Tuesday, December 6, 2011

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!

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