Blizzard and a Breeze

This isn't an advertisement for Dairy Queen, though in wintry weather when we drove home from skiing at Mt. Hood, we often stopped for one.  Instead, this blizzard stopped for us.  And it brought a mighty breeze with it that blew the snow all over the place.  Guesstimations suggest that we got almost a foot of snow, but it was so hard to tell because of the drifts.  Thomas and I woke up to a snow day on Monday, December 19th.  I wasn't sure what to expect with the blizzard warnings when we went to bed on Sunday because it had been raining...a lovely way to fall asleep, though rare.  School was already on Christmas break, so there weren't any radio warnings of delays.  However, eventually the highway to Springer and I-25 from Santa Fe to Raton were closed because of drifts and poor visibility.  It kept getting worse as the morning wore on, but the snow was utterly deceptive.  A step out the front door was easy because the snow had been blown away to reveal frozen ground.  High-stepping over to the workshop where Thomas was hiding out, on the other hand, was a knee deep trip that dumped snow into my boots.  Tuesday was much of the same.

Our hardest part was getting onto the highway once it was cleared.  The truck, which isn't four wheel drive, got stuck trying to get onto the highway - too much snow and mud underneath.  Tuesday, I wanted to get out of the house, so I donned all my winter gear for a trip to the mailbox and up to the neighbors with some pumpkin bread.  

The car was blown clear of snow and around it, too, but you can see how the wind piled it up.  No scraping or shoveling had been undertaken before this picture.

The view of my relaxing chair in the middle of our circle drive.  Snow in every direction!

Our huge piles of dirt around our future home-site were leveled off in the snow.

Pretty swirls from the wind...

And after the dry summer we had, our rain barrel for the mud room gutter was very happy and full!

Happy Birthday, Liam!

December 19th has been looming large on my calendar.  I awoke this morning singing happy birthday for dear Liam, the son of my friends Oren and Ahna.  We dearly miss his presence in all of our lives and pray that the heavenly hosts sing for him and celebrate his life today!

And while the tune is happy birthday, the happiness is hard to swallow for those left behind, so I invite you all to life up his mom and dad and family who miss him so much!

Pre-Christmas Celebration (aka Mom's birthday)

We were instructed to arrive on Saturday the 10th at 4:00 pm and bring only liquid refreshments and to come prepared not to talk about politics, religion, health, war, price of Coca Cola and a myriad list of taboo topics.  We weren't all together on Thanksgiving and wouldn't all be together for Christmas, so attendance was not optional.

Thomas and I arrived with our things and parked in the snow and mud.  I quickly handed Thomas my armload, as Granny was standing on her porch looking for her cane.  It was a rather funny sight, as she has little sight left and couldn't possibly have seen much in the light of late afternoon.  More comical was that she hadn't been outside with it.  I found it leaning behind a robe in the bedroom, but then was invited to have a seat and talk.  I really wanted to go check out the liquid refreshments, but first listened to the news of the day.


Thomas got to do his favorite thing - hold a baby!  I don't know why he thinks he is too tough to hold babies because in truth, they all just think he is terrific.  Sofia especially likes the view from her Tio's lap.



No, Andres didn't get into the cake early.  Granny went home before it was cake time, so she took her piece before the wish was made.

A woman never tells her age, but this cake did have number candles.  Sara remarked that the numbers were probably backwards, knocking a few years off Mom's age and making her an extraordinarily young mother to Daniel.



In lieu of birthday spankings, Mom got sat upon by her almost 13 year old grandson.

 We all had fun and made nice.  The feast was delicious, and we enjoyed lots of storytelling and laughter into the evening!  Good timing, too, as I knew I missed a fantastic birthday party for Nick's 31st with the lighting of the Ford house on Henderson Street and another one for Cole's 2nd.  Near and far we celebrated!

A World of Hurt

I had the privilege of spending two and a half hours with a couple in town this evening.  It really was a privilege, though the visit turned out to be about five times longer than I anticipated. 

I am a talker, sure.  But I really enjoy listening to other people's stories.  And sometimes it is most important to let someone tell his stories so that they may live on.  The gentleman I visited is a most extraordinary man for making a person feel so comfortable and at home, so important and at ease, and so appreciated.  His health has been troubling the last few months, and there is no telling yet if it is on the decline or turning around.  He came home just a couple of days ago, and only time will tell.  I did not know him or his wife well, and still really don't.  But I am privileged that these "private" people opened their door and let me be a part of their story.  And hopefully I will have plenty more chances to visit.

Something he said made me pause - wondering what lesson God needs him to learn from his suffering.  It gave me pause because he is not one who takes God for granted, but truly tries to live and preach the Gospel in his life.  I suggested that maybe it is not he who is supposed to learn something, but who has something to teach the rest of us.  For me it affirmed the importance of companionship.  So many times I have thought to visit someone or extend friendship in some way, but let my life get too busy to take that time.  I hope I can change that.

It is troubling how my prayer list of people keep gets longer by the day.  There are so many people hurting in so many different ways, needing healing of so many kinds.  This season of Advent is a season of waiting.  And for good news, for recovery, for a sign that all will be well, so many people are waiting and praying.  Waiting for a miracle.  My streak of bad luck this week just seems so insignificant!

So tonight, on my little brother's birthday, I join friends and family in their waiting.  May God be with us!

