Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.


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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.


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People ask me why

When some people hear that I work on truck safety issues they ask me why.  I have several reasons, most of which you’re heard here before.

I talk to people, write about issues, call, visit and email my government representatives, attend meetings and travel because all of that gives me something to do with my anger and my grief.  Even after six years the pain is just below the surface and still surprises me by its intensity.

I also do it to honor my Dad who was always there for all of us.  I do it because unlike government he wouldn’t spend years studying and talking about safety, he’d just fix stuff.  One of the last things he did the week before he was killed by a tired trucker that December was to add handrails to unsafe places in his church.  Because he saw a safety hazard and he knew he could fix it.  So he did.

Just last night, on my way to bed I heard on the nightly news about a pregnant couple, driving to visit his parents with her parents in the car, who stopped on the freeway this past snowy Saturday afternoon because there was an accident up ahead.  A semi hit them from behind.  The pregnant mother is dead, the baby born without a heartbeat is on life support.  Another family is spun deeply into mourning.

And that’s why I do it.


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The 2nd annual Great Valentine Caper

As most of you know we have an aunt who is in her late 90’s.  She lives alone in an apartment and has become afraid to venture too far away on these cold winter days.  With her eyesight failing, and her hearing long gone she’s feeling more and more isolated and lonely.

Last year I asked all her relatives to send her Valentines…and they did!  She received over 20 cards during the days surrounding Valentines Day.  The cards came from across the country and were a complete surprise to her. The cards and the short messages written inside gave her endless pleasure long after the day was gone and most of us had forgotten all about the caper.  You can read the original blog entry here…and about the results here.

So this year I think we should do it again…and maybe our experience will inspire you.  Look around, see who might be lonely, a little sad, feeling a little left out.  It doesn’t have to be someone elderly, but look there first.  Sometimes we get so involved in our busy lives that we forget the elders that were always there when we needed them.  As we move on, we need to take care we don’t leave them behind.

But anyone who needs a lift would be delighted to receive a few (or more than a few) cards from people that care about them and snail mail is a lovely way to show you care.  For the price of a card and a stamp you can make someone’s day.  Who wouldn’t like to do that?

Think about it.  Isn’t there someone in your life who would smile at opening the mailbox and finding something besides bills and junk mail?  What have you got to lose?  Organize a Valentine’s Caper of your own, or just send a single card.

Take a moment to tell someone you love them in a tangible, good old fashioned way.  Not only will it make someone smile, it will make your day too.

And I, for one, can’t wait to hear all about your ventures!


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Katie and the transformer

For several weeks we’ve had issues with electricity here.  Lights flicker, fade, then grow bright again.  It’s almost like we’re trying to read by candlelight.  The problem is intermittent…and of course on the many visits by Detroit Edison nothing was wrong.

Meanwhile Katie has gotten freaky on some of her trips outside to do her business.  Her Dad says she’ll ask to go out and prance to the path he’s dug for her in the snow.  She’ll run down to the end just like normal, then get wide-eyed and pull hard back to the house without getting her job done.  We were getting worried and considering whether or not she should visit the vet.

Then this week an Edison crew came out to check the transformer that sits on our property about 20 yards away from the end of Katie’s path.  Husband says that when they opened it up and began discussing what might be wrong it started to hiss and pop.  Seems we had a bad connection that created intermittent brownouts.

And while it was popping and hissing it was emitting a high pitched sound.  One we couldn’t hear but we think Katie could.  Because since the transformer has been fixed Katie is back on schedule, doing her jobs with no problem.  She is so happy now and so pleased with herself when she accomplishes her objective.  We’re pretty happy too because we’ve solved two problems at once.

Perhaps we should contract her out to Detroit Edison to help them figure out which transformers need work.  She’s our very own electrifying sheltie-girl.