Happy birthday to Pop!

This morning I woke up feeling a bit tired - is that what getting older does?  Or is that what staying up late reading does?

 

I am feeling refreshed emotionally, though, and started off my day gently.  I went and watered the chiles and cukes, and guess who was in the garden!  No, not a big ol' rabbit like we had been finding of late, but a little baby rabbit the size of my fist.  It was hiding under the cukes; I imagine hiding for its life from the big birds that circle high looking for lunch.

 

I called Pop this morning to sing to him, and he was a mile from Rayado!  I asked if he was biking and talking, but he said he pulled over.  It has been fun getting to see him on my drives to and from Cimarron, and hopefully, now that I have a new bike, I can get out there, too.  I just don't have the stomach to get up that much earlier to still get to work on time.  When I headed off, I hoped that I would see him on his way back.  I was trying to do the math on the miles and the time we talked to figure out where we would pass each other, but we didn't.  He wasn't at the polo ranch, he wasn't at the lake, he wasn't at Rayado.  I know Pop is a superman, but I didn't realize he was so fast on a bike.  No way that I could keep up with him!  As I continued on my way, I headed up the hill to the S-curves, and there along the side of the road was a figure in a red top.  Wow!  He climbed the hill past Rayado - even more of a superman than I imagined!!  I pulled off the road and gave him a birthday hug.  He was king of the hill with an amazing view to the east.  It almost gave me an asthma attack just imagining biking all the way up there...  I am guessing it is about 13 miles.

 

Don't think I will be ready to join the marathon man anytime soon, but it sure brightened my day just to see him!  Can't wait to celebrate our birthdays together tonight!