Time with Friends

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day off.  Tom had been home sick all week, but perked up for the long weekend - just in time for company!  Mary came to visit and had specially requested that we make a trip to Santa Fe.  And so we did!  I had been watching goats all week for a neighbor, so I rolled out of the house early to feed them and such.  Then it was home for a quick shower, breakfast, and hitting the road.

The drive down is a blur.  I know Tom drove, and there was lots of storytelling.  We were eager to get there and unsure what we would do.  Tom was the tour guide, having lived there so many years.  We parked near the plaza and started walking.  It was bitterly cold to me, though the other two didn't show it.  I looked ready for the Arctic! 

 Outside the Loretto Chapel, which we didn't pay to go inside, a tree is strung with rosaries.  I said a decade for my dear cousin Theresa and another for Mary Pat.

 Off the chapel plaza a market of sorts was set up.  These ristras were a lovely burst of color.

 We saw these lovely metal sculptures spinning in the wind all over.  I especially liked this shape and how the spokes turned in a different direction for an ever changing pattern.  

We stopped in at the Blue Corn for some eats.  We had the nachos, one of the two dishes that marked my first meal in Santa Fe with Thomas three plus years ago.  It was fun to go back with Mary, too.  On our way to the cafe, we stopped into a gallery Tom and I were in on a recent trip.  The moving animal sculptures caught my eye then and did again.  We walked deeper into the art and saw some new pieces.  I notice the couple of women walking and talking towards us, fully absorbed in their conversation.  The one with her back to me was surprised when I called her out for following me across state lines.  Deb and her mom were in town peeping in galleries, too.  We enjoyed chatting and, after lunch, met up on Canyon Road and wandered some more together.  We gave Deb's mom a lift back to the hotel to walk the dog and held onto Deb for a little shopping.  Afterwards, we picked up Deb's mom and headed off for an authentic dinner at Posas.  What a terrific day with friends!

I drove us home, while Tom lay in misery in the back seat (something in his fajitas didn't agree with him).  We rolled in and fired up the stove and called it a night.  Mary and I made breakfast burritos in the morning with just enough time for me to duck out, burrito in hand, to get to church for a full first day of Advent!

Me and my handsome tour guide!

Giving Thanks

I am grateful for a great many blessings!  A slow internet connection and other to-dos have kept me from posting this sooner, but I had a fantastic Thanksgiving.  I am especially grateful for the time woodcutting with the guys.  We made a trip out on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and then on Thanksgiving morning.  Not because I am the token female, I have been the truck loader and get great exercise filling up some trucks with future firewood (and take the pictures).  

I say "future" because it won't be any time soon.  The storm that blew through in early November and left shingles and branches everywhere also took out a great number of living trees.  These green trees will make great firewood, but need to cure first.  All the same, when it's ready for the getting, we will take it!  Because it was so recently alive, the wood is incredibly dense.  It made for some low tailgates.

These pictures are from the Saturday trip.  We went to Clark's Fork, a new part of the camp for me.  Very pretty views.

 When I mention strong winds, these two green trees were felled at the roots.  The picture doesn't even capture the tops.  We didn't block it because it wasn't particularly close to the road for loading.

 My strong man blocking a tree...

Minus Pop, who was probably in the truck and ready to roll on home, my fellow crew.  I enjoy getting to help.  And on a night like tonight with a roaring fire in the cold, I appreciate that I had a hand in it.

We missed the Salas family on Thanksgiving, but had a feast all the same.  Mom made salmon for me...so sweet!  We brought the gravy and potatoes, a big loaf of focaccia bread, homemade whipped cream and pumpkin empanadas, and the green chile.  It was a heck of a feast, and it took us a whole week to eat up all our leftovers.  I really wanted to make a ridiculous post about how the gravy didn't turn out pink.  I tried an onion gravy recipe to please an onion lover who teases me about my "compost" gravy.  Anyhow, I thought it would be fun to use our purple onions and serve a pink gravy.  Six cups of onions for five cups of gravy, and with all those onions, it still came out beige.  We indulged and then crashed!  We are blessed, blessed, blessed!

Food Glorious Food

Oh how I love to eat!  Out here in the middle of nowhere, inspiration for a meal can come from a magazine, from the produce that needs to get eaten, and from how long it will take from inception to belly.  Thomas and I take turns cooking, but sometimes neither one of us is in the mood. 

Recently, I was inspired by a recipe from Food & Wine magazine.  It was for a quinoa-stuffed kabocha squash.  Coincidentally, I had all the ingredients, save for fresh herbs.  This squash is partially roasted and then basted with a butter-thyme-maple syrup sauce.  The quinoa is cooked with thyme and onions.  And the both are sauced up with a creamy thyme and maple syrup concoction.  It was tasty!  The mushrooms were omitted for Tom's sake, and I added a little crab to the sauce for Tom's sake.

That meal was quite a production.  Most weeknights I don't make time to roast squash and all that.  Getting home in the cold and dark shortly before 5 pm, my first instinct is to build a fire and get the house warmed up.  Occasionally I will work up a simple feast, like last night's shrimp with toasted coconut, pineapple, and cutie over rice with crispy wonton strips - no pic.  And other nights a fancy pizza requires less thinking.  

When we make it to town, a dinner out is a treat.  So when we don't make it to town, a frozen pizza is as close to "take out" as we get.  However, a pizza rarely comes out of the box and goes straight into the oven.  I am partial to dressing up my cheese pizza with pineapple, green chile, and garlic - yummy!  This one got a little out of hand - pineapple, garlic, chipotle "sausage", and avocado.  Pretty and tasty!