Brown Canyon loop

Bill and I had originally planned on hiking to Shady Glenn this morning.  I didn't tell him about my broken wrist because I wanted to see if the cast would be a burden for me. I had to have Bill tie the laces on my trail shoes.  I guess my next purchase will be a pair of slip-on walking shoes!

We gathered at 6am in the Ramsey Cyn Rd  parking lot.  I brought Gretel but she was initially uneasy meeting Bill.  She warmed up to him and there were no other issues.  She walked well on leash.

By the first mile, however, I knew I wasn't going to make the full 8.5-mile hike.  My arm was throbbing under the cast from the exertion.  We rested at the water trough at the 3-mile mark and decided to just do the loop instead.  I was grateful for Bill for being understanding.  

I was able to maintain a steady pace, although by no means a power speed.  I took only four photos. We were back in the parking lot just before 8am and by then the lot was full By then it had gotten warm as well. 

***

An old army supervisor and friend died yesterday.  Her son Nic posted the news on his Facebook page. This is the fourth death of someone I know this year: my stepdad Tom, neignbor Stephen, hiking friend Paul, and now Edna.  Edna F and I hung out quite a bit in the early 1990s as Nic is only a year older than Erin. and those two got along well.   We took a weekend trip togethd Tom, er to DC. with the kids.

I had no idea she was deathly ill as she didn't post much, and we weren't very close once she left the army in the early 1990s.  In fact, she seemed totally disinterested in keeping in touch with me or other army friends once she left the service.  I only heard from her when she promoted fundraisers for her son's private art school.  She had moved to Fort Collins, then to Florida and stayed for a while in her home state of California.

She was the first person to tell me she noticed my mood would change whenever my then-husband Tim would come home.  I always tensed up in his presence. He was always verbally abusive toward me, especially when other people were around. A few years later we were divorced.

I ran into Edna about ten years ago in the town library.  She had moved back to the area to teach strategic debriefing on post. I was still working on my teaching certificate and taking courses at the community college.  I asked if I could join her at her table and chat.  She was ok with that, but she seemed reserved. We didn't have much to say to each other.  She had gained a lot of weight in the 30 years since we last saw each other.

That was the last time we saw each other.

Edna was on my mind all day. She was only 69 years old.

She struggled as a single parent and sacrificed a lot for Nic.  He graduated from a private acting school in Los Angeles where he lives now, doing small acting jobs and producing YouTube content on gourmet cooking, although he doesnt seem to be too active with that.