Tumbleweed

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. “

~ Anais Nin

Today was our last full day in Salida. Hiking up S Mountain is full of my favorite flower/weed known as tumbleweed. More about that later.

Some of us went on an epic snowshoe adventure that included a one thousand plus foot elevation during a 1.5 mile stretch, better known as Waterdog. (I was not one of them!)

Before my day began I am of the mindset that we should always take care of loose ends. So . . . Biked to the bank, the grocery store and the post office in that order to get money from the ATM, to then purchase a money order from the grocery store to then mail payment to Judge Rita Little
in Texline, TX to pay for the speeding ticket I got on my way to Salida while sharing with my friends how I met my beloved. How's that for a great beginning!

Now,  off to hike S Mountain. S Mountian is a local mountain that is just on the other side of the Arkansas river that overlooks Salida. The two trails we hiked were Frontrail and Lil' Rattler. The mountain has about ten trails to hike. The day turned out to be much longer when we had to retrace our steps to find my missing progressives. After our 5 hour hike we rode our bikes as the snow began to fall. Chris thought this was the coolest experience ever for us Southern gals. It took me a few minutes to catch up with that thought but yes, it was a great moment on our bikes.

Our day ended with the celebration of Becky & Miranda's birthday's and a final stop at Salida Cafe' to hear more great music. Nathan Brady Crain combines his various musical influences to create upbeat original looped Americana. Through these influences he writes great blues, folk, bluegrass, country, country-blues, and rockabilly with skiffle, jazz, classical, and flamenco; he then uses several digital looping stations to create performance layers of percussion, bass, guitar, lead guitar and three part harmonies during the performance. Quite impressive.

Oh yes . . . that final thought on tumbleweed . . . It really is quite beautiful. From it’s beginning to it’s transformation. It begins as a small flowering weed and grows into a full bush like plant full of golden hues. The winds of the mountain take it’s toll causing it to loosen from the soil giving it it’s name . . . tumbleweed.

We too can learn from the tumbleweed. Giving off beauty at each stage of our lives. When life hits hard we can tumble gently with the virtue of grace onto the path that He provides.

To view more imagery go to www.gallery.me.com/janennedeclouet