January 7, 2013

Monday.  Monday is bad enough, but under the weather Monday is the worst.  I woke up to achy chills and a sore throat, with a nice headache to round things out.  I decided to stay home.  I know that I am no joy to be around when it comes to battling through an illness.  So, I decided to rest, and stay away from anyone I might accidentally harm while feeling sick.

I managed to sleep on and off through most of the morning and after some soup at lunchtime started to feel a little bit better.  The thing that gets me is the chills.  I can take ibuprofen for the aches, and cough syrup for the sore throat, but the chills just come and go at will, and they are really annoying…  After a shot of Emergen-C and some Alka Seltzer Cold, I started to feel human again.  Just about 4:00 pm, I ran out to drop off a bill and then came back home to feed the puppies their dinner.

Climbing out of the car and heading to the door, I glanced up the street behind me, and this is what I see.

This is the view of the Sandia Mountains from my front yard.  At certain times in the evening, near sunset, the mountains will take on this slightly reddish-pink hue.  Sandia means watermelon, and it may have been this beautiful watermelon color that led the Spanish settlers to give the mountain its name.

What, you weren’t that interested in the history lesson? I can’t seem to help myself.  I love New Mexico.

Every time I happen upon the mountains as they are lighting up in color, I am struck with the beauty of this place.  It seems kind of magical.  Knowing that the views I see are the same that the settlers in the 1500’s saw makes me feel connected to them and to the land here.  Its a very humbling and breathtaking feeling, to know that time is all interwoven and that your place in it is just as important as anyone’s.

From feeling lousy and sick, to feeling like I am part of the magic of the world around me, that is a nice upswing for a Monday, and one can leave me feeling grateful to be a part of life.