gone...

While having dinner with Jay last night at Anita's Kitchen, trying to sum up my experience this past 40 days, a word that came up was discipline. Making a regimented effort to keep up with all areas of my life - art, health, mind, heart, etc - having a focused purpose makes everything move forward. While being busy for business sake (pun intended) is not the goal, working towards something, even if it entails not doing anything just to think about something, is the way to go.

Two days ago Mike and I left Omaha, Nebraska, and headed towards Michigan. That was to be our most grueling leg of the race, so to speak, approximately 9.5 hours. We left at 10:30 am (three hours too late in my book) and arrived at 10 pm in Saugatuck (an hour ahead with the time change) - our journey taking 10.5 hours long, not too bad but exhausting nonetheless. I was in the driver seat for the first seven hours (though I did not drive seven hours). The one thing I keep remembering, and what I want to remember, was that I found Iowa simply beautiful, as seen from I-80 going east, specially the first half of the state. That surprised me, not because I thought it would be ugly, but because I had not had any preconceived notions of it. Between the lovely windmills (blades of which I encountered numerous times being transported in long trucks on my way to Santa Fe), the soft rolling hills, and gay marriage, I thought Iowa was cool. I also surprised myself with the sense of peace I felt as soon as the car entered Michigan, not my home away from home, but my home state. For now.

Another moment of awareness that came with looking back at this journey was the serious consideration that I need to move. I need to encounter many changes. I am not sure still what this awareness means. It may mean moving to a different house, a different job, a different country, I do not know.

Yesterday morning, as I drove from Saugatuck to Detroit I also thought that I should buy a hybrid car, which provided a third and least discussed moment of clarity (because it came about as a passing comment, and not a center stage topic), that I may be experiencing a mid-life crisis. Jay thinks I am too young for it, but if we are to take it literally, this would mean I will live to be 76 years old, which I find too young to die (my goal is to live at least until I am 85, way past the year 2050). For some reason I think it will be important to see past the middle of this millennium (and if I do die at 76 I will only see few months of it at best, as I turn 76 on November 2049).

Two days ago Mike and I arrived in Saugatuck. It was a last minute plan, because Chicago seemed to have lost electricity and the heat was intense. The heat was intense the whole day in actuality, to a level I felt hellish, the humidity being so foreign and overwhelming once again. We got the worst room at the Dunes, drank too much too quickly (alcohol was cheaper than water), walked in the woods, and tried to sleep in a basement room with no windows. We both woke up minutes apart on Saturday morning feeling not so great. After a coffee in Douglas, a greasy breakfast and a dip in the pool (which was peaceful and lovely, though all seats were already claimed) we decided to forego our second paid night there (the joys of being fortunate enough to be gainly employed, with some disposable credit line), and drive back home, the last three hours of our journey trip feeling like the longest hours ever.

These last few days I have been thinking of how to conclude this blog journey. I thought that, in the weeks that follow my arrival home I would upload pictures and write other reflections on this experience. That might be the case. I have decided to take Sunday off, so to speak, and use it as my transition day. On monday I will implement a new routine and continue my last two months of sabbatical and prep for my exhibition. So I am not sure I will upload anything onto this blog account or not. I may. I may not.

Below is the self picture I took on Saturday morning in Saugatuck, in a dark sweaty room, with my phone, and no space of wireless to properly blog. Not how I imagined my last night on this trip to be.





And below the below are the lyrics of a song (appropriately titled "gone") that kept coming to my mind as I listened to other songs, driving back to a place I call home. I deleted some redundant parts.

Selling out
Is not my thing
Walk away
I won't be broken again
I'm not
I'm not what you think

Dream away your life
Someone else's dream
Nothing equals nothing

Letting go
Is not my thing
Walk away
Won't let it happen again
I'm not
I'm not very smart

Why should I feel sad
For what I never had
Nothing equals nothing

Turn to stone
Lose my faith
I'll be gone
Before it happens

Selling out
Is not my thing
Walk away
I won't be broken again
I won't
I won't fall apart

Dream away your life
Dream away your dream
Nothing equals nothing

Turn to stone
Lose my faith
I'll be gone
Before it happens






- posted via iPad

Location:W Marshall St,Ferndale,United States

falling in love, again, part 2

Soon we leave Omaha and my impression of this city could not have been better. Even with the 100 degree heat. They say one finds love when they are not looking for it, and that is what happened. Of course I know that a huge part of it is the fantasy we create when we do not know someone or something well - we fill in the blanks.

