Annael
Elvenhome
May 19, 2:54am
Views: 29680
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from the first of my spring journeys. Had a wonderful few days in Denver seeing friends and sights (did a tour up into the mountains, visited Red Rocks Amphitheater, and spent half a day at the Botanic Gardens with an old friend who was looking for plant ideas for his garden). Went to dinner with the daughters of a cousin who pumped me for stories of their grandmother, who died when they were too little to remember her, and also for stories about their mom as a girl/young woman. 
Then I boarded the California Zephyr which took us over the Rockies, across Utah and Nevada, and then over the Sierra Nevada. Gorgeous scenery all the way (including a few full moons as we passed by rafters on the Colorado River, apparently a tradition.). I detrained at Sacramento and caught the Coast Starlight north. I very much enjoyed all the people I met & talked with on the train, including a young woman headed to a "plein air" painting retreat in Reno who had never been west before and loudly exclaimed her delight at seeing elk, red rocks, mountain streams, snow, and especially the snowstorm we went through going over the Rockies. Her joy was infectious and made the trip more fun for everyone. We did have to wait for winds to die down on the east slope of the Rockies, but I spent that time talking with a very nice young man; we got on so well, we met up a couple more times just to chat. (Another young man I met a little later told me that when we were stopped, he looked out on a pen full of goats who had a trampoline--said he could have watched them all day!) I met people from Germany, Iran, China, India, and Great Britain. And on the last leg, another old friend I hadn't seen in 10 years, so we had a good time catching up with each other.
Came home to many anxious emails from two clients, so I shall hit the ground running tomorrow, but fortunately I'm nice and relaxed. Even despite the morning I got stuck in the shower on the train for 20 minutes, due to a faulty lock ("oh yeah, that keeps happening" said the attendant who finally responded to the call button, and in fact someone got stuck in it later that same morning). Slept amazingly well; I don't think I woke up once during the night on the stretch through Utah & eastern Nevada. It rained here while I was gone and my garden is flourishing; even the dahlias I wasn't sure were going to accept being transferred have sent up shoots.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
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NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
(This post was edited by Annael on May 19, 2:57am)
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