In which red is for remembrance...and some other things as well, I guess

There's sad doings over at Boots and Saddles 4 Mel's blog.

We are too distant, geographically speaking, to attend the memorial service for Bethany, but we all understand loss, and we want Mel to know that we are holding her in our hearts today, as always.

Monica's shirt advertises a line of cosmetics--one that I'd never heard of.
But then, how much time do I spend looking at lipsticks, anyhow?

That's the reason that we dug to the very bottom-most layer of our closets.

Patty's shirt advertises the Renegade Rendezvous.
I have one like it, somewhere.

In honor of Bethany and Mel, we wore our red shirts (to the unmitigated delight of a hummingbird at the trailhead!) and headed out onto the trails.

The sky was blue.

The company was good.

My shirt advertises a now-extinct ride called Alpine.  I couldn't remember how
long I've had the shirt...but fortunately for me, there's a date on it:  2002.
Shirt still looks new, because hey, I don't usually wear red!

We kept a sharp watch out, especially in Bear Meadow.  But apparently, the bears are now keeping a sharper watch out for us, and we didn't see any of them.

I thought I saw a bear...maybe...but maybe not.
The horses certainly didn't see any bears.
(Flower has a flat tire, so Patty is riding Ariana today)

As always, we talked on the trail.  

We talked about the coming week, and we talked about times gone by.

I gotta admit that the red shirts really pop out in photos.

Remembering is good, but it's better to remember stuff with somebody else--either with somebody who was there at the time, and can remember with you, or

Three dorky faces and one cute one.
That's about typical for this group.

with somebody who wasn't there, and hasn't heard those stories yet.

Now: four sweet faces.  That's my girls!

Either way, it's a good way to spend a day. 

And if you haven't expressed your appreciation for your Usual Suspects today, go do it right now.  Okay?

Thanks.