Say hello to the wind...

I think the wind is going to be around for a while.

I have driven through the rain, the clouds, the sun, but all compare to the endurance of driving in the strong gales we've had recently.  It made me think of the movie Twister yesterday, except our wind was pretty much just blowing from ESE to WNW, no curves.  The trees were nearly horizontal, and the ones that got too close snapped - lots of down limbs and trees.  The UPS truck in front of me was even leaning a little bit.  I could have been suspected of drunk driving, though hopefully not that early in the morning.  The wind was just so strong!

I could see a line of thick clouds on the horizon, and I understand that there may have been snow falling in the higher elevations on the west face of the mountains.  I was nervous for the storm coming our way, but nothing but a little rain fell.  The wind was storm enough.  I got to work right before the power went out for 4.5 hours.  It made for a somewhat cool office.  I could still light the stove with a match for hot tea, and the windows let in the dim light.  I mostly read and prepared during the time.  Everything stays open and has adjusted quite well to the power outages.  The kids at school read and study and play, but there are no lights or computers.  The bank writes out manual deposit slips.  And at the office of ICC, we kept as busy as the rest. 

Gratefully the power came back on around 2:30.  We didn't have to cancel classes in the evening, and I was able to get a bit of computer work done.  Coincidentally, not long after I arrived home from work, the power went out again for about 1.5 hours.  Thomas was home, so we decided we might as well go to bed at 10 pm, and no sooner had we gotten all tucked in than the power came back to let us know we left on the kitchen lights.  My goodness!

Say goodbye to the deer and elk...

The title isn't to suggest that I am out with my hunting rifle shooting up the woods.  I realized that enough is enough.  So I see deer and elk nearly everyday this time of year...probably will continue for a while.

I can't truly say they have completely lost my interest...as it is really awesome to see a herd of bull elk by the road or twenty deer all crossing the road together.  And more than that, I better be paying attention to them because I would like to keep driving my car a little longer.

I have learned, as Daniel pointed out, that they are really smart animals.  Now that hunting season has begun, the elk hang out by the highway because the law says you're not supposed to shoot them within 100 feet of it.  Not sure who told them they'd be safe there, but they sure do love to stand around showing off to the hunters driving by.  They look like pretty massive animals.  And the deer, whoever trained them to cross the highway at the sign for the human crosswalk must have thought the tourists would be really amazed.  But I live here and have seen it a few times.  Time for a new trick!

I am still waiting to see a raccoon in the road - have seen a rabbit, an owl, and a skunk.  There may be more animal stories, but I think I will take a break for now.

A Hallow's Eve Tale

The only excuse for this story is the Full Moon, which was Friday, October 22nd. 

I stayed late at work...again.  I taught my first Confirmation class this morning, so Friday I was trying to get all my ducks in a row.  Leaving the house at 7 am this morning was bad enough, I wanted to make sure I was ready and didn't have to leave any earlier.  So around 6:50 pm, I shut down the computers and prepared to call it a day.

Driving home was fun, as the full moon guided my way, and my brights, too.  I saw some animals, of course, but mostly I was calculating my week's hours: from Sunday to Saturday I worked 56 hours and I spend 13 hours with Thomas.  Bummer of a work schedule for both of us!  A few of those thirteen hours were a bonus because I went to work late just, just so I could see him.

As I alertly watched for animals and their headlight-reflecting eyes, I moved through Philmont and into the "S curves".  Right before the UU Bar Ranch and Rayado, there is a nice straight and gradual drop for at least a mile and a half.  This is always a fun place to look out on Miami.  As I approached this straight away, coming out of the curves, I noticed a truck on the side of the road - no lights on, no people who I could see.  I imagined it was some guys scouting for elk and deer, as hunting season has begun. 

As soon as I passed, the lights came on, and the truck began to follow me.  Now of course, the truck is going to follow me.  There are only two logical things it would do - head north or south.  But something about the timing, the darkness, the full moon....I got a pit in my stomach.  I thought about all the crazies and got nervous.  Something just didn't add up.  I pulled out my cell phone and thought if the truck didn't turn into the ranch or Rayado, then I was going to call Marie and Dave. 

It didn't turn.

