Mountain Valley and Grilled Salmon

I have fallen absolutely in love with the Pendaries Valley where we are staying. Hermit's Peak hovers at one end, and the entire valley floor is a big ranch owned by a Texas oilman who has relocated to Santa Fe. He has black angus cattle, lots of black angus cattle grazing in the green valley. On either side of the valley is what they call the Pendaries Village. There's the RV Park where we are, a store, a real estate office, and a row of townhouses and condos all of which back up into the Santa Fe Forest. You weave your way through all of this, and then cross the ranch, which is open range so cows might be out on the road. On the other side of the valley and up into the mountains is the housing subdivisions, the lodge and restaurant, and an 18-hole golf course, as well as a mountain stream meandering through it all. It is truly a little slice of paradise nestled in the mountains. Every evening we have sat outside until well after dark, listening to the silence. Tonight there's an orange slice of a moon, but for several days it has been pitch black after sundown.

There have also been thunder showers every afternoon. It reminds of me of when I lived in the Mississippi pine forest, the way the thunder comes rumbling down through the trees. Yesterday we had a bit of hail, large BB's. We have had the awning out, and we braved that storm with it out too, the four of us huddling under the cover. This morning our friends who had joined us here, left. We hated to see them go, but they were homesick. God knows why. It's been cool and crisp here at night, and dry and bearable in the day, unlike back in humid, hot, sweaty South Texas. But since we're alone tonight, we drove over to the restaurant and ate an exceptional meal. My grilled salmon with pesto and garlic mashed potatoes was excellent. The asparagus was crisp and lightly sea salted. We had drinks and watched the sun go down over the valley.

Today we looked at a couple of places that are for sale here. We adored one of them, but tonight sat outside talking ourselves out of going into debt right now for something so far from home. It is very tempting though. The deal is just almost unbelievable, because of the bad economy and the remoteness of this valley, but we need this deal to come around in five or so years, not right now. Self-denial is never easy, as the old song says.

We will be leaving day after tomorrow, and for once, I'm really not ready to go.

Onward ....

A Bee Hummingbird in the New Mexico Mountains

Last night, just at dusk, we saw a bee hummingbird. There's red penstemon growing wild all around us, and one of the flower heads was moving. An almost incandescent fluttering caught our attention. My SO said, "How small is the smallest hummingbird you've ever seen?" I thought at first we were watching a dragonfly. So I moved over to stand still among the penstemons to get a closer look. It took a while for the tiny bird to come back, but it finally did, and my gosh, it was the teensiest, no more than two inches, if that, with wingbeats so quick they were invisible.

We are in a beautiful place, in the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rockies in northeastern New Mexico. Rociada is the name of the place. We found it last year and determined to come stay here in the future. The future is now, as they say. The owners call it an RV Resort, and if any place qualifies, this does. It encompasses 158 gated acres, so each site is as large as a city lot, with magnificent ponderosa pine towering overhead. There's an adjacent golf course and we think a lot of the people here have come here for the course. There's also a clubhouse with planned activities, which we probably won't participate in, but it's nice that they have activity directors and keep such a close watch on everything. There's no television, which has taken a little getting used to, just for the noise factor. But we sat outside until dark last night, then came inside, talked for a while, and took magazines to bed to read.

I'm pleased with how well the cat and dog are coexisting in such close confines. The cat sleeps with us, which for him is the only joy to camping, and the dog makes her bed on the sofa in the front room of the RV. She cooperates by laying her head at the opposite end from where the cat's food and water are on top of the side table, so he can jump up there unimpeded throughout the night. The dog spends most of the time outside with us. But last night, after the park had quieted, I even harnessed and leashed the cat and took him out with us. Mostly, he was panicked, but I think he enjoyed looking around from the safety of my lap.

We have no neighbors to the front of our trailer, and our friends from home occupy the space behind us. We put one of the picnic tables between our trailer and their motorhome. I fixed a big salad with leftover garlic roasted chicken, and they contributed bagel crisps and meat-stuffed empanadas. Our friend had a birthday the day before, so I had found a small fudge cake decorated with slivered marbled chocolate. We put one candle in it, my SO supplied the fire, and we took it out to the table singing Happy Birthday. I think we surprised her.

Today we're off to Taos. My SO has some business there, and then we're going to the downtown plaza for lunch and to tour Kit Carson's home, and maybe to see the Indian pueblo there. Mainly, though, we need to study how far and difficult the drive is, because we'll be going back through Taos tomorrow on our way to the narrow gauge railhead at the southernmost edge of Colorado.

Nice and cool here this morning. That's what we came for -- the cool weather. We'll have our coffee out under the awning.

Onward ....

