Did I tell you that Tom broke his right arm? On Wednesday we spent all day at the urgent care clinic. He got a gigantic brace wrapped in 50 feet of elastic tape. We were distraught. Today he went to the ortho doc that they recommended, who said that it wasn’t a terrible break—just a little one. Nothing was out of alignment. They gave him a small wrist brace to use. He can even take it off if he needs to. We were so happy that we met our neighbors Dorene and Don at Papa Felipes for margaritas and dinner.

 

Chaco Canyon

Our 25-footer.

We used the Sunday Times to decorate the interior.

Walking back from the Visitors’ Center, having gotten permission to duct-tape our mirror back on.

This structure was on the edge of the campground.

Melinda from next door, and Tom

I planned to made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast and for the drive home, but we forgot the peanut butter!

Hahahaha!

We thought we could drive to Chaco Canyon.

We rented a 25-footer. The first thing we did was back it into our next door neighbors’ stucco wall. In the process we wrecked the ladder on the back of the RV.

Neither of us had ever driven anything like this.

We had heard that the last 20 miles to Chaco Canyon were rough, but we had not really anticipated it being this rough. It took about two hours to go that last 20 miles, and by the time we got to camp everything we had packed was scattered out on the floor. It was like a tornado had picked up the RV, swung it around in the sky and slammed it back down. The mirror on the driver’s side popped off.

There is no internet or phone service at Chaco Canyon.

The first morning we opened the door, and everything was covered with snow! It was glorious.

We didn’t want to have to take the RV out again without the mirror, and then have to back it back into our little camp spot.

So we walked a couple of miles to the Visitors’ Center in the freezing cold to see if we could use their phone. We had not been able to replace the mirror, even with the camp manager’s tools.

The ranger said their phone was for emergencies only, and added that the service had been out for two days anyway. But when he picked up the receiver, the service was back! And so we got permission from the rental company to duct tape the mirror back on top of the paint once we hit the highway on the way home.

The next day was brilliant. We hit the road in the RV and spent the whole day at Pueblo Bonita. When I first walked into the pueblo, I felt its spirit. It’s massive and beautifully built. It was lived-in from 850 - 1150, and no one is quite sure why it was deserted.

I had been leery about staying in a campground. Who knows who would end up on either side of us? As it turned out, Melinda and another Tom moved in next door and I felt like Melinda could have been a good friend.

Everyone we met at the camp seemed interesting and generous. Kyle and Beth gave us a jar of homemade salsa and we loaned them a lantern so they could read at night in their tent. Someone else loaned Tom an axe and a fire-starter brick.

We had wine and chips (and Beth’s salsa) by the fire on our last night.

The sky was full of stars–I had never seen anything like it.

I'm the Grinch

All I did was suggest that we might try skipping presents this Christmas.

This is how my friend Larry responded:

Dr. Seuss

I feel it’s only fair to mention I’ve taken the advice of the economic experts and begun the holiday shopping for this year, in order to take advantage of the many early bargains available…

For you, the choice was clear the moment I laid eyes on it. In fact it would be perfect for your house, too. In an obscure gift catalog I receive once every two years or so, there it was — a complete flea circus in a splendid large diorama, four feet in diameter! Encased in a circular, sealed glass display, it has all four seasons depicted with the most expected activities of each season. Exquisite, down to the tiny woolen snow hats and miniature skates of winter to the little creatures diving into a sunny Summer’s lake, zipping around on the surface on mini-scaled sailboats!

I did my research on this treasure, it’s none of the “Humbug” type, but real fleas performing as only their species can. There is the challenge of feeding them, of course, but even after they expire, which must happen at last, the music continues to play automatically 24 hours per day. I insured that the display was properly and permanently sealed, as the very most unsatisfactory quality of the flea circus is that the little beggars were to escape through a defect in the housing, “going forth and multiplying” as it were. It will fit perfectly on the low table in your living room.

Visitors

That’s Amy’s sister, Meg, on the left, visiting from San Francisco. Then out of nowhere, David walked up looking for Tim.

 

Gallery Hopping

 

Here’s Dorene at Sumner & Dene

 

…and here she is at Mariposa.