I tried Marie and Dave and got no answer.  I knew Thomas would be at work, and I was afraid to go home alone if I was being followed.  No answer there, and as I tried Daniel and Julie next, I lost service.  I kept checking the phone, but no new bars appeared with service for another phone call.  I tried to drive as quickly as I could without being negligent.  I rounded the lake and felt like the truck was gaining on me.  I was just trying to remember to breathe, but paused long enough to lock the doors.  As I passed Clearview, the truck seemed to be slowing down, and it did in fact allow quite a gap between us.  It didn't last long, and as I approached my road, I was in utter panic for how close it had gotten. 

I felt sure I would find Mike and Alice home, so I slowed down for their driveway.  I made my way slowly down the driveway to watch what the truck would do.

It slowed down and turned in behind me. 

I was panicking; my heart was racing.  The truck stayed to the right, as if going to the neighbors' house.  I knew that the other drive made a loop around the property and would head me off at the gate to Mike & Alice's, so I dashed on to the "L" created by the garage and cistern, grabbed my bag, locked the door behind me, and ran into the house. 

I startled Mike & Alice, and it was all I could do not to cry.  I told them how scared I was, and we watched out the window for headlights.  I refused anything to eat or drink; I just needed to calm down.  I stayed for an hour, talking about this and that, getting and giving updates.  After an hour Mike followed me home a ways behind me.  There was no sign of any other vehicle lurking.  I ran into the house and began closing the blinds.   I noticed headlights on the highway that weren't moving, but couldn't see.  I moved to a different window and could see a couple of trucks.  I saw Mike's truck pull away from the other truck, but knew it wasn't "the one" because it had a trailer of 4x4s on the back.  It turned out to be hunters who missed their turn for the hunting lodge.

When all the blinds were pulled except for the ones in the TV room that faced the highway and our road, I called Mary and talked for a bit.  Then I called Daniel about something else.  Since he was waiting for Julie to get home from a game, I told him my story and how nervous I still was to walk away from the window.  He said that I should call Mike & Alice's neighbor to see if it was them behind me.  I wasn't sure about the idea; mostly I was afraid to hear that it wasn't them nor any company they received at that time.  He gave me their phone number anyway.  And I called. 

I got their voice mail and left a rambling message.  I suggested I was being foolish and had gotten spooked when a truck came onto the highway after I passed.  It turned in behind me at the driveway off the highway, and if it was them, would the call and ease my fears?  No answer.  Were they screening my call or were they not home?  I paced. 

About five minutes later the phone rang.  Oh yeah, they had noticed a car in front of them, and it did turn in the same driveway right before them.  They had stopped to take a leak on the side of the road and didn't even realize the coincidence of our driving so close.  Phew!  Phew!  I did feel foolish then.  I was relieved, but I also realized that had I turned on to my road or Marie and Dave's or Daniel's, had I turned anywhere but Mike and Alice's driveway, I would have know they weren't following me.  How silly and foolish, indeed!

I called Daniel, Mike and Alice, and Mary to let them know everything was okay.  I felt pretty shaken up still, but had the wherewithal to start a fire, pour myself a glass of wine, and start a movie.  Thomas was home shortly after I went to bed, and I relayed the story to him...a "funny" story, as I called it.  I blame the full moon for spooking me...really, I am not that paranoid...

A long drive

My commute took about twice as long this morning.  I can't say it was a major upset, but I had to shake it off all the same.

 

We have had some great rain showeres the last couple of nights, the kind that comes knocking on your door and barges right in.  Well, no, we don't have any leaks in the house, so maybe it was more like the big bad wolf huffing and puffing against the house of brick.  But we live in a house of tin, so to speak, so the pelting rain entertained my ears as I read my books.  Last night's fire kept me nice and warm, and drifting off to sleep was easy.

 

I awoke to another world.  The low clouds had really socked us in.  I got the car loaded and out the driveway, but couldn't see in either direction as I pulled on to the highway.  It continued like this for all but three or four of the twent-two miles I drive to work.  I admit that I take the turns at a prudent speed, but will plead ignorant of the actual speed limit on the highway.  I know where I need to watch for wildlife (really all 22 miles) and where to keep an eye out for people or other cars.