I probably have only seen 1% of this town, but what I saw I really liked it, and could totally see myself living here (of course part of the fantasy does not include winters and trying to travel out of here, internationally). The old market district is a mix of Savannah and Austin, old structures with new business, and surrounded by loft-style apartment buildings (which are extremely expensive, in the $200,000 - 300,000 range).

Amidst record stores (yes, plural), restaurants, coffee shops and bars, sits the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art. I fell in love with this place, and plan on applying for a residency there until I get it. It is extremely competitive, 1200 applications for 36 spots each year, but the odds are lower than the lotto, and you can only win if you buy a ticket, right? The place is awesome, with great galleries and great shows, pics posted in a future time.

The two meals we had were pretty good, and even the complimentary happy hour at the hotel was fun, the crowd in a better mood than the one in Denver. The heat was a killer, it totally slowed us down, and I cannot imagine how it would be to spend a summer here, but it is something I could survive, just like we are surviving this cross country drive. Which leads me to finish this entry in such a hurried manner. We have almost 10 hours ahead of us, and Mike is still asleep. I think I need to drop some stuff around him, make some noise, so he wakes up. Saugatuck is the next stop.






- posted via iPad

Location:Jackson St,Omaha,United States

over the hump, I hope

I am happy to report to the three people who read this that I actually slept 6.5 hours, which was a difficult day to begin with.

Simply put, I got tired for being made to make all the decisions, and then being blamed when they did not work out well. So first thing in the morning, at breakfast, I told Mike, when he asked me, that he was deciding everything today, from weather we go to Nebraska or Kansas, where and when we eat, etc. He did not like that, because I think it is his M.O., to let others decide and then strike down the decision. I think it is part of the Midwestern mindset, which for me comes across as extremely passive aggressive. I am sure my behavior comes across as angry, but I just hate the bullshit and all the dance steps involved. He told me "so you want me to be the fall guy?" meaning that if anything went wrong he'd be culpable, and I said "why not? It's been me thus far" and yes, I use "thus" in daily speech. It was mildly amusing seeing him squirm a bit, asking me when we had to make the first main decision, and I said soon because there was a 2 mile distance between the two options from the main highway, which was less than 2 miles from the hotel. He literally decided when we were checked out, valet car brought to us, bags placed in car, us seated, and seat belts on.

So off we went towards Omaha (left Denver at 10:20 am local time), and with fuel needs aside, we only stopped when he wanted to. In fact, Mike slept through most of the trip, and I drove for the first 4 hours, until we stopped at this horrible local fast food chain restaurant called Amigos. Should really be "enemigos" (look it up). Gross. Tasted like canned food. When we left the restaurant he asked "do you want me to drive?" even though I had said enough times that I was driving the first half and he was driving the second half. So I gave him a snippy "of course" and off we went. I tried to fall asleep like he did but I kept getting asked to do stuff, like look stuff up, help hook up his music (so far we have not listened to one thing I have wanted to, nothing from my music collection). Eventually I told him to stop in Lincoln for fuel, and began playing with my phone. I even downloaded a new facebook app (just deleted my old one and reinstalled it, because it was frozen), so now I can do some facebooking on my old 3G.

