talk about the person. but at least we all got to chat afterwards. I am grateful I attended. being surrounded by all these people reaffirm sum more that she's gone. another step toward closure. I miss her already....

knot sleeping

it's after midnight. for the 3rd night in a row, I'm knot sleeping. in the morn is Suzanne's Memorial service. I hope I can get up to get there in time. right now I'm waiting for the sleeping pill to kick in. passing time on the computer here catching up on blogs.....the above photo I took Saturday atop the Peak. I think I've posted this b4 but it's been awhile. really like this tree up there. there are others like it. it's call flagging, where the wind blows so hard from the southwest that the trees grow like this. adds character to the view....
.....this afternoon after a late lunch, I came home and napped. slept pretty darn hard too. like I hadn't slept in days. once awake I finished my book I picked up today, The Power of a Broken-Open Heart, Life-Affirming Wisdom from the Dying- Julie Interrante. Julie is our minister. I think this is her first book although she has contributed to a few others. I really liked this book. Good thoughts and insights in living from the experience she had while working with the dying. kept me in tears but perfect timing for me. I had pre-ordered the book and forgot they were coming in today. autographed with a copy of a cd from one of her services. I'm sure I was at that service, but will listen to it again. Being of Service was the topic for that Sunday (and cd). interesting considering what my contemplation has been about lately. anyways, and of course, I recommend this book. it's small but great wisdom. now the only question I have now is what book next? I have numerous I'd like to get done b4 class starting this month. but I know sum will have to wait until much laterz. right now i'll sleep on it....time 4 bed again.

hmmm...orange....butterfly

got him..or her...on the trail today. nice nurturing day atop the Sandia Peak. knot that I hiked much for a very cool wind was blowin' hard and I was having trouble with my shoe. I noticed the other day, the cool fall wind came blowin' in. it was very evident atop the mountain. thank goodness I had a sleeveless sweatshirt on which I had bought on the way upside the mountain. anyways, caught this butterfly landed on the flowers. of course I didn't have my 200 zoom lens on, but did the best I could with the 80mm. I was surprised as I enlarged this that the butterfly is transparent in the main body. didn't see that until I got the photo home. he/she didn't quiet open up fully, but still is lovely. I didn't stay long up there. too many people for my emotional state at the moment. really wanted sum quiet time to myself but it's saturday and the mountain was crawling with the human race. there were sum nice people I encountered, just wasn't into people today. it was still a good visit. will go back soon. more photos to come....