Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.


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Sleepy puppy…and Reilly's game

Over at Reilly the CowSpot Dog’s blog there’s a contest brewing.  It’s especially designed for those of us with “zoomie” dogs.  You know the kind….they never slow down and it’s rare to catch them snoozing.  We have one such dog…and most of you have met her.  But getting a photo of her sleeping is not so easy.

Just when you think you’ve got that perfect shot…

…she opens those eyes.

You try again…

…but she always hears the camera as I turn it on.

Sometimes she sleeps upside down, like she did the first night she was with us…which is when I got the first photo above.  And even now she sleeps that way when she’s really comfortable.

But sometimes she’s more shy.

Once in awhile she falls asleep outside, even in the winter.

You might have noticed by now that she’s quite the pillow hog.  Which is why we call her a princess…as in the princess and the pea.

But mostly she’s just our silly girl.


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Santa Fe style

We spent a day in Santa Fe which in some ways reminded me of Italy; the town centered on a square, and the narrow streets lined with galleries.

And of course the churches.   St Francis of Assisi, where a statue of the first Native American Indian to become a saint stands out front….

…to the Loretto Chapel which houses the mysterious unsupported circular staircase up to the choir loft…

…to San Miguel the oldest church, whose refurbished architecture  reminded me of everything New Mexico.

We walked among the galleries and parks under the brilliant blue sky I’ve begun to expect here.  I drank in the color and the light…

…appreciating the old…

…and the new.

And when we could walk no more we drove up the mountain into the snow and watched the sun set.

We’ll be home soon, far away from the endless sun, turquoise skies, exquisite light and  colorful buildings that are New Mexico.  And winter hasn’t released Michigan.  I’m told there is snow in Sunday’s forecast.  But winter can’t get me down now.

Because I’ll have the colors and sights of New Mexico in my heart.


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Cliff dwellers share their homes with us

Yesterday and today we visited the ancient homes of cliff dwellers.

Today we visited Bandelier National Monument, the home of cliff dwellers who built homes on the valley floor and up in the red cliffs along the walls of the mesas.

We had a wonderful afternoon of walking under New Mexico blue skies, imagining what life was like back in the days when these homes were built.

We were so far back into the mountains that the only sounds were our feet on the path, the wind in the trees, the call of birds and the chatter of long eared Abert squirrels.

Yesterday we had a guided tour of the Puye cliff dweller homes, built both on top of the mesa…

…and within the cliffs.

Our guide was a young man not yet 21 whose family traces back hundreds of years on the lands he showed us.

We learned about the way his people felt about the land we were standing on.  He said that the cliff dwellers left the area when their source of water dried up.

What caused the stream to dry up we asked?  He said his elders felt it was because there had been fighting among the people so God had dried up the water and forced them to leave.

Personally I’d have a hard time leaving the peace and beauty, not to mention the views from the cliffs and mesas.

I’m sure it was hard on the original inhabitants too.


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More hiking

Today we spent more time at the Petroglyph Monument west of Albuquerque.

On a 2.5 mile hike along a hill covered with huge black volcanic rock were hundreds of petrogylph drawings done several hundred years ago.

Amazingly they are still there.

They are just sitting out along the hillside waiting to be discovered over and over again by tourists and locals alike.

We had a wonderful time looking for them.

And I’m sure we missed many.

Blue skies, history there on the rocks, sunshine on our faces.

Can’t beat it.


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Cheese and olive sandwiches

This morning as I made my lunch I deviated from my usual PB&J.  I made an old favorite, a sandwich my Mom used to make for me way back in high school, cheese and olive.  Cheddar, Miracle Whip and sliced green olives, it sounds like a heart attack on wheat and I suppose it is.  I only eat this once in a very long while and I have no idea why today was the day.  But it sure was good.

It brought back all sorts of memories of my Mom asking us all (and there were four of us!) what sort of sandwich we wanted in our lunch the next day.  I can’t believe she actually made separate and widely disparate sandwiches, one for each of us.  I remember one of my brothers wanted cheese and jelly, which I always thought sounded terrible…of course he probably thought cheese and olives sounded terrible.

I wonder if parents make their kids lunches anymore.  Or do they all buy those little lunchable things…or give them money for hot lunch?  We were too frugal for hot lunch very often…but we got to eat from the cafeteria line on occassion.  I always made sure I wasn’t eating the hot lunch on Fridays because Fridays always meant fish sticks.  Need I say more?

What are your favorite (or not so favorite) memories of lunch in public school?  Today I smiled while I ate one of my all time favorite sandwiches with memories of Mom on the side.

A great combination if I do say so myself.