Today I walked into the desert with my mate  sarmanikan, climbed a mountain and sat on an outcropping with her. She put her arm around me and we looked out over the city and landscape, and I felt truly content. A year ago on this day I was sitting in Wisconsin and trying to piece together a new life, having little to nothing of my own - and now I have a great job, a great partner, etc. The strange truth of it all is that Athus' death started a chain of events that brought me to where I am now. It's a very strange mix of emotions I get when I think about that. I didn't want to write anything here on the 11th or around it because I wasn't feeling up to it, and there wasn't much to say that Sarmy hadn't already said on her own journal anyway. I do wish I could bring him back, though.

Going to be Geocaching with Sarmy and some of my other friends, and we're going to start leaving these little scalemail flowers. The titanium rings holding the five scales together (each scale colored to represent one of us) will be blue to represent him, seeing as he was the one that brought us all together. I'll see about posting a picture of one when I can.

Thanks,  athus, for everything.