Days off...

I like days off. I don't think that I do them properly, because I always do work of some kind on them - dishes or laundry or gardening or other miscellanea. But even so, it's nice to have them. Sundays are my most common, of course; God built that one day off out of every seven into the very structure of humanity. I observe the Sabbath (not very well, I have to confess!) by 1 - not walking (which my dog thinks is highly irrational), 2 - not writing (not that you could tell the difference, unfortunately; I'm inconsistent in my chosen profession), 3 - not sewing or otherwise crafting (usually; one sometimes gets carried away in fits of creativity), 4 - doing less cooking, cleaning, dishes washing, or other chores (this never works out, but it's a good goal), and 5 - sleeping in.

Yesterday - to the delight of my dog - I made an exception to #1 and went for a family hike near Sandia Crest. This means that now I'm achy and my feet will be hurting later this week from having no off-day. But it's still definitely worth it to be out in God's creation. Beautiful! Splendid! Awesome! I even took pictures:

I love mountain slopes - and even climbing up them, if I'm feeling energetic which I wasn't yesterday.

And that's me, looking a little the worse for wear.

My camera takes fantastic close-up pictures, when it wants to. I love these little flowers!

Breath-taking!

Even more than mountain slopes, I love such quiet green glades as this. I wish I could stay here for hours!

This looks like a variety of foxglove - but wild, small, and very delicate. I should get a guide to wildflowers in the southwest - except that they are generally behind. I am constantly seeing new kinds of flowers - probably escaped from someone's garden - and the warm months have grown lovely, even in my desert neighborhood.

 

So we had a lot of fun, chased horned toads (which are actually lizards), desperately wanted to chase that squirrel (I'm speaking from Annie the dog's perspective), got bit by mosquitos, and recharged with frappucinos at the bottom of the mountain. A good day off! ****sigh of contentment****