We got to Lincoln, which I thought would be a small college town, but turned out to be a large town with no one around. After much driving around we found a gas station open in a shady part of town, and then looked for a restaurant. Ended up going to some gross place that had tasty food and large portions for a reasonable price (what students want), but no AC... and by the way, how freaking hot it has been, at least in the 90s. I think it will be in the 100s today all over the midwest. After our horrible meal that took for ever to get done we both came to the realization that trying to eat local in small towns during a holiday can be a huge mistake, and that there is a reason people eat at McDees when traveling (FYI, no spellcheck warning for McDees, interesting). In retrospect we should have gone to the Jimmy Jones across the street (I heart their Vito sandwich, no onion). It was the first time in almost two days that we both laughed together, and after getting lost again, we finally made our way to Omaha, where I called their Magnolia Hotel (the same brand as the one in Denver) and they had plenty of rooms, and they gave us a huge discount, so we decided to stay there (awesome breakfast, happy hour with free wine, and cookies at night). We checked in a bit before 9:30 pm, had some cookies, and went to our room, which was really nice, way nicer than the one in Denver, and with a view of the courtyard. We walked around the hotel and then, after both surfing the internet for a bit, went to bed. I went to bed around 12 am and woke up close to 7 am. Mike is still asleep, we have one hour for the breakfast. I envy his ability to sleep 8 hours plus a day and still take a nap in the afternoon. I'm not sure I've slept this long ever in this millennium, I am not kidding. But I'll take 6.5 hours.




- posted via iPad

Location:S 16th St,Omaha,United States

misery is...

Sleeping for three hours and then facing a whole day of driving. That will be today. Every time I look at the clock I get so disappointed, because each day I seem to lose one hour of sleep. I fear that, by the last night of this trip I will have not slept at all.

But yesterday, let's briefly focus on that. The day started well, the breakfast in the hotel was very good actually, I had an english muffin sandwich with eggs, cheese and bacon, along with sausage links, yogurt parfait, a blueberry muffin, cranberry juice, and orange juice. Also grabbed an apple for later. The room was filled with all kinds of people.

After killing a couple hours in the room, we walked to the Denver Museum of Art, a bit of a hike but doable, cutting through the 16th street Mall, which was not as nice as I had remembered. Eventually we found ourselves there, looked at the exhibitions on all floors of the new building (which in and of itself was one of the best things there), and went to the Yves Saint Laurent exhibition. This is the third fashion exhibition I see this summer, not sure why they are so prominent these days, but they do attract huge crowds. This was my least favorite of them, not because of the designs, but because of the staging (though the swatch room was superb). My favorite still was Gaultier at the DeYoung in San Francisco, followed by a second close by the Schiaparelli&Prada at the MET in New York City.

We left the museum around 1:30 or so and walked back towards the hotel, through the Civic Center Plaza where they seemed to be setting up stage for something, probably a 4th celebration. We took the free shuttle bus towards the restaurants. We hopped in one and I saw, through the windows, a restaurant I had eaten before, Earl's, and I remember it being good. We went in, ordered our meals, and as they arrived I enjoyed mine and unfortunately Mike did not his. There was a major flaw with his meal, and of course the waitresses all disappeared. Eventually I fetched one, and by then he did not want to eat there anymore, so I quickly ate my food and off we went to find a new place. His bad mood turned mine into a bad one as well, sometimes negativity brings out negativity. We ended up going to some brewery, which actually made me feel a bit sick in the stomach, because of the smell in the air, that smell of beer being brewed that I associate with drunk people. We were there for quite some time, at least an hour, if not more, which is not a fun experience, when you watch someone eat and drink, while you only have water (was actually full from the salad I had, which was very good - I only wished he had calmed down and ordered something else at the other restaurant). We walked back to the hotel, and Mike fell asleep right away, for a couple hours. I got bored and decided to go to the Contemporary museum, which closed at 9 pm (it was almost 6 pm by then). Mike woke up and wanted to come along, so I waited till he changed, and off we went. But first we stopped at the lounge at the hotel for the happy hour, which included free (and cheap) drinks. I could barely stomach my wine, so we soon left and tracked down to the museum.

