Loving New Mexico

We have been having such a marvelous time visiting with friends that I simply don’t have a brain to post. The kids have enjoyed the company of Nirinjin’s family so much that we made numerous playdates so they could play. Peter, Tara’s husband was amazingly clairvoyant and
burned us many new CD’s of music. The girls have listened to their tapes so very many times that they have no patience for yet another play. I don’t know how he knew, but I copied two of the CD’s (Raffi) to tape and they were able to enjoy new music this afternoon. I can’t wait to hear the rest of the CD’s, but we’re going to need electricity to do it. I feel guilty using the generator just to listen to CD’s or burn cassettes.

Jamie and I have really been enjoying exercising in the New Mexico mountains. I climb ridges daily and have yet to be bothered by snakes, though I continue to look closely for them. The lake is absolutely still in the morning; it is just like glass. The weather continues to be marvelous or perhaps 90’s with zero humidity is quite do-able. I’ve yet to become overheated during a hike. Jamie is absolutely LOVING his bike rides and yesterday came across a woman rider who cracked his nuts. We alternate our exercise, the kids play and then we’re off to get together with either Tara and Peter and Nirinjin and all their kids or with Linda and Kaisa. I don’t think anyone living in this box knows who these people are, but I’m sure that no-one is reading this anyway.

We loved Niri and Sat Bir’s home; it is a combination of exposed wood beams and wood ceiling and adobe. It has so very many nooks and crannies we were ooh’ing and ahh’ing hours after Sat Bir gave us the royal tour. We would sit in the living room and marvel over one feature or
another, but true to form, I took absolutely no pictures. I did, however, manage to squeeze one out of Niri and the girls looking at a HUGE bug as we were leaving. Niri’s kids are amazing, but Sat Kitar (sp?) is absolutely The Cutest Little Bug In The World. If I were not completely and totally DONE procreating, she’d give me much pause. She charmed everyone she met.

We had an amazing trip to Peter and Tara’s house. She had warned us of The Driveway To Hell (her driveway; they live off the grid) and until I saw it, I thought that either she was WAY exaggerating or it was exactly as she thought. The Driveway was exactly as she described it. Jamie was certain that we Would Not Make It Up The Road and Sissy was crying with fear. I think the fear was generated by Jamie chanting over and over, “we’re not going to make this. we’re not going to make it.” We’ve had some trouble fishtailing in the deserts of Mexico but this was straight up and I really thought we could do it. The mighty beast made mincemeat of the hill. Both up and down. If there were the slightest hint of rain, however, we would have been in a heap at the bottom. Hopefully with the rubber side down.

We absolutely LOVED Tara and Peter’s house. It is very different from Nirinjin and Sat Bir’s; a completely different architecture but we absolutely loved it just as much as adobe and wood. The views from their 40-acre parcel were incredible and their kitchen was to die for. I honestly don’t know which house we liked better; they were both incredible. After leaving Tara and Peters, we headed to Kaisa and Linda’s house and had the most wonderful evening. Monique and Tom showed up and while the kids had a blast with Friday, we all chatted and ate. Kaisa read numerous books to Ellen, we showed everyone far too many “vacation photos” and due to the availability of Wifi in the house (the FIRST “excellent” signal I’ve EVER had!) were able to show off the website. The kids were loathe to leave Friday so here we are again tonight. The boys are dying for a sleepover, but this is the first week of school, and quite impossible. I’ve managed to misplace my camera (full of photos) so this site might just be empty of photos until I either find the camera or get the Olympus fixed at Costco. If I can’t find it, we might make a stop in Alberquerque to try and fix it.

We are thinking of taking off tomorrow, but uncertain as to whether or not we’ll be headed towards Colorado or Arizona. What a luxury to have such rich choices.