Tuesday, February 07, 2006

A Natural Departure

Very early Sunday morning Grandad succumbed to cancer. I wasn't surprised when my father called with the news, but am still struck by waves of sadness that seem to come from nowhere. After talking to Grammy, I've decided to go to Colorado as planned.

I find myself thinking of the last trip he and Grammy took us on, to Horn Creek Ranch (Sangre de Cristo mountain area)this summer. It was very relaxing and peaceful, except for one day - when we attempted to climb Horn Peak, the 289th highest mountain in Colorado. Which sounds less impressive than it is, being almost 14,000 feet.
It was a really tough hike, mostly because we didn't head this advice ~ "The loose scree on Horn's south slopes above the lower Dry Lake are to be avoided at all costs."
It was like climbing up a hill covered in marbles, over and over again.
Which slowed us down, which meant that we still had a thousand feet to go when it started lightening.
A picture of what almost was:

On Saturday afternoon, I'm going to find a nice cafe in Boulder and have a glass of merlot. Whenever we had a nice meal out, Grandad would have some. His mother made wine and from what I've heard, even the inexpensive merlot was tasty compared to it. I'm bringing a picture of my grandparents and will say a prayer for both of them.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

dear em - i like your own memorial. i found that helpful when my papa died. he never went to funerals when he was alive. why did should he when he died? i heart you.
jo