Didja Miss Me?

I've been on vacation. Bet you hardly noticed, since I've been posting at about the same rate as normal.

I went to the West Texas foot hills to visit Brother Dave and his companions, Linda, Sister and Fearless. Two of those names belong to dogs.

Happily, they have an Internet connection, and Linda let me borrow her computer; which explains how I was able to still keep in touch through this space.

As you can see from the above image, the view from their back veranda is quite impressive. I'll be sharing other images from my trip over the next few days, one of which will be a panorama of the western hills.

Brother Dave and I resemble each other strongly. We also each resemble Padre, in our unique ways. One of the resemblances is brevity of speech. Typically, we don't speak unless we have something to say. It may seem odd, but one of my favorite memories will be a companionable silence Dave & I shared Saturday night. We were sitting on the veranda. Canyon wrens, cardinals, and other small birds were darting around the feeders. Hawks were riding thermals high above us.

The earth slowly rotated in its traditional fashion. And silence between.

I spent most of my time reading, when I wasn't touring their property with my camera. We also watched a couple of movies. Brother Dave and I watched an episode of "Mash" Thursday night, which seemed oddly familiar. Padre and I watched the series together when it was originally on.

Brother Dave and I are different in some ways as well. Dave's opinion of humanity shares much with Mark Twain's (i.e., he has little hope for us). One of his first comments to me was that I'm the sole member of the family left who thinks hope is a good thing.

In a perverse way, it's nice to have someone who makes me look like an optimist by comparison.

Yet, it's clear he cares for me - and not just because he feels obliged to. Over dinner Saturday - my last night to be with the group - he told me to be sure to list him as an emergency contact if I should need to go to the hospital for something serious. You don't know Brother Dave, but to me this pledge spoke a wealth of love.