The Mountains -- Finally

The cat and I had an altercation right away yesterday morning. There's a small space behind the sofa in the RV that he has claimed as his safe spot. He gets back there and won't come out and there's no way to reach in a get him either because of a built-in side table. I tried coaxing him out with canned food, which usually works. Didn't. So I tried pouring his kibble out on the table. For some reason, that usually works, makes his kibble seem different if it's poured out instead of inside the bowl -- strange cat. Anyway, that didn't work either. I gave it lots of time to work, too. Two hours while the SO was off calling on his customers in Artesia. When he got back, the kitty was still in hiding, so I had to resort to brooming him out. There's just enough space to fit a broom. I scooted him down to the end, then grabbed him by his scruff, and hauled him out, but I was sweaty and frustrated by then, and he was traumatized.

The cat does not like RVing. His whole demeanor is different. I keep thinking he will do better once we get settled at the RV Resort Park, which is our destination, in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of NE New Mexico. We will arrive there today and are staying a while. Our friends from home will join us there. We've been keeping in touch via email and cell phone, but will meet up in person today. One quick trip to the grocery store, and we'll head that way.

Had some excitement at this park last evening. Our neighbors, who are young hippie types, had an ambulance parked in front of their travel trailer. All the nosy people around here were out watching the happenings. I walked by on my way to the laundry facilities, but tried not to poke into their business. Still, I wondered what happened. They looked to be no more than 30, so I hope it wasn't something too serious.

As I use the word hippie I sort of cringe because none of these hippies of today are the real thing, at least, I don't think so. I lived through that time and know the difference. Young people now aren't quite as idealistic, even unrealistic, with the peace on earth, love your neighbor thing. It seems to me that we all really believed that could happen. My how disillusioned most of us have become.

Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy my vacation and try to avoid worrying about the state of the world for a little while.

Onward ....

Thousands of Oil Wells, and Nesting Hawks

We passed a hundred thousand oil wells between Lovington, NM and Artesia. The air was fouled with the petroleum smell. Pump jacks as far as the eye could see, with a cobweb of power lines leading to each of them. The jacks were all sizes, from the little cow-sized ones I rode as a kid on a friend's ranch, to the medium-sized, more common ones, to the huge jacks that pull the oil up and up from deep in the earth. There's more oil here -- or maybe was at one time -- than in the Permian Basin, or maybe this still is the Permian Basin, I'm not sure. I did notice that 2/3rds of the jacks were not pumping. I thought we were trying to get off of foreign oil. I'm so tired of the lies, the propaganda, and the greed.

We read in a local paper last night that part of the city of Midland, Texas has water that is contaminated with hexavalent chromium. I'm not sure what that is but the article says there's pretty much nothing that can be done to decontaminate the water, so those people are all just screwed. My SO thinks that's the same substance Erin Brockovich crusaded against for that group of people who sued. I probably need to watch that movie again. He has such better retention of these things than I do. I mostly just remember Julia Roberts's boobs in that movie. Guess I'm as shallow as a 14-year old adolescent. Geez!

THE POINT BEING -- I SHALL NOT DRINK THE WATER WHILE WE'RE IN THIS PART OF THE STATE!

We did see one interesting site. The state here lets hawks build nests on their old power poles. Rather than tearing them down, they put little ledges up there and almost every old creosote pole has a nest of hawks. They build a shaggy, deeply cupped nest, but then they have big babies. I saw a pair of hawks feeding their babies inside one of these nests. One parent flew in to perch beside the other parent and the little beaks were poking straight up to receive their breakfast. Kinda cute, or as cute as hawks are capable of being.

This morning we will be on the road for about 6 hours, heading toward Las Vegas, NM. The cat has been very good the last couple of days in the car. We'll see if that good behavior holds on the long trip today. I'm proud of how well the cat and dog are tolerating each other in these close quarters. It helps that the kitty has his hidey-hole behind the sofa bed.

More tomorrow.

Onward ....

On the Road Again

We’re on our way to the mountains of New Mexico.  SO is working his way there, so we’re not doing a straight drive-through. We’ve got both animals and so far they’re doing pretty well. The cat had a good traveling day yesterday. After the first 60 miles, he quieted down and even slept a little. I think he will be happier once we’re settled in the mountains. 

We’re going to stay there for a week. It’s already cooler, seemed to get cooler almost immediately after we crossed the state line. Our friends are joining us in the mountains at the same resort, but they’re getting there via a different route, heading up through the Big Bend area and far West Texas. We’ve been keeping in touch through email in the evenings, and will rendezvous on Wednesday.

