Dos Cabezas Water Tower

Piedras Grandes
Elevation: 2,601′
Miles: ~2
Trailhead

Indian Hill
Elevation: 2,240′
Miles: ~2
Trailhead

On this Sunday morning, I scrambled atop a small rise and saw a large coyote turn and look at me, then run down the rise into the desert floor below, joining other coyotes to disappear among the cactus and chaparral.

The morning was beautiful, the sun was shining on my back and the breeze had enough chill in it to cool me from my exertion. Other than the birds, it was completely silent and I was the only person for miles. I was completely filled with the joy to be alive at that moment. I took a breath and continued up the mountain.

I found out later, that at roughly the same time, someone dear to me had passed away. It was sudden, and it wasn’t supposed to be her time to go. She was too young and too healthy. Random. Shocking.

Over the last few days, I have moved from denial to grief and acceptance. She was my favorite aunt. She gave me my first cassette tape, U2’s Unforgettable Fire, when I was 12. I was initially disappointed, since I didn’t know any songs on it. But it quickly became one of my favorite albums of all time. I learned every word and nuance on the album. Over the years, I felt like she always understood me. Her sons, my cousins, became my good friends throughout my childhood years.

She wasn’t my aunt by blood, but that didn’t matter to me, or to anyone in my family. She could always be counted on. Since my childhood, we grew apart, as people do, I moved away and I saw less of my cousins and my aunt. I still enjoyed her company on holidays and always knew she was there.

My wife had to break the news to me and I’ve made it very clear over the years that this aunt was very special to me. She took care of all of those around her, from her mother to her grandchildren.

As my emotions run all over, I’d like to think that the coyote I saw on Sunday was a message sent from the spirit world saying a last goodbye before she rejoined other spirits in the great desert basin of the sky.