Rider of the Purple Sage

By dawn's early light tomorrow, AURORA says goodbye to cactus and sagebrush, leaving no tangible evidence of her passing.  I am always curious about the times of our lives when we choose to leave evidence or conversely, wish our passing through to go un-noticed and un-marked.  A government mentor once gave me a short course (actually not so short) in how to disappear in a crowd. I'm a six foot three inch Caucasian... in Japan, Zambia or Saudi, just like AURORA rolling through cactus country, un-noticed is unreasonable. What to do?  One takes precautions as best one can and takes ownership of the consequences..  plain and simple.  So Dan and Nancy await the current permits, personally inspect the route ahead, shepherd my baby as if it were their own and I am supremely grateful.  I anxiously (but patiently) await their arrival cognizant of the fact that a schedule is merely an expectation, and as I have mentioned before, expectations are not reality.  Hope you all had a restful and fulfilling holiday whose expectations became reality.  It's a nice change.