Day off

I have been on-call since Wednesday. If you haven't talked to me much about my job, the one thing that I really don't like is being on-call. The biggest reason is that social workers are on-call for an entire week. A whole week! Every 6 weeks at that. So, there goes any self-care like heading out of town for the weekend or even enjoying a glass of wine with a friend. The one wonderful thing about my new schedule is that, since I have Monday's off, I have an entire day of not working-no call and no regular schedule. So, today, I got out of dodge a bit. I went to Ridgway State Park-I recently bought a State Park's pass, and this park is so beautiful and so close. I walked the nature trail which I hadn't done before...

Then I drove partially on County Road 10 which leads to Owl Creek Pass outside of Ridgway. I didn't do the whole drive to Silver Jack Reservoir which is past the pass because it was 26 miles going 30 miles an hour and I didn't make that much time for myself. But the drive on County Road 10 is full of beautiful ranches and views of the Cimarron and San Juan Mountain Ranges.

I stopped at the Memorial Park where I stacked up some prayer stones for Stan a week ago Monday. They were still there, and still sitting solo on their own small boulder.

 I was going to treat myself to lunch at The Adobe Inn which was a Mexican Restaurant at one point in Ridgway that John Fielder wrote about in a book I own. But I got there and it was deserted, so I opted for Fiesta Guadalajara in Montrose. I realized there are about 7 Mexican restaurants in town and I had only been to two, so I thought I would add a 3rd to the list. Now I am blogging while sitting at Target and plan to head home for a little nap with Chester.

Speaking of Chester, he has been doing okay. I could tell he was down the first few days after Stan died but now he and I try to get out to the park or for a walk every morning. He has discovered some new chews that he is quite passionate about, and I am going broke for. He does have some breathing difficulties but not as bad, yet, as Stan's were. We head to the Vet tomorrow morning for his vaccines so I am going to have them check him out.

Speaking of Stan, I had two curious incidents. One night last week when I got home from work I discovered two of my outdoor plants were tipped over, the front porch bench was tipped back and both out door rugs were out of sort. It wasn't windy at all that afternoon, so perhaps Stan's energy came through to tell me is doing great in his new, strong body where he doesn't have to take medications to feel better anymore. Last night as I was sitting on the couch a lovely rainbow appeared right out the picture window. Stan was there, too, showing me that life on the other side of the rainbow isn't that bad. I still miss his smile with the one missing tooth, but I can picture him with all his new friends running and playing on soft green grass.