Afternoon Aspen Delight

bluebird mountain day
catching the golden aspens 
before they burn bare

Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Fifteen

botanic gardens
will forever be compared
to Monte’s beauty

tropical magic
trees and blooms of every shade
giving us NO shade

two thousand years old:
a tree planted by Romans
to bring us olives

on all future trips
beating Madeira? so hard
blue-green amazement

1.8 million:
the years laurel has lived here
giving life to all

enchanted forest:
the only words to describe 
Madeira’s true gold

traditional homes
give homage to these laurels
simple thatched roofs

a magical place
waits for you on this island 
hidden in the sea

ten thousand stone steps
slippery at dawn, at noon 
as mist never stops

ten thousand reasons 
to be afraid of this hike,
yet we keep trekking

ten thousand peak views
all in different shades of light
just like our marriage

ten thousand questions 
when we married at twenty
look how far we’ve come

Colorado roads:
beautiful mountain vistas
scarred by wildfires

javelina hike 
to a cactus-filled Thumb Butte
to start the morning

a Whiskey Row lunch
Watson Lake under blue skies
for the afternoon

my daughter’s new friends 
soon to be her new roommates:
a perfect evening

Monument Valley:
the perfect sunrise rest stop
to light our faces

snow at Grand Canyon:
surprise bucket list side trip
to catch her snowfall

all three together:
it feels like a bucket list
to let them g(r)o(w)

a new Corona 
three years after quarantine 
back to wilderness

girls’ trip for spring break 
to collect our Subaru 
and meet our sister

miracle arches 
connect the past and future 
with hope for this life

your bucket list waits
for a ‘delicate’ sunset,
a breathtaking arch

your children await
at the top of a boulder 
with the perfect view

a lifetime awaits
at the end of vacation 
yet memories last