Kit

To finish off my time in New Mexico, yesterday I went to Taos with my dad and granddad. We visited Kit Carson's house, walked around the plaza and ate lunch, visited Kit Carson's grave, and didn't have time to visit the Martinez Hacienda but walked around it. Then we headed home.

I heart Garrison Keillor

Last night Garrison Keillor came to town with the Rhubarb Tour of A Prairie Home Companion. Of course we went. The show was lots of fun. No skits with cowboys or Guy Noir or anything, but lots of songs and poems, a performance by the voice guy, and News from Lake Wobegon.

The extra exciting part was going backstage after the show, thanks both to my brother (who met everyone at his hotel and somehow managed to get a free ticket for himself while driving a woman to the show who called up Mr. Keillor and said "my driver wants to come, can he have a ticket, too?" and somehow that included putting his name on the backstage list) and to this couple from church who we happened to see there and the wife also just happens to be a third cousin of Mr. Keillor and that gave her backstage privileges, too.

Unfortunately, we couldn't wait around long enough for Garrison to actually come out and talk to us (well, he was busy talking with the distant cousin in a back room), but I saw him walk by. And in the meantime Ryan and I chatted it up with Fred Newman (the voice guy) and Suzy Bogguss, the touring country singer.

We also happened to see several of the band members the night before at the restaurant/bar at Ryan's resort, and of course he talked to lots of them and gave Garrison rides in the golf cart while he was working. Le sigh, I am so jealous.

Ubiquitous Pistachios

If you keep an eye out for them, you will find them. That's what I've discovered about pistachios. Well, pistachio shells, to be exact (because who would waste the delicious nuts?). I don't actually look for them, they just appear on my radar I guess.

For example, after hiking up to the M in Missoula, Montana, I found two half-shells. And after walking up a hill the other day to view Nambe Falls in New Mexico I found two more shells on the ground.

When I find them, they are always laying there alone. No other trash, no sunflower seed shells or peanut shells. Just the shell from a single pistachio nut.

Now get excited, because from now on when I find pistachio shells I'm going to report back here, and if I happen to have a camera that will be even better. And for my first "ubiquitous pistachios" installment I will report that I found another shell yesterday outside of Bed Bath & Beyond in Santa Fe.

Indian Market

This weekend was Santa Fe's biggest event of the year, the Southwest Association for Indian Arts' Santa Fe Indian Market. Something like 100,000 people from all over the world come to Santa Fe every year to check out the art downtown. Artists from tribes all over the country come and set up over 600 booths, where they sell traditional and contemporary jewelry, pottery, sculpture, bead work, paintings, etc. Apparently some hard core people get to the plaza super early in the morning or even camp out over night so they can buy particular pieces from their favorite artists.


booths on Lincoln Avenue


pottery for sale

Yesterday my parents and I went to the market, but not until late afternoon. We checked out some art, my parents bought me turquoise earrings, and we shared some fry bread.


booths on Palace Avenue in front of the Museum of Fine Arts (where I performed in numerous Youth Symphony concerts back in the day)

This afternoon my dad and I went back to the market, and he bought me a turquoise necklace to match the earrings. I think this is my first turquoise jewelry (and it's not huge and fancy like lots of other people have around here, just simple teardrop earrings and a beaded necklace). I used to shun the stuff, but this is simply another example of me starting to embrace the Southwest more than I ever wanted to when I lived here.


kids performing traditional dances

independent day

Some people don't like to go out and do things alone. I, on the other hand, don't usually mind. I prefer to shop alone. I go to museums alone. I explore new places alone. Sometimes I'll even eat in a restaurant alone. Now I'm not saying I always like to be alone. It's nice to have a friend or family member or significant other along. But if someone else isn't available, that won't stop me from going out and doing what I want to do. I have been to museums alone in Chicago, London, New York, Portland, Raleigh, Richmond, Santa Fe, Seattle, Tacoma, and Washington DC.

There are times when it's better to be alone. Maybe I don't mind spending four hours looking for a dress. Maybe I don't want to annoy someone else by making them sit and watch random video installations for 45 minutes at an art museum. Maybe I'd rather see the movie about crosswords puzzles alone than listen to people make fun of me for wanting to see a movie about crossword puzzles.

Today I exercised my independent nature downtown in Santa Fe. I visited the Ansel Adams exhibit at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. I ate a delicious lunch on an outdoor patio. And I visited the Biennial exhibit at Site Santa Fe, where I watched a video installation for a very long time but did not want to jump down onto a stunt mattress for fear my dress would fly up.