I’ve brought the laptop and am thinking that I might be able to do a little work while we’re on this trip, but so far, that hasn’t happened. In any case, I also brought a couple of books to read. My reading has fallen off so much this year. And we’re listening to a book about the Founding Fathers as we head down the road. I’m getting better at listening to audio books, but they still have a tendency to lull me to sleep. Guess I’m just growing shallower as I age. But I’m also more contented, and I think, more accepting of what life throws my way. Ten years ago, I seriously doubt I would’ve enjoyed this kind of trip as much as I enjoy it now, just being in new surrounding, with my animals and my sweetheart. I find it more relaxing than I can convey.

Onward ....

A Walking Stick

We were sitting in the hot tub just before dark yesterday, when I spotted a walking stick (Diapheromera femorata) on the nearby Norfolk Island pine. It was easily 8 inches long. We both said it was the biggest one we had ever seen. My SO splashed up some water from the hot tub and it immediately went into hiding, scurrying to the underside of a lower limb. I commented that if I didn't know it was there, I wouldn't have been able to see it. Great camouflage.

Hurricane Alex has cooled the temperature for us. There's another tropical system already making its way through the Gulf towards us. We got 5 inches of rain out of Alex but could always use more. We try hard not to complain about rain when we get it, since we don't know when the next rain might come -- went 23 months without a drop in 08 and 09. Everything is green and lush this year. Looks like a totally different place, but we have had some unusual insects, and plenty of them, to go along with the wet.

We took my dad to the Coast with us this past weekend for the 4th of July. It created a lot of work for me, and I didn't have as good of a time as I'd hoped. I've come to like it down there best when it's just us: SO, me, the dog, and the cat, our little family. I found myself getting tense and irritable, trying to keep Daddy occupied. He's so easily bored, has become slovenly in his old age, difficult, disorganized, and unappreciative. I also think he's depressed, although he would never admit it. He dwells on the past almost constantly, and comes out with what I consider inappropriate statements an awful lot. He's sort of lecherous, truth told, ogling young girls and making frequent sexual references. I wonder if this is common in elderly men. It bothers me. I try to ignore it, but it really has changed the way I feel about him and I don't like that. As I said to my SO, "I want my strong, calm, charismatic Daddy back." I'm uncertain about this one I seem to have now, don't know how to deal with him. People constantly tell me how lucky I am to still have my dad around, but I'm not always so certain of that. It's definitely a life transition I'm watching him go through. It's not always easy to temper my own response to that.

Meanwhile, we're gearing up for another long RV trip to the mountains. I'm looking forward to it, but with mixed feelings, a little nervous about the animals getting along for an extended time in close confines. They made it through the Big Bend trip OK, and hopefully will this time as well. But the cat has become more aggressive towards the dog lately, and I don't know exactly why. She's intimidated by him and it affects her sunny personality. I had hoped that after two years of living together they would get along better, but there's too much "sibling rivalry" between them. I supposed this is probably the best it will ever be, and I partially understand that the dog is much bigger so the cat feels the need to constantly remind her that he's boss, especially when it come to his mommy! But we have to manage their togetherness, my SO and me, constantly on alert and doing our damnedest to keep them separated.

I'm taking along the laptop this time, so will try to do better about posting here.

Onward ....

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN

I'm not complaining. We need the rain, but we're sitting here watching old westerns on TV, just waiting for a break in the rain to go to the Coast. We've spent every July 4th since we've been together down there but it's looking less and less likely that they'll have the fireworks display, or the art festival this weekend at all. Both will more than likely get rained out, thanks to Alex, who is gone but has left behind his legacy. Dark dark clouds moved in before noon and the bottom fell out for a while. At the end of about 25 minutes, we had 2 inches in the gauge -- the hardest rain we've had yet, and for the longest duration. Otherwise, it's just "pissing" as my dad would say. We had an inch and three-quarters this morning, accumulated from the two previous days, so that brings our total to 4 inches so far. The animals are getting restless to go outside. Me, too.

Made some more jelly. My SO keeps bringing home grapes. He boils them down to juice and I've been straining them for jelly. This morning, we got four pint jars and two half pints, this time, with a smidge left for the fridge again. I want enough so we feel no pain if we give a jar or two away to friends. My SO is loathe to part with any of it at present. It is a lot of work, so I don't blame him. And it makes a huge mess in the kitchen.

Decided to buy a new aquarium yesterday. Set it up last night, and will transfer all the fish into it when we return from the Coast. I've found these little tanks to be high maintenance, and I'm not happy to have to work so hard. This new tank is twice the size. Maybe I won't have to clean it so often. I'm looking for ways to ease my workload. I seem to be brimming over with article ideas, and need to make time. With me, it's always a question of prioritizing.

Onward ....