Southwest, I only knew Ted vicariously through your posts, but my heart is my throat and tears are in my eyes.
Your posts presented Ted so well that I felt as though I knew him personally. If I feel this loss, I can only imagine your sadness and sorrow from the loss of your old and true friend. I send an ear scratch and cheek rub his way. The pictures you shared were great as usual, but your post was not about what was in the images but rather but who was not there. I send you comfort during these difficult times.

I took these photos in mid-May on my first visit to see my mother in nearly two months. Between Mom's decline and my dog Ted's decline and trying to catch up on rescheduling six weeks of cancelled grooming appointments, I didn't even look at them until a few days ago. By then we had had to close our shop AGAIN because I needed to get the coronavirus test and of course one cannot work with the public if there's a chance one is infected. The test came back negative, but in the interim I also lost Ted.

Where am I going with this? Good question; this has all the earmarks of a grief-inspired ramble, and probably it is. But when I revisited the spring beauty of the Sonoran desert through my images, with the yellow-blossoming Palo Verde trees and newly blooming saguaros everywhere, I was reminded of the many good things we have to be thankful for. As Curudgeon noted in his recent post, the desert is heating up in a serious way, and becoming almost unbearably bright, according to plan. Yet the Sonoran desert is a lovely place in any season. You just need to know when to go, where to look. There is beauty everywhere if we only take the time for it.

I hope you are all well.