For some reason the shuttle busses were not working in that direction, so we walked all the way there. On the way there seemed to be slightly better restaurants than on the other direction. We finally got to the museum, I remembered being there for a conference reception the last time I was in town, in 2008 or 2009. The building is pretty cool, but unfortunately only one exhibition was up, a solo by an artist called Frohawk Twofeather, who coincidentally enough, had graduated from SIU in 2000 (I began teaching there in 2001). The work was pretty interesting, and I need to read the tri-fold better, but the main blurb has very confusing text, stating three recent solo shows in LA, NYC and South Africa, and then stating that the Denver show is his first solo exhibition. We went to the roofdeck, took pictures, and walked back towards the hotel, taking a different route by Laramie Square (I think it i what it's called). We sat in the room for a few, and then I decided that, being past 8 pm, I should either go to the gym, go downstairs and get some cookies, or go eat dinner somewhere. I decided to go for the cookies and see if there was a crowd there, the walls in the room becoming terribly confining. Again Mike decided to come along, so I waited for him to get ready. There were three people there, which was more depressing than the room, so I grabbed two cookies, returned to the room to grab my wallet and met Mike at the lobby to look for a restaurant for me to eat (he was still full from his 3 o'clock lunch, I had not eaten a thing since 1:30). We wondered around and most places were closed, with the exception of fast food. Mike saw a Jamba Juice, and wanted to get one for himself, and so I waited for him to get one outside. It took at least 15 minutes, and by then I realized it was close to 9 pm, too late for me to eat anything substantial, so we walked back to the hotel, and I ate the two cookies I had grabbed earlier. I was going to bed around 10:30 but Mike decided to call back his friend Louis, whom I know through stories heard and have actually talked a few times over the phone. I thought about waiting till he was done talking but when I realized it was gonna be a long conversation, I decided to get ready for bed. As I slipped under the covers Mike hands the phone to me to talk to Louis, which I said I did not want to but he (he being one of them, I'm not sure), insisted. So I talked for a few minutes with a drunk Louis, who made no sense and said nothing memorable, but acted as if we have had great phone exchanges in the past - perhaps it's that Facebook phenomenon where people think they know one another even though they have never met - said my good byes and tried to go to sleep.

From the beginning of this post you know how well that went. Throughout the day, even from the day before, Mike went on about staying in Denver for a couple more days, and I really did not see the point, as I want to get home and sleep on my bed as soon as possible. I am sure Denver is a nice place, but I have had a pretty miserable time here. Still not sure what will happen today, I am tired of arguing and explaining that I want to go home, so today I am just gonna wait for Mike to make the decisions. If he wants to stay, we can stay, he can make hotel arrangements and decide how we will spend the day. I am fine with that. If we go he will decide if we go through Kansas or Nebraska. My only plans for today is to eat breakfast and take a shower after I am done writing this.




- posted via iPad

Location:Stout St,Denver,United States

the road less traveled... maybe because of the fires?

After not sleeping well at all, I made some decaf, grabbed a powerbar, took a shower (great products they have in bathroom), and went to the reception to see if we could do a late check out; from 11am I got it switched to 12pm, not ideal but progress. As I was wearing my robe and bathing suit already, I grabbed a new towel and, after giving the 411 to Mike, told him what the deal was, and headed to the mud bath. The place was somewhat empty, it was about 8:45am, and I had no problem mudding (the new mud was heavy on the bottom of the pot, I caked my eyelids and smile lines heavier than the rest), baking in the sun, and eventually soaking in the tub to remove the mud mask all over my body. What a wonderful feeling.

Went to the iron bath, afterwards, I love the pebble bottom, and later than that to the soda bath, the covered one. Mike arrived by then, it was about 9:30, he had taken his time getting ready in the room and having a juice at the restaurant. Our massage appointment was at 10am, and we were told to be there 5 minutes prior. We walked to the large pool/lounge area, where he took a seat, and I went to the arsenic Jacuzzi first, so hot and relaxing, and then to the arsenic pool, the coolest water in the resort. I walked around along the edge of the pool, which changed depths, and that provided me with a bit of exercise and meditation. I was ready for the massage and reflexology. We both walked over to the waiting area, and my therapist, Patrick (a short guy with good energy and mellow voice - he reminded me of Willam for some reason - and strong hands), took me to the room, while Mike waited for his. He asked me the usual questions, I got on the table, and then 50 minutes of heaven began. It was by far one of the best massages I've had in a very long time, the way he worked my arms was just perfect for me, after 30 days of intense drawing and blogging. After that was done, he moved on for 25 minutes of foot reflexology, a mix of massage, stretches and pressure point applications (including hot towels, heaven). By the time Patrick was done, all the stress from the previous, unslept night, were gone.