 

Today, however, I drove with about twenty-thirty feet of visibility.  A few spots it was less visibility and a few spots it was more.  And two spots the clouds opened up into blue sky and clear air like a commercial for some air freshener or something.  So peculiar!  Mostly, I sat a little hunched over the wheel creeping along in the hopes that any oncoming ranch trucks were doing the same and not barreling down the middle of the road.  The road looked to be hovering in thin air as the sides of the road in my peripheral vision seemed to fade into nothingness.  When I passed the lake, I could only see half way across, and then it disappeared.  It was a long drive....

 

It was quite like a movie set, maybe a Western where the cowboys are all on horses silently moving through a sea of cows looking for a rustler.  But having only seen them once, it felt more like something mystical from The Lord of the Rings movies.  I'll admit I pinched myself, but just once. 

 

I wondered if I would even be able to see Cimarron, but two miles before I got to my turn, everything faded into my rearview mirror as if it never happened.  But I pinched myself, so I know it happened....

Love Notes

In this crazy newlywed time (are we still newlyweds?), we spend more of it apart because of work schedules, and the time we are together, we're usually asleep. I have heard so many stories of newlyweds working opposite schedules in the past couple of months that it seems it was predetermined as a test of faith and love that I would go to sleep before Thomas got home, and I would leave for work before Thomas woke up, and he would leave for work before I got home...and so on. No, it hasn't been easy. But there have been late nights of work and dinner with other family to distract me. There have also been the mornings when I started my day late and had breakfast with Thomas, since I can stay late in the evening. Yesterday I made banana pancakes for us. It was a real treat. In the meantime my "Spanish phrase of the day" tear off calendar has been flipped on its front and turned into our pad for leaving messages. I like to leave messages for Thomas...sometimes one at night and one in the morning, even though not much has happened in between. I came home tonight to a love note from Thomas, and it made me smile. Then I found his other love note...

We played Upwords recently and hadn't put it away yet...

Very sweet! These things that make me smile on the inside! In other news I am staying warm. I built my first fire and got it on the first match! I am very proud of myself, especially as I haven't lit a fire in years...I don't even think I have responsible for any recent campfires.

The cast iron kettle on top was my grandparents.

My first training

I have already attended a few trainings in my new position at Immaculate Conception Church in Cimarron, but tonight I held my first.  I have been so prepared, but did it go off without a hitch?  Not a chance!

Father is only in the office for about four - five hours a week.  He hasn't been in the past two Tuesdays, so I had a heap of questions for him.  We met at two and met for almost two hours.  This did not leave me much time to revise the document for tonight's training for which he provided information, copy it, finish making the "light supper", and make it to mass at 5:30 pm.

Enter telephone from stage right...

The first call I was able to end quickly by scheduling another time to talk.  The second call took nearly an hour of my hour and a half.  It was an important call.  I am still trying to advance our office into the technology age, and while I still have a lot to learn, I do know some things require the assistance of a pro.  So the pro trumped making corn bread, finishing the edits, et al.  Consequently, I didn't go to mass.

I was working against the clock, copying and stirring, baking and typing.  I had about five minutes to go when the printer said it was out of ink and wouldn't copy anymore, at the same time the muffins wanted to come out of the oven, at the same time as the attendees of the training started to arrive.  The printer cartridge was changed, and the pages started spitting forth.  Then another cartridge needed changing, so that the trainees got their papers at the end of the meeting instead of the beginning.  The muffins were great, but the crock-pot evidently blew a fuse or something because the soup was only tepid.  The honey doesn't dissolve quickly in iced tea, so people were drinking their iced tea with spoons.  Father went off on a tangent, as did a few attendees, but nobody could understand him (I only picked out a few words).  Because of all the craziness, I never printed the sign in sheet, though I know who everyone was by name.

Despite these obvious setbacks, I think they enjoyed the meeting because they hung around and talked afterward.  The muffins, from a packaged mix, got rave reviews, and the crock-pot is still completely full of black bean soup.  I had to leave the dishes because we are out of dish soap, but I still didn't leave the office until 8 pm, 12 hours after I arrived. 

I am calling the meeting, my first training, a success.  Next Tuesday I get to make my second attempt.  Not sure if I can freeze the soup for a week and re-serve it?

more animals...

All I ever write about anymore are the animals along the highway on my way to and from Cimarron.  And here I go again!

