2007 NM Wed Jan 31

Wed Jan 31

I made another trip to Walmart today! Just can’t stay away. I needed some shoes I could walk in the snow in, as I neglected to get any in Florida. My sneakers with the mesh top just don’t cut it when it is snowy and slushy outside. I got some cheapo shoes and wore them outside – they weren’t very comfortable, but they were waterproof. Keith wasn’t happy that I had gotten cheapos, so we returned them on Thursday and got some good boots for me. They are comfortable and warm, so now I can walk through the slush with impunity. I always forget how filthy it is once the snow stops coming down. Slush and mud and dirty water and dirty snow everywhere! Well, except out in the mountains, of course.

After Walmart I went downtown to find a cute little shop named “Wabi-Sabi.” Wabi-Sabi is some sort of Japanese philosophy, I think. I got a book about it, so it will be interesting to see what it says. This little shop was very interesting and Siring, the owner, and I had an interesting chat about the China-India-Burma theater during WWII. Her uncle flew the hump and of course Keith’s dad was a flight chief on those planes. We were talking about it when another lady came in and asked for some help with tea when we were done.

Siring (the shop owner) said, “No problem, we were just talking about the war.”

The lady said, “Oooh,” in a very disapproving tone of voice.

Siring said hastily, “Oh not that war, World War Two.”

The lady replied, “Oooh,” in an approving tone of voice.

It made me smile to myself.

We are very much in the minority here, both as Christians and as conservatives. And they aren’t shy about letting you know that either. Hate Bush stuff is all over (those of you liberals whom I love would probably love it!) I imagine the native population tends to be more Catholic, since that is the historical religion, and I did see one Baptist church here, but there is a lot of Buddhism, Hinduism, of course Native American religion as well as animalism and Wiccan. Quite an interesting mix. Some of the nicest people I have ever met here, though. Everybody is friendly, and Keith says everybody at the ski slopes was too. The lift operators, the rental shop people and especially the boot place. He has been in about 5 or 6 times to get his boots adjusted.

He knew had really hard to fit feet. The boot store at the mountain is one of the best in the country which is why he wanted to get them there. Lots of the Everest climbers go there to have their climbing boots fitted. In little Taos! Amazing. He would ski, then get them adjusted, then ski, then adjust. You can’t really tell the fit until you have skied with them, so this was perfect.

After I visited Wabi-Sabi, I just felt like coming back to the room and finishing my book, so that’s what I did. It started snowing again just after I got in. By the time the guys got back, it had snowed about an inch. We decided to eat dinner at the restaurant next door and were glad we did. We walked over and were welcomed by a practically empty restaurant and a blazing fire! (In the fireplace ;) ) We got to sit right next to it and be toasty. Roger had salmon with dill sauce and Keith and I had trout with a great fresh chopped tomato and herb sauce. Very nice salad bar too. It was delicious. We walked back through the snow and then watched American Idol Los Angeles tryouts and howled.

Keith and Roger went out to see the Rio Grande Gorge before skiing and here's a picture of it with snow.






Thursday Feb 1

It snowed nearly all night and we had a little bit of excitement. Well, not excitement, exactly, but an experience. Our room heater had been performing so well that we had to keep turning it down and down to keep from getting toasted. Then about 9 or so, it seemed to be blowing only cold air. We turned it off for an hour or so, thinking maybe it needed to reset itself, but no indeed. It did not reset and blew cold air only all night. We called first thing in the morning and it was a matter of minutes for the guy to get a part it needed and ship it back into shape. Now it is once again heating properly.

Today, Roger headed home and Keith took a day off from skiing. He ran into Gil in the hall, and they came back to the room and we all talked for about an hour! He brought us two more cds of pictures, one of Yellowstone, and another one of the Taos area. He also brought me a couple of photo editing programs to see if I liked them. He is a real sweetheart! (Gil and I at left.) After I got him to let me take a picture with him, he took a picture of Keith and I together.

He said he had told his wife he has a new girlfriend and she said, “Another one?”  He also brought in a photo album to show us some of the pictures he had taken of his niece. At the high school here they have a Mariachi band. They have very cool black leather uniforms with silver conches down the outsides of the legs. Very smart looking.

We returned the crummy boots to Walmart and got some good ones from the ski shop! The guy working there was from Cornwall, England, just here on a 6 month work visa, to snowboard and ski. My new boots are quite warm and comfy and I had great fun tromping through the slush and snow without a care. They aren’t very dainty looking, but they are kindof cute.

We then browsed in all the shops around the plaza, looking for a sweatshirt for Bev, to thank her for lending Roger to us, especially during this difficult time. Those stores are more touristy (or, as the grammar checker suggested "touristier") so I hadn’t been in them, but they were the best place to find a shirt with a Taos theme. We found a lovely pale green sweatshirt (which is what Roger said she wanted, and he hadn’t had time to shop for one for her.) This picture is of me and my new friend (whom I felt positively svelte next to!)

Keith and I then went up to a local bakery to have lunch – or breakfast. They had French toast that they make with cinnamon nut bread! And pecan waffles! Yum! While we were waiting to order, we got to talking to a couple seated next to us. He was very olive skinned with dreads past his shoulders. Turns out he is a native Taosan, for many generations back and she is from Vermont. They met in Hawaii! He was teaching children there perma-culture. This is a sustainable earth friendly type of farming. She is an herbalist. He was telling us how he makes a living. In the spring he sells seedlings to people who are planting their gardens. In the summer he sells the harvest from his farm and teaches. In the fall they sell homemade soap and other herbal products that she makes from the herbs they grow. Very nice couple.

While we were waiting to order, the power went out. We stayed and talked to Adam and Cara for about 20 minutes, then gave up on it. We went back to the Bent Street Café where I had eaten lunch on Tuesday and they had power. I had a good bacon, onion and tomato quiche and Keith a “Zesty Breast,” (a turkey breast sandwich.) Don’t you know he had fun ordering that from Marybeth, our waitress!

After lunch, I took him to the bookstore so he could meet Ruby in person. She was delighted to see me again and purred and even sat on my lap … well, her front paws were on my lap. After I petted her awhile, I picked her up just to see how heavy she was. She looks like a sofa cushion, but she isn’t very heavy – probably not much more than Missy (12 lbs,) but she is a wide-body and that long fur makes her look even wider! She has big paws like Missy – she looks like she may have some Maine Coon in her. I took another picture of her, of course, and she posed very nicely.

After that, we poked around a few more stores and then picked up fresh donuts from Daylight Donuts. (Something to Crow About!) we stopped to get gas and poor Keith! It took forever to fill up the car, which couldn’t have been more than 6 gallons. The pump was going so slow, and he was standing in the wind, temp was 28 degrees! Brr. After that, we headed back to the room for fresh coffee and donuts and some relaxing. He is reading while I am writing this. So, more later!


Bye for now!