I floated back to the cottage to pack the room and the car, as it was about 11:20 am. Mike joined me in about 10 minutes, and once we were done with that, we drove the car closer to the main bath area and checked out. Our plan was to go to the restaurant for lunch, which we did, and it was wonderful. I had an Artesian Salad (mixed greens with pears, pine nuts, crumbled cheese and a prickly pear vinaigrette dressing) with Mexican shrimp (seasoned and sautéed first, then grilled), with water, lots of water. Mindy was our waitress, a very sweet young woman that reminded me of my cousin Rosana and my college friend Bronwynn at the same time. She complimented on my tattoo, the second time in New Mexico, and Mike opined that they like sun representations in this area (mine is a tribal sunset in water abstraction, upside down). I think he may be right about that.

We decided we should stay in the spa area until three and then hit the road, so for the second time in the day (how lucky) I did the mud, with Mike along this time, and we toured all the baths and even made it to the steam room. The place was jam packed, and the sun was hot, but we managed to do a bit of everything, even fit in more meditative walks around the pool. When it was time to go home, we took turns taking a shower some someone could watch our stuff. It was sad to give back the robes (I might order one online), but we had to get into the car, as we had a 6 hour drive ahead of us. After some snafu with the directions (no reception to activate the g-map), off we went. For the most part we stayed in the same road, US 285, from the door of Ojo to the edge of Denver. The road was almost empty, at times we'd go for 15 minutes without spotting another car. I drove the first 3.5 hours while Mike helped navigate, curate the musical background, and take pictures, mostly moving. The scenery ranged from boring, to beautiful to scary to dreamlike. Once we got into Colorado (within the first hour) rain began to pour, not a lot, but enough to require wipers, and this rain got stronger as we headed north.

When both Fiona and ourselves needed some fuel to go one, we stopped, gassed the car, and ate at this borderline dive restaurant called the Smoke Shack, a gas station attaché that served yummy BBQ (I had the pulled pork and cole slaw), and was run by Colorado hipsters (what I assume to be early 30s ski bums that never left the area). The town was called Buena Vista, located 120 miles from Denver. There were some firetrucks getting fuel, and this jolly short man, with a big smile on his face, pointed to the sky and said "thank you rain", which was beginning to fall. As he walked to his vehicle, he also thanked the firemen around us (we saw a few on the road there, among the few cars we saw in general; the longest stretch of being followed by a single vehicle was a small firetruck which I thought was a cop car, for about 20 miles, when I was still driving). We left sometime after 6:30pm. Mike took the driving after this, and the road got more beautiful and hilly, he called it a roller coaster, and at times it was down right scary. As we got closer to the city the road became very steep, sometimes with 8 mile stretches of going downhill, about 45 mph. As we exited the 285 and took on I-25 N there was some construction, but fortunately our route led us to our hotel, the Magnolia on 17th, with no problem. The receptionist told us that there were cookies and milk at the lounge until 10pm (it was 9:15pm by the time we got there), and the bellboy told us that the hotel had a free shuttle service to any location within 2 miles. I hope the museums are in that range.

Ended the night with a long shower and a soft bathrobe. Went to bed at 11pm, and when I woke up this morning it was 4:30am, an improvement in my book.





- posted via iPad

Location:Stout St,Denver,United States

tired

I fell asleep some time after 11 pm, and woke up at 2 am. The cottage was unbearably hot I ended up turning the air conditioner on. The last time I looked at the clock it was almost 4 am. Woke up again around 6:30 am. Feel like crap now. When in hell did this blog become about my lack of sleep? in any case, we should have slept with the windows open, in retrospect.

But on to yesterday. I cleaned the studio and the bedroom, which took all morning, specially since we did a breakfast run to Whole Foods. I ordered a coffee even though I am not crazy about coffee. It tasted strong, borderline burned, and it was a decaf. Fruit and oatmeal were unremarkable, so was the place, but at least Mike got to buy some snacks for the trip. On the way back I showed him the Railyard district, an area in town I like and that he did not experience. Back to the institute, where I did my best to put everything in a better shape than I found it. Which I did, and it wasn't that difficult, since the place was filthy to begin with and I had already cleaned when I moved in, and then a few days ago. Unfortunately the mop was missing.

