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Our sweet Mother, Dolores, drifted peacefully away in her sleep yesterday afternoon, at 93 years old. She SO loved her five children, their spouses and her many grandchildren, as we all loved her immensely in return. She was lucid, witty, sweet and wise to the very end, and was a mighty force against injustice and inequality of every kind through her entire, long life. She was a librarian and a voracious reader. She taught us each how to love learning and laughter, patience and persistence. Her warm and infectious laughter will hang suspended in the air like peals of church bells forevermore. It is the end of an Era for this Yarbrough Clan, Long Live the Matriarch.
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The Struggle is Real~ The scale in this photo will fool you. The boulder on the right is 15’ tall, the huge bristlecone pine that appears to be climbing out from the crevice is 128”, circumference, over 40” diameter. The tree is roughly 55’ tall. Over the past 1,500 years or more, this bristlecone has seen long periods of extreme drought, like now, and long periods of abundant rainfall. The rock is made of volcanic tuff, sifted down as ash through the sky following nearby volcanic events. If you look closely at the rock you will see the consecutive layers, each from a separate event. Wind and water erosion has since shaped the tuff into these giant, lovely boulders, which have no doubt seen many generations of beautiful old trees, like this, living out their long lives. South-central Colorado, USA.
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A journey up Mesa Mountain in Colorado yesterday to 12,000’ revealed great beauty, but also rather alarming dryness and an 80°F temperature. About 60° or much lower would be normal for mid July here. Just three weeks ago I camped 6 miles from here, and 2000’ lower, waking up to find my water bottles frozen solid, as the night temperature had dropped to 18°. The weather that we grew up with is broken.
