Too close to the sun.

I've been home from our trip to Colorado for a little over a week now.  I was really looking forward to having some quality alone/fun time before returning to work, but ended up getting really sick via allergies.  The worst.  

The trip was far from a vacation, but a lot of pitching in and getting ready for my Aunt Pati's memorial.  We met relatives and made a lot of friends, which is always nice. We had a little free time to pop into Notah Dineh, take a walk at Mesa Verde, and spend a night at a fabulous neon motel in town.  We had hopes of driving over to Arches National Park, but ran out of precious time.  There's always going back.

My favorite moments in Colorado:

• Sitting in the grass with my Uncle David.
• When David put on Neil Young's Harvest Moon and it just made the tears start flowin'.
• Waking up before ATM, getting coffee, and doing laundry at the laundromat early Sunday morning.
• Having supper on the porch with new relatives.  We listened to Otis Redding.
• Meeting another person from Arkansas at the memorial.
• Riding in the Temple Family carriage on the ranch trail.
• Seeing and being so close to the Sleeping Ute nearly all the time.
• Decompressing in my Aunt Marcie's backyard in Durango before going home.

The photos seem to be all over the place, but they are in chronological order, for the most part.

Fetishes and pottery pieces:


Sleeping Ute at dusk:


Sunrise:


Look at these maniacs!





The tack shed.  Seeing Pati's saddles actually took my breath away:






Mesa Verde from the highway:


We did get one night of camping in:


No place to hide from the sun.  It's actually intolerable to hang out at the camp site during the day:


Loose cow.  Belongs to the neighbors who are, apparently, "somethin' else".  Alcoholic dad, dysfunctional family.  Disputes over land and water.  They have to call my uncle every single time they need to ride the horses through the property to get to the irrigation system, which they don't always do and then the Sheriff has to get called out, but no incidents while we were there, thankfully:


This is just past the entrance of ranch:


Winston.  He saved my life once:




Chancellor, who is just lost without my aunt:


 

Morning in Mesa Verde:


Sleeping Ute from Mesa Verde:
















Tomahawk Lodge.  I really truly love places like this:


Shabby, yes, but it was very clean:






Peaceful laundry time:


So, Aunt Pati's celebration of life party was simple and pleasant.  My uncle thanked everyone for coming  and then opened the floor for others to speak about her. The stories were great, and a pattern emerged; Pati, to the end, helped people and animals in life-altering, significant ways.  I'm more in awe of her now than ever.  She went to great lengths to rescue animals from bad owners, including breaking into a truck because some numbtwit left a puppy in there with the windows rolled up.  My Aunt Marcie told me how they'd dress in black and sneak onto properties under the cover of darkness to take abused dogs and go 'two counties over' to get them to new, loving homes.  Nearly all of her gal pals testified to going on covert ops similar to Marcie's.  How badass is that?  My uncle asked, "Who here has a Pati rescue?"  An impressive number of people raised their hands. Pati was one of a kind and I miss her a lot.

Uncle David and Sarah, one of Pati's best gals:






David planted a Winter Hawthorn (if memory serves correctly) for Pati.  Everyone got the opportunity to write a little note and throw a little dirt in, if they were so inclined.  The tree is not too far from my Grandpa Charlie's tree:


Susan, David's sister, put this fetish in in lieu of a note for Pati, a true horse woman:


It was very quiet & business as usual after the party.  Dusk:




The next day, there was an intimate ceremony where family and very close friends spread Pati's ashes.  She wanted to be with her horses.  It was extremely difficult event for all, but really cathartic.  I was so glad to be there.  It was a really beautiful day:








Afterward, we were so drained, so we just sat in the grass and listened to music together:








My uncle got it in his mind that he wanted to get out the Temple Family horse carriage for rides up and down the ranch trail.  It was amazing, and believe it or not, that 1914 Studebaker is a smooth ride.  The carriage has been in Temple family since purchased.
The horse, Raven, used to belong to an Amish family.  She was overworked and in bad shape when they got her.  Look at her now!  She did a splendid job that day:










David didn't want to overwork Raven, so some folks rode a truck up, so they could ride back to the ranch in the carriage.  We returned via truck bed:


That evening, ATM and I went into town to take photos of neon signs:




The next day, after saying our au revoirs to David, we went back to Durango for lunch and to decompress in my Aunt Marcie's backyard with the doggies Sieger (Chancellor's brother) & Max:


Leaving Durango:

P  h  o  t  o    d  u  m  p  !

Animas River:




Sleeping Ute from family friend Susan's front porch:


Deer at Mesa Verde:


Setting up:


Driving through Cortez:


En route to the ranch:






We had no intentions of buying a Navajo rug, but we bought a Navajo rug:


New fetishes: