Errol's Birthday, Clouds, Brain Fog, And Taking A Blogging Break

This is my new living room window. I took these pictures on 9/15, the last time I saw dark and serious clouds here. I even woke up to some rain that morning, very little, but such a lovely sound. 

That evening, the clouds were magnificent and, you know me and clouds, I just had to capture some of their majesty. 

Since then it has been hot, dry, and windy here. What I call scary fire weather. 

I have lived here for nine years now and, reading my journal from September 2006, it's amazing how much nature has changed. Then I saw coyotes almost every day, bobcats often, hawks too, a multitude of rabbits, large coveys of California quail making their way across the lawn, yes, grass grew here and on the hillsides too, and the junipers were green and healthy. 

Now sand blows across the barren spaces in front of my house, dust devils of amazing sizes form, the sky it a hot blue, if that's possible, the wind howls and the wild critters are, for the most part, gone.  

Enough of that, hopefully, we will get some rain soon. This is the siding my BIL, Glenn, put up, thus saving me thousands of dollars. The color around the window is the sage color that the house will be painted once Glenn is done with the repairs. He only did siding on the two worst sides, south and east. The rest is good enough to just be painted. 

I will try to take a break from blogging until mid-October. Between now and October 3rd, I hope to be able to focus on the tasks at hand, those requiring some mental work. Those that have so completely overwhelmed me because I just cannot focus. 

After that, I will be on vacation. I will stay right here, but I will not schedule anything. Just do what I want to do. An incredible amount of outdoor work has piled up during the past year. I feel blessed that I still can work hard, however, I can't do it the way I could when I was younger, or even just 10 years ago. But I will do what I can, what I enjoy. Then maybe check out a movie, go to the local museum, things like that. I really need something just for me. 

Finally, today is Errol's birthday. He would have been 69. I'm writing this on the 24th, so I don't know how I will feel. I imagine it will be a day like all the rest of them, where I do really well, feel happy even, and then, I may suddenly be overcome by incredible sadness. That's how my days are now. I still cry, Faith still comes immediately and licks whatever part of me she can reach. I know I can't make her and Samson worried, so I stop crying, I smile, I pet her, hug her, and the day goes on. And I'm OK.