This 'n that

On the way back from Durango Wednesday, after getting my stitches out and going to see "Mamma Mia" (which we loved!), there was that late afternoon look in the Mancos Valley that I wanted to try to capture ... a golden light on the greenery, surrounded by blue-black clouds from the thunder showers that had passed over. We went up by Bauer Lake and noted that the Gambel oak are well--set with acorns, which will be great for wildlife this winter.

The second picture is more a reminder of the picture we didn't get last night. It does show a newly baled field with the storm clouds in the background, and we missed a grander shot of the same sort in Thompson Park. We were hustling to make our 7:15 p.m. appointment for an anniversary dinner (four months wed!) at the Kennebec Cafe in Hesperus when we came down the east side of Mancos Hill into Thompson Park. The late afternoon sun was tinging freshly baled fields with gold, in a bowl-like pastoral setting that was ringed beyond by those ferocious clouds. It was gorgeous, but we couldn't stop. We will go back, though!

The last picture is of the silent auction table Sandy set up just inside the entrance of Artisans of Mancos yesterday, to last through Mancos Days. Thanks to the good participation of artists in the co-op, there's a nice range of items in different media and different price ranges, totaling at least $500 worth of original art. Friday is the slow day of the Mancos Days weekend, and there was a good smattering of bids already by the end of the day, so I expect that we should have a lively day today ... the Mancos Days parade will go right by the Artisans door this morning, and there'll be a thousand people out to watch the parade.

So, I'm off to the Boy Scout pancake breakfast, then catch the start of the Fun Run and on into our grand annual celebration. 

And we so enjoyed a fine meal last night in the newly expanded part of the Kennebec Cafe, an Italianate building set amidst the La Platas, with wonderfully prepared and served dishes at reasonable prices. Most of all, we were in the company of, as our friend Christy put it earlier at the 81328 reception, the two gems we have found to share life with. Teenagers in their sixties! tv