Pat and I somewhere in the Southern Wyoming high desert, with a big thundertorn behind us some
distance away.

As I mentioned after we returned from Wyoming last weekend, we stopped at a few interesting places along the way. We stopped and walked around the old downtown of Laramie, had a sandwich in an old patio, then headed South on old highway 287.

There is a huge monument several miles East of the Tie Siding rail site I described last time. It commemorates the highest point along the original trans-continental railroad, and two brothers who were among its primary financiers. But it is out in the middle of nowhere now, with the original rail line that would have allowed passengers to encounter it and learn its story now relocated a considerable distance away.


Pat and Leon poke around the odd pyramid monument.


Leon perched on a rock along the road from Highway 287 to the pyramid - you can see it very small on the right side horizon, a few miles along after the road loops back South.

It was great to have Leon here for a few days. I think he is now the longest-time friend I am still in touch with, going back to the early 70's, just after he got out of the Navy and was fairly new to a relationship with someone who had a tremendous impact on my life during that time (and later). As the years passed, I came to appreciate Leon's quiet equanimity and inate wisdom. He never judged me harshly despite the hysteria that sometimes accompanied my efforts to fit into the world, and I always appreciated that. When he did (and does) gently bring things to my attention, I knew (sometimes) and know (now consistently) to be alert to his reaction. I pay more attention to him now - even if he just gives me a quizical look as I rant about things that I know are perceived with distortion , that I am dealing with ignorantly, or unskillfully.

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