This has been a really tough week

Last Monday we left Tucson feeling pretty dejected, and drove straight to our spot outside Quartzsite. Feeling the need to regroup, and just chill out, this was the logical place for us to come. Our plan was to hang out for a few days, then head back to Phoenix on Friday to set up another art show. But the universe had other plans.

Wednesday morning I went out with my camera to see what I could find, Al said he would probably catch up to me. I got back and he was out walking, without his phone. A couple hours later, I’m getting worried and finally saw him in the desert out my back window. I ran over to him, to find him with stroke like symptoms. I got him back to the RV, got him relaxed, and the symptoms subsided. We were thinking TIA, which is a mini stroke with no lasting effects. Since we don’t have insurance, we decided to wait and see how he felt. The next morning he still felt “off” and his chest was heavy. So we drove the 80 miles to Lake Havasu hospital ER. Long story short, they did a bunch of tests, kept him over night, and concluded that it was a severe panic attack that resulted in the TIA symptoms. Thankfully everything came back negative, so we know that there isn’t a real stroke lurking in his brain somewhere. The dogs and I stayed in a hotel in Havasu, and they were both so worried that something was obviously not right. Torrey about jumped out of her skin when we picked Al up at the hospital she was so excited to see him, and Roxy had to sit with him the whole ride home.

So now we are just relaxing in the quite of the desert, making sure that Al feels better, then we will make plans. In the mean time, the desert is going crazy with flowers from all the rain we have had. I have never seen this many flowers in this area.

Golden Suncup with raindrops.

Daisy desert star. These I’ve seen here before, but not like this year.

Scorpion weed. There is always some of this here, but now the hillsides are covered with it.

Lots, and lots of desert lupine too. They glow like stained glass at sunset.

This shot of Torrey is actually from the first day we were here. It rained all night the first night, and there were puddles everywhere.

This is just something fun, and new. I got a bunch of digital scrapbook stuff to play around with. This is my first attempt. I like it, because if I make a mistake or don’t like an element I add, I just delete it.

Anyway, lesson for this week. Nothing….nothing, is more important than family. Spouses, parents, children, or siblings. Whatever your family is, hold them tight, tell them you love them, and spend time with them.