 
 

Happy Birthday, Larry!

 

We sent Wally (aka) Larry some Heidi’s raspberry jam. This is actually Barbara’s creation made of toast with almond butter, the raspberry jam, and almond slices for eyes.

 

Don's New Book

Our next door neighbor, Don, gave a reading from his brand new book this evening. This was at Beastly Books in Santa Fe. The book is about Mary Shelley (she wrote Frankenstein when she was 18!) and her friends Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and…I haven’t read the whole thing yet–but the book begins in their childhood, which I love, and there’s lots of dialogue.

Funny

I found this painting online yesterday afternoon. I loved it so much that I googled Fred Fowler right away. Later in the evening I shot a picture of our sidewalk. Today I realized how similar they are.

Fred Fowler

Our Sidewalk

Facebook's 58 Genders

According to the introduction for Ezra Klein’s podcast last week, in 2014 Facebook offered its users at least 58 genders to choose from. WHAT??! Fascinating! Ezra’s show was good, but the 58 genders weren’t mentioned in the interview. I had to look them up.

 
 

We only had two genders to choose from when I was in kindergarten, and apparently I wasn’t sure which to pick.

  • Agender

  • Androgyne

  • Androgynous

  • Bigender

  • Cis

  • Cisgender

  • Cis Female

  • Cis Male

  • Cis Man

  • Cis Woman

  • Cisgender Female

  • Cisgender Male

  • Cisgender Man

  • Cisgender Woman

  • Female to Male

  • FTM

  • Gender Fluid

  • Gender Nonconforming

  • Gender Questioning

  • Gender Variant

  • Genderqueer

  • Intersex

  • Male to Female

  • MTF

  • Neither

  • Neutrois

  • Non-binary

  • Other


  • Trans

  • Pangender

  • Trans*

  • Trans Female

  • Trans* Female

  • Trans Male

  • Trans* MaleTrans* Man

  • Trans Man

  • Trans Person

  • Trans* Person

  • Trans Woman

  • Trans* Woman

  • Transfeminine

  • Transgender

  • Transgender Female

  • Transgender Man

  • Transgender Male

  • Transgender Person

  • Transgender Woman

  • Transmasculine

  • Transsexual

  • Transsexual Female

  • Transsexual Male

  • Transsexual Man

  • Transsexual Person

  • Transsexual Woman

  • Two-Spirit

That’s Izzy on Doreen’s lap, and Junie B. Jones on Don’s lap.

Tom had taken a bag of peaches from the farmers’ market over to Dorene and Don. Last night they invited us over for peach pie, with a gluten-free crust.

They didn’t use a frozen crust from the co-op, like we do when we make a pie. The crust was made by Don himself. It was incredible! Crisp and buttery and sweet and salty. We took home 2 gigantic pieces of pie and ate them for breakfast.

That’s Dorene’s college roommate from Boston, Beth, standing behind Dorene and Don. When I asked Beth what she was into, she said, “Well, I tot ought.” Tom had to ask her to repeat herself several times until he realized she had “taught art.” Now she decorates cakes in her daughter’s fancy bakery, and paints seascapes.

 

That’s Linda in the center, who owns and runs Jumpstart Farms. We had her over for dinner a few weeks ago, and she must have noticed that we didn’t have any cheese knives—only paring knives and steak knives with which to stab the cheese.

This gives you one tiny example of what a fun person she is: We met at Los Poblanos last night for drinks, and she brought one of those flannel Crown Royal bags full of cheese knives. She said we could choose our favorites.

When our cheese plate was delivered, I decided I wanted to use my new cheese knife. When we got home I was horrified to discover I had left mine at the bar. I had to call Los Poblanos late last night and ask them to please look for it.

This morning they called to say they had found it! (Mine was the 3rd from the left and is now safe in its new home.)

Around the house today

We are lusting after this countertop material.

I remember now one reason we decided to order the paper version of the NYT on Sundays: the fantastic kids’ section!

This painting is getting ready to be shipped to Holly & Bill for their new house.

Mike, our grading contractor found this ammonite fossil in the desert and gave it to us. The animal itself died out 66 million years ago. The fossil is about five inches across.