A sad loss

Sad news in my blogging world, of a kind which hasn't happened before. The redoubtable GrannyJ ( Julie) of Walking Prescott, one of the bloggers I've been following for the longest time, died last week. She was a real inspiration. She walked and walked and took photos of and wrote about all the weird and wonderful things in her beloved Prescott in Arizona, where she was a well-known figure. When she fell ill earlier in the year, she thought she might have to stop blogging, but she picked up, and next thing she was photographing interesting things in the hospital and getting her daughter Kate, a blogger of note herself, to post them on her blog for her. She moved into sheltered housing, and though she couldn't walk as much, she rejoiced in, and of course photographed and blogged about, the views from the windows and the bright colours of the upholstery in the sitting areas there, and anything else that came her way. Always so positive. She was a professional journalist, and her blog was full of spirit and character but quite devoid of ego, much less self-pity. So, though it was very sad to read, I appreciated Kate's tribute to her  on her own blog, which filled in some of the gaps about her life which her own blogging left out. She was truly amazing, resourceful and generous. She was a loyal and appreciative commenter, had an impressive blogroll, and was a great finder of fascinating, entertaining and original links.

Kate tells it how it is: she says that while GrannyJ's blogging contacts will miss her, it will be nothing like the way her real life family will. They're in my thoughts.

Kate also suggested that if anyone wanted to do something as a tribute to her, to find a way of doing something to do with wild flowers, which she loved. So I'm looking for a local society or similar which encourages the conservation and knowledge of them, as acting local is very much in the spirit of what she was about. At least round here, the javelinas don't eat them!