But lest you think I shun company, I began my day by hanging out with Ryan, and in the evening I enjoyed dinner with my parents and we played a game of Scrabble.

It was a good day.

Coyote Summer

As a girl who grew up in the Southwest, I was pretty familiar with coyotes. You see kitschy coyotes in stores, and restaurants with coyote in their names. People complain of coyotes in their yards, and others go out hunting them. I had a coyote nightlight in my room, and stylized triangle coyotes popped up frequently in the doodled margins of my school notebooks. The surprising thing, however, is that I don't recall ever seeing a real live coyote in all my years in New Mexico. My brother says he sees them all the time, but me? Not so much.

Until this summer. Ironically the first coyote I've (I think) ever seen was in Tacoma, Washington. That was in July. My second coyote was last Thursday on that long drive through the mountains. And my third coyote sighting took place this evening, during a walk by the railroad tracks with my dad and our dog Jackson. I know I don't really live here anymore, but these sightings help me feel a little more legitimately New Mexican.* Not that I was never legit, of course.




*On a field trip last year to Williamsburg, Virginia, I was introduced to an undergraduate who was also from New Mexico. I had just been telling a friend of mine about tortilla burgers with green chili on them, so I was excited to have a fellow New Mexican to back me up on their delicious existence. Only when I mentioned tortilla burgers to the guy he said he'd never heard of them, and then he admitted he only lived in New Mexico as a little kid before moving somewhere else. He was definitely not a legitimate New Mexican. And I bet he's never seen a coyote.

The family that plays together...

For boat ride Number Four of the summer, I went rafting on the Rio Grande with my dad, brother, and his girlfriend Adriana. It was pretty fun. Ryan jumped off a giant rock, all of us jumped out to swim, I got soaking wet while we "surfed," we all sat on one end of the boat and spun around until we were dizzy, and Ryan floated down some ripples on his back.

We didn't have a camera with us, so you'll have to deal with these "after" shots.

some of those updates

Last Thursday I went with Ryan and his girlfriend to Nambe Falls and to Taos. Only instead of actually spending time in Taos, Ryan hijacked our trip and took us through a national forest on an incredibly long and bumpy road over a very large mountain. By the time we reached Taos we only had time to grab an ice cream cone and drive back to Santa Fe. Then we ate a big fancy dinner at his resort's restaurant. Remember how he worked for a fancy hotel downtown? Well he switched to a brand new and super fancy resort outside of town. The food was delicious.

Saturday my family (all four of us!) went to see Swing Vote. That's the movie with Kevin Costner that takes place in New Mexico, and my dad watched part of it being filmed earlier this year. We couldn't find him in the crowd scenes though, sadly.

Sunday night my mom and I went to the Santa Fe Opera for their Apprenticeship Showcase. The nice thing about the Apprenticeship Showcase is that it doesn't cost a billion dollars like the regular operas, and you get to see whole scenes from 8 different operas, instead of one long opera that may have potential for being boring.

I've watched lots of the Olympics and several movies. I also started reading Blood and Thunder, and I'm hoping to get through most of it and then go back to Taos to visit Kit Carson's house (he's a major figure in the book).

Saved for times such as these.

Yesterday I flew to New Mexico to spend two weeks with my family in Santa Fe. I'm pretty excited to be here, and I'm sure you'll get lots of updates while I'm here. My first update, however, is unfortunate.

My luggage did not arrive in Albuquerque with me. Nor did it arrive last night at my house around 9pm when they said it would. When I called the 1-800 number after 11 my bag had not yet been located. I was not happy.

In the interim, I needed some essentials. Like clothes. I decided to see what I've left in my dresser all these years, and it was a little embarrassing. I found multiple sets of pajamas. About three pairs of jeans. Lots more tank tops. Several t-shirts. Skirts. Shorts.

Why have I kept all of this??? I don't even live here! Even if some of it still fits me, I obviously don't want to wear the stuff if I have kept it in Santa Fe. The only answer I can think of is that I was saving it all for a time just like this. A time when my luggage would not arrive and I would need clothes to wear. So with that in mind, I'm pretty genius.

(Disclaimer: Even though I had to wear my old pajamas and open a new toothbrush, I just recieved a call that my bag should be here any minute. So I won't actually have to wear any of those clothes out in public. And if I'm real motivated maybe I'll even take the stuff to Goodwill. Of course I'll probably save some it, just in case this happens again some day.)

Purging. Sort of.

