An offer I couldn’t refuse

· You have to be wary when you travel, but you also have to be open.
· You have to protect yourself, but you can’t be so suspicious that you miss opportunities.
· Start with respect. Things pretty much come down to how you treat one another.
· Don’t make assumptions about people; keep your heart open.
· Everyone has a role in the world, and who is to say which role is more worthy or admirable than any other.
· Every person has a life unique to them. They have something to say about the world that I couldn’t get from anyone else.”
Sebastian Junger, author and journalist.

Tricycle Bob rode up this morning to invite me to lunch in Trinidad, Colorado (20-some miles from here) and a tour of the town and surrounding area – on his Honda three-wheeler! Hmmm! Should I go? My new friend Winnie had said that he took her for a ride a previous day and that he was a safe driver and a gentleman.

Why not? I asked myself. So off we went – and I had a wonderful adventure. Trinidad is an old, old town on the Santa Fe Trail. It has many restored historic buildings and narrow brick streets.

Our first stop was the Mount San Rafael Hospital – (in)famous for early sex gender change operations! But the reason for the stop was to see the amazing ceramic mural that was designed and made by Sister Augusta Zimmer. This Sister of Charity of Cincinnati and a native of Lamar, Colorado, made the mural specifically to hang in the hospital’s front waiting room.



Sister Agusta, a 4-ft, 10-inch nun, was in her mid to late seventies when the mural was started – she did all the ceramic work in Ohio – and 80-years old when she finished. She worked from photographs, and every building is accurately made to scale. Not only did she make the tiles, she also came to Trinidad and personally hung the individual pieces.

From there we rode out to another former coal-mining town, and then back to I-25 and the Tequila Mexican Restaurant. The food was delicious, the ambience bright and colorful. Back in Raton, we stopped at a small street fair and then back out to Sugarite. I had a really nice time and so glad I didn’t pass up this opportunity.

This is “Butterfly Weekend” here at Sugarite – this evening was a talk and basic butterfly identification instruction by Steve Cary, the State Park Butterfly Expert. The park is in a great butterfly area – has a convergence of species from both the east slopes of the southern Rockies and the western edge of the prairie lands. Tomorrow morning is the annual official butterfly count!

Of course you know I’ll be there!