Said my goodbyes to Cobi and Rita, it was so sad seeing them for the last time, Cobi looked like a lonely puppy in the studio, and he is gonna be even more lonely because there is only one artist joining him there in a week, and the studio will have about 6 open spots. One could've been mine... oh well!

Chris, Carmie and Aimee decided to come to Ojo for the day, and they left before us, because they wanted to stop at the Tesuque Market first. They actually arrived at Ojo before us as well, it took us over two hours to get there because we stopped for gas and a quick lunch, which was a horrible affair at Lotaburger in Espanola. It was a terrible-looking place, we should've walked out the minute we walked in, but we stayed. The store looked terrible, the staff young and overwhelmed, the place packed with people, waiting. I got my iced tea and waited, and waited, and waited. Sat alone at the table while Mike stood by the counter, not sure why. At one point (about 15 minutes in) I suggested we should just walk out, and he did not want to because we had paid already (less than $6, not a major loss). We waited, and when my food arrived, the burger bun was actually cold, to the touch. Mike seemed to like his food, the fries were okay. I left the restaurant pissed off.

We arrived at Ojo and our room was not ready yet, but we were given towels and passes, so we searched for the group. Chris and Carmie were working under the covered area, with their laptops (by then it was almost 3 pm), while Aimee was elsewhere. They saved us lounge chairs. After running into Aimee we returned to the lobby and our room was ready, so we walked to the car and drove it to the cottage. It was a duplex business, with doors on opposite ends. Our room number is 24. It is a small space, but very cute, with a mini kitchen, a mini flatscreen TV, and a nice bathroom. The beds are high and there is a window unit AC. We changed into our bathing suits and robes and walked to the spa area. Mike went to take a shower and I went to the mud area. By the time he arrived I was almost dry, and I explained to him the process. In fact I explained to many people how to go about, because they did not seem to know how to read the freaking sign. Aimee eventually showed up, she did not seem to be having a good time, I do not think that these day-long activities are her thing. We talked a bit and then she went elsewhere. After the mud Mike and I tried all the baths until we rejoined the group.

Later we all went to the steam room, with Aimee always a few steps ahead of us all. The steam room was not steaming, so Chris asked an employee, who turned it on for us. Duh! After the dry sauna, we went back to the chairs for a while, where I almost fell asleep a couple times. It was relaxing. Aimee was already fully showered and dressed, she had figs we shared, and I was eaten by mosquitoes. As we neared 7 pm, the time we said we'd have dinner, Carmie and I decided to go for another run in the baths, first to the Iron one with the pebble bottom, and then to the covered Soda bath, where Chris joined us. We eventually went to the Arsenic bath, the hottest of them all (the 107, as Chris called it), which put us close to our seats (at one point mine collapsed and dirtied my pretty robe, made of microfiber that feels like suede - I washed it in the bathroom).

Mike and I went to the room to change while they showered. I grabbed my iPad and we all met outside the restaurant. We ate at the main restaurant, in a huge table. We all shared a bottle of some yummy Sonoma red wine, and I ordered a Chili Sea Scallop dish that came with a tamale and fried spinach and a sweet corn sauce, which was beautiful. Aimee reminded me I was not eating a salad, but the one they had, with a protein, was not to my liking (an arugula salad with tomato, just like the countless ones I had at the institute.

Eventually it was time to say good bye, after incredible desserts and the naming of Louise, the corn bread 6th. I was sad inside, but tired on the outside. Wish my hugs with the three of them never ended. We walked back in the dark towards the cottage, and I thought I would sleep for 10 hours straight. If only...





- posted via iPad

Location:Ojo Caliente, NM

clean

Eating out, while fun, does not seem to have a good pay off these days, as I wake up with nausea and somewhat constipated.This of course makes me long to be back in my own home and kitchen, where I can prep my own food and eat when I need to, and not when it works out that way. As there are eight days left in this journey, I will unfortunately be eating out. Will concentrate on salads with a grilled meat from here on, dressing on the side when possible. The hotel in Denver will have a gym, which is also something I miss. I liked the disciplined self I became here, and feel like this let-lose self is a return to bad habits. One week.

