Snow proof!

Definitely couldn't resist; we just had to have a little taste of the first snow of the season.... on the Borrego trail of course!

I love ordinary days!!

Breakfast with freshly brewed Tanzanian pea bean coffee,
Catching up by phone, email and skype,
A town bike ride that included some ignoring of fences and walking up an arroyo (even on the bike, Doug likes to busch-whack!!!),
Cooking Belgian beef stew whilst Doug tackles another home improvement project,
Home cooked mouth watering dinner,
Watching a movie with the wood burning in the fireplace (first time -but definitely not the last!!!- this season).

First Santa Fe snow!!!!

Proof that winter has arrived, and with it the first snow....

In town we had just rain and the few snowflakes that did come down, didn't stick. The mountains are still covered a few days later... COLD but beautiful and fun!!

View of the mountains from the front porch (SF Baldy!)

Spanish update

I'm sure there is a reason I'm giving you an update on my Spanish course BEFORE the mid term grades come out ;-)...!!!

I'm doing well on the tests and homework part of the course (memorizing vocabulary, doing little word searches,....) but the minute some spontaneous utterances, or worse even conversation, is required, I'm totally lost... looking like I've just been dropped into a meeting with a bunch of aliens....

Our mid term exam was a doctor-patient-role-play. Doug was the MD, I was the patient coming in for a physical.... I think it could have been worse. The teacher says I'm good at the pronunciation and facial expression parts of role play. I think it's a very polite way of saying I really suck at the real dialogue part.... Oh well, there are worse things.... ;-)!

Still, hanging in there and learning....

another fall hike

This time not through the aspen forests but through the ponderosa trees...




We hiked up Atalaya trail and a little beyond into the Pecos wilderness. After a yummy sandwich in a super lunch spot


we had a nap on a perfectly level bed of pine needles (who needs a sleep number bed if you can have this?!?!?!).


All this adjacent to an ideal meditation location....


No wonder I felt this energized afterwards...


A great dinner at Harry's Roadhouse and some good phone conversations to finish of the day.....
Night-night........

Balloon fiesta NOT!!!!

We had big plans..... Saturday night I drove down to Albuquerque to visit Lisa and we made plans to get up early Sunday morning to see the mass take off of the hot air balloons on the final day of the fiesta. This yearly fall event is world famous with balloonists and visitors from all over the country and abroad. I have visited before when I was out here on a trip but was never quite this prepared and eager (in preparation to add plenty of pictures to the blog!!!).

It wasn't to be: yes, we did get up before 5 o'clock, yes, we did brave the cold with hats and gloves and scarves, yes, we did get there in time to get parking fairly close by and yes, we did have spare camera batteries.... But the weather didn't cooperate and the event was first delayed and than cancelled because of gusting winds... In a way it was familiar and reminded me of the endless hours we would hang out at the drop zone; talking, playing back gammon, staring at the clouds, checking the weather radar online,..... waiting for a change to get at least one jump in for the day...

So we left (or tried to leave the park together with the 1000's of other cars), went for breakfast and spent some good time just talking and visiting...

Better luck next year I hope....

Here's a picture of what we DIDN'T get to see... ;-(...

Fall colors...

Fall is definitely here... Temperatures are dropping below freezing at night and the days are getting shorter. I'm not sure if I'm ready for the cold winter but the positives are the beautiful fall colors of the aspen trees...

Trying to decide on which hike to do yesterday -a long good exercise walk versus a stroll to get some good views of the fall colors- we ended up doing both! Starting at Aspen Vista, we followed the trail (can you believe it, no bushwhacking!?!?!), hiked up to deception peak and scrambled to Lake Peak (the 3rd time this year!). The lower sections were loaded with people carrying their camera's and tripods, but we lost most of them half way up the mountain. I took 189 pictures; you'll be glad to see I'm not posting all of them and managed to narrow it down to just 8, not an easy job!

GREEN weekend...

No, we didn't spent our weekend campaigning for a greener city or country nor were we trying to come up with innovative solutions to the global warming problem,.... no, we just PAINTED, and we painted GREEN!

Doug's new garage door and 2 other doors were in need of being painted, so we spent the day between sage green paint brushes and rollers, tape, drop cloths, newspapers, door knobs and stray screws. Just as well my favorite color is green!
It was fun, the color match with the window frames couldn't be more perfect, and there was great satisfaction in a job well done!

After a good arm and shoulder work-out (coming close to a repetitive strain injury!) we needed a 'leg workout' so the following day, we went on a little hike -the beloved Borrego trail- in the woods; more green!!! The Aspen's are starting to turn so we're hoping to get up high next weekend and enjoy some really great vista's! Pictures will definitely follow!!!

Work in Santa Fe

I have 2 weeks of work behind me at the local hospital here in Santa Fe. After a few initial misunderstandings (WHAT!?!?!, you want me to do overtime and work more than 40 hours a week?!?!?!), things are going well and I am really enjoying the floor I'm working on (ortho / neuro). The fact that most rooms on that floor have gorgeous views of Santa Fe doesn't hurt either.
Coworkers seem to be an eclectic bunch, most of them working per diem. I continue to meet new people every day and they have all been very welcoming, kind and interesting.

But the most enjoyable part of work is the commute: 15 minutes one way by bike. It seems like Santa Fe had more than half of it's annual precipitation in my first week of commuting (go figure), but the weather reverted back to the normal dry and sunny a few days ago. It is chilly in the morning (low 30's!!!) but by the time I'm riding home late afternoon it's still in the 70's and my gloves, fleece layer, wind jacket and turtleneck are being stacked away in my backpack.
I enjoy passing the same people every day; the young kid that sweeps 'Burro alley', the crossing guard at the local elementary school, the guy that sells the local paper at the crossroads and the group of retirees practicing early morning yoga in the rose park twice a week.

Ready for work on a chilly mountain morning

The pet parade

As part of the fall Fiesta celebrations, Santa Fe held it's yearly pet parade today. I didn't expect much but wanted to stop by on the way to the farmer's market and was very surprised at the huge crowds and the variety of pets in the parade...





I like animals being animals and I'm not sure what some dogs must have been thinking about this dress-up game, but it seemed like none of them minded having on clothes and hats, goggles and glasses, hair ties and bows and even layers of body paint...
It reminded me of June and Nel, a retired lady and her therapeutic Dalmation dog who visited St. Louis Children's hospital religiously twice a week. They would wear matching outfits, curtesy of the longer term patients, and were definitely a bright spot in lives of being prodded and poked, sick and in pain.






Some of my favorites....







You gotto love people who bring out their not-so-obvious-pet-parade-choices....