This morning I saw a cluster of bucks.  I noticed some of the deer had already rubbed the felt off their antlers, while others still had fuzzy antlers.  I moseyed along the way, and as I slowed down for the drop into Philmont and the 40 mph slow zone, I spotted deer up ahead.  This is always nice, to spot them up ahead.  Most of the time, I seem to only see them as they are whizzing by, usually staring at me, maybe because my car needs a new muffler and sounds terribly loud to them.

So up ahead I spy deer in the road.  Not just one or two...fifteen!  Does and fawns, running in a line across the road at a crosswalk sign...what a coincidence, right?  One young fawn was leaping through the soft ground and then pranced across the asphalt to the other side and promptly began springing about.  They looked as if they heard the dinner bell rung for breakfast, or the school bell.  Something seemed to be calling them all at once. 

That was the excitement on the way to work, but on the way home, I saw an owl swoop across the road and a bunny...not together in the chase. 

Oh what does the road have in store for tomorrow?

Dedicated to my Grandma

It's true, I miss my grandma a lot sometimes. Most often I feel a sudden urge to call her, to tell her a story or to talk about how beautiful the day or just to let her know that even though I don't live in Portland, I think of her a lot. When my cell phone lost service, I looked through all the numbers in it that I needed to save. Her number was still in the phone, as if I could still call her up. Anyhow, I received a message last night from my sister-in-law Marie that she would be pulling pumpkin pies out of the oven in 10 minutes, and I was invited to come get a piece. It was too late or too cold or too much after having eaten dinner at nearly nine o'clock, but I made some excuse for not leaving home. This afternoon I left a message for her that I was coming after work for a piece of pumpkin pie, and I would bring whip cream. (I already knew that she only had chocolate and rocky road ice cream in the freezer because that was what we had with Maya's birthday cake on Sunday.) I don't have one yet, but I borrowed the egg beater out of the kitchen in the Parish Office. I stopped by the store and bought a cup of whipping cream (only size they had) and a bag of powdered sugar. It was getting dark, but I could still see the way home okay. I called Marie in advance and asked her to put her mixing bowl in the fridge to get it cold. Whipping up the cream was fun. It was nostalgic of all the pumpkin pies and strawberry shortcakes at 4303 SE Henderson St. I loved helping whip the cream, especially when my finger accidentally fell into the bowl and scooped up a dollop on the way out. Yummmm....there is nothing like homemade whip cream to remind me of family and Grandma's house. I looked for her eggbeater after all my aunts and uncles claimed their inheritance from the house. I feel lucky to have her double boiler and an old funnel, her old teaspoons and measuring cups, and even the last stove top timer she had (a really weird one...definitely not the onion one of my childhood). I didn't find it. It looked kind of like the one in the picture, but the handle was wooden, I think. And the knob was more of a round wooden ball. Or at least that is how I remember it. I keep an eye out in thrift stores, but haven't found the right one. Some things really just can't be replaced...

Why would I forget what day it is?

It feels like I've missed a week and can't get back on track. Oh wait, I did. Last week I drove to Albuquerque and back, then turned around and drove to Denver. Thomas and I had the honor of attending ToddieP's wedding in Nashville last weekend. We flew in and out of Denver, which is a first for me. The drive up, plus the air travel, then drive back....now that is some seriously disorienting stuff. In Denver Thomas and I got to have a breakfast date at Watercourse, when we had the whole restaurant to ourselves, plus a dinner date at Mr. Sushi...oh, Mr. Sushi...our favorite date restaurant. It was fun getting to spend that time together just the two of us because we don't get a lot of "just the two of us" time. It was also a treat to see Betty Woolsey, who put us up this trip. What a great time we had talking and talking and talking!

Thomas at the Ryman...

Nashville was a blast, though a lot of partying and not enough sleeping for this old body to recover. The pleasure of traveling with Mary and Jennifer made it all the more fun. We made it to Todd and Gabby's home, the Ryman Auditorium, and the Country Music Hall of Fame. And what trip would be complete without honky tonkin' on Broadway?!? The night before the wedding, Todd took us all out to show us a good time. And it was! Todd's family is wonderful, and it was great to reconnect with all of them. Of course, the wedding was beautiful, and who doesn't like dancing on a rooftop?

Mary, ToddieP, and I in the living room...mimicking a Sancho's picture A glimpse of half Todd's music and movie collection behind Jennifer and Mary...

All that fun and getting home Monday night has left me a little out of it this week. Just on more day till the weekend...