I sent Mike his way to find breakfast as I ate something here and began packing the bags. The dresser and wardrobe are now empty, but not everything is folded and organized in the luggage yet (two loads of laundry started late at night and still needing put away).While he was gone he went to Whole Foods and bought his hair products. He also found out they serve breakfast there, some sort of oatmeal/fruit bar from what I gathered. I think we will be going there today for breakfast, but as it is 8 am, and Mike is still sleeping (I think he has adjusted to Mountain time finally), I do not see this happening any time soon, more like a brunch perhaps. My goal this morning is to write this blog (blogue?) and pack stuff soon, as I still have to clean both studio and bedroom before departing for Ojo.

But let's get back to yesterday. Our destination was Taos for the day, and we left the institute at 11 am, much later than I thought we would. I have been drinking tons of water here and the amount increases when I wear contacts, as my eyes get extremely dry for some reason. The funny thing is that I still pee a lot. I must have drunk at least 5 bottles of water yesterday, in addition to countless glasses of iced tea. And of course all this drinking makes me that person that has to pee a lot. On the 1.5 hour journey to Taos I had to pee once, and on the way back (it took us longer), at least 2 times that I recall, and by the time I got here I had to run to the bathroom. I think Mike thinks I have a bladder problem. Maybe I do, but I just do not think it is good to hold. In my view he is not drinking enough water, and I worry about him. Specially yesterday, when he did not wear a hat. Maybe he is sleeping a lot now because of the sun burn? Anyway, Taos was somewhat like a supersized Plaza, but somewhat more interesting because the buildings were more interesting. There still was the same schlocky art in the galleries, and the usual touristy crap. And it was great to be in a different place for once. I am not sure how, but time flew by there. We walked for about an hour, and then sat down at a restaurant's outside patio for lunch, even though they were serving brunch. The put us on a small table with a broken umbrella, so after three iced tea refills and a bit of annoyance (they told us we could only move before we ordered our food, and of course they only told us that AFTER we had ordered already), we moved to another table with an umbrella. Our food, at the Graham's Grille, finally arrived (I thought that if I made a bathroom run, the food would arrive, and bingo!). I ordered a tamale of the day (cheese and green chile), and a side salad (which they did not have in the menu, but the waiter figured out a way of doing so), which was deliciously fresh and crispy. Once I get home I will try to recreate it (lettuce with red cabbage, carrots, sun flower seeds and a sprinkle of some white flaky cheese, with a light dressing). We walked some more but everything that seemed remotely interesting (mini museums, the Solar Festival, etc) had a cover charge, so we decided to skip them, and walk around some more. Eventually we found a water fountain with cold water, I refilled my bottle and we got back in the car.

We drove towards Taos Pueble, and the whole time I was going there I thought we were driving the wrong way. But eventually we got there. The place looked desolate but extremely interesting. Unfortunately they were closed (why not put a sign at the exit 3 miles before?) We were asked to turn around, and a huge line of cars behind me had to do the same; as we drove back into town, more cars headed there. After a pee break we got back in the car and returned on our trip. The drive, both ways is gorgeous, and it was interesting to see things from a driver's perspective (last time I went there with Aimee, in the passenger seat). I was getting tired, so I decided to pull out at a random shoulder, and we were near the river by the road, so we decided to drive down there and hang out by the water. I truly wished we had brought our bathing suits, because the water made a lovely noise, was fresh and there was a small beach. A few people were in the water. One man said hi, walked in the water (it was somewhat shallow, with pebbles, reminded me strangely enough of Maine), and he laid down, face down facing the current, and stayed there for a few minutes. It was strange and yet at the same time a wonderful thing, and I felt jealous. I only went mid calf into the water, afraid I'd fall and ruin my crappy phone. I might drive in my swimming short from now on, just in case we run into another random body of water.

We finally got back and had a couple hours before dinner plans with Carmie and Chris. I ran into Agnes (not sure if it was the morning, because her presence lingered the whole day). She gave me a big hug, and even though our exchanges were limited and at times she was somewhat difficult, it felt genuine and good, and I was sad to see her go. And somehow she managed to take all her supplies with her, and her paintings were