In an effort to prepare myself for one tiny closet in my new apartment, I have just gone through all my clothes (except for the sweaters in storage in Raleigh) and picked out several items to donate or throw away. This is an incredibly necessary exercise because I happen to own way too many clothes. And the truth is I hardly wear a lot of them.

So here is what I've parted with:

16 shirts
10 tank tops
5 skirts
1 dress
2 pairs of dress pants
4 pairs of jeans
1 pair of shorts
2 sweatshirts
2 swimsuits
4 pairs of shoes
3 pairs of flip flops

The sad part is that I still have tons of clothes and shoes, but I'll just have to get extra creative with my storage in the new place. For now though, I'm pleased with my progress.

weekend review: lots o' Richmond

Friday: Lazed about, ate lunch with the grandparents, and spent two hours at the insurance place getting things straight for officially moving to Virginia. Took Sunni to see Kung Fu Panda at the IMAX at the Science Museum. I've still never gone through the museum, but now I've at least been to the IMAX. Watched the Olympics all evening.

Saturday: Helped my cousin and his wife get their nursery ready for a new baby due next week, then came home to take a nap. Played Rook with the family and then went to see Iron Man at the Byrd Theater. Can you believe I've been in Richmond this long and I had still never been to the Byrd? So that's another Richmond check.

Sunday: Up to make my mom's rolls, then went to Mass with the grandparents. Home to a big fancy Sunday meal, then went with cousins Leslie and Sunni to the Watermelon Festival where we walked a little, ate watermelon, and got the heck out of the sun and crowd. Home to nap, then watched more Olympics.

I always pack a lunch.

This is the last week of my summer internship, and the people in the office are being so nice. Yesterday we went out to lunch to celebrate the end, and on Thursday (my last day) they're bringing in donuts for me. (I'm also having lunch today with family who are coming by, and even though it has nothing to do with my last week of work it is exciting because that makes two days this week that I don't have to pack a lunch!) This all seems especially nice for two reasons. One, they already gave me a big ice cream party last summer at the end of my first internship. And two, I'll be back in three weeks! That's right, the internship may be over but they've offered me a "real" job starting September 2. So I'm not going back to North Carolina or library school. Instead I'm moving to the city on my own, where I will live in walking distance to work. But don't worry, I'll keep packing all my lunches.

three things

Number One: I told you the big turtle shows up on the sidewalk when it wants food, and here is picture proof!




























And since the turtle requested food, Grandma complied by giving it shrimp.




























Number Two: My grandparents grow tons of stuff in the yard, including tomatoes. We have one that is possibly the largest tomato I have ever seen in my life. I put it next to a bunch of bananas to show its scale.




























Number Three: One of the other things growing in the yard is a plant with tiny hot peppers. So hot that we can't eat them. Grandpa, the lover of all hot peppers and hot sauces, ate one and thought he was going to die. So today while we ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant on the Southside Grandpa offered to give our hot peppers to the owner. The man seemed very pleased with the idea. Grandpa went on to describe how hot these peppers are and said he has to use rubber gloves to pick them. "It only took one time to learn not to pee right after picking peppers," Grandpa explained. And that Chinese man doubled over and almost cried from laughing so hard.

calling for awesome turtle names

In case you don't know or forgot, my Grandma loves turtles. The house has tons of turtle figurines around, and much more exciting are the real live turtles in the back yard. (For an example of how cute my Grandma and her turtles are, check out this email she sent almost two years ago.) We have one that is fun because when it wants Grandma's food it heads to the sidewalk in the back yard and hangs out until it's spotted. And it struts around the yard with its head held high. One morning I had to ask it (politely) to hurry and move off the path so I could open the gate without hitting it on my way to work. It complied nicely and waddled out of my way.

Last fall Grandma found a baby turtle in the yard, and she brought him inside and put him in a box in the kitchen. But he didn't like the box or the indoors, so she let him go back outside and hoped he would hibernate safely through the winter. I'm calling it a "he" but it could be a she for all we know. Anyway, this morning Grandpa spotted the baby turtle outside again! So he survived! Grandma immediately went out to give him cantaloupe, green beans, and tomatoes, but he didn't seem too interested while we stood there watching. He ate grass instead.

Now as you can tell we do not have names for our turtles. But we need some. And since I am lame at picking out names, I am asking for the internet's help. And maybe no one reads this or will submit any suggestions, but you should. It will be awesome.

For inspiration, here are shots taken this morning of the wee one. (I don't have pictures of the bigger one because it's never hungry and standing on the sidewalk at opportune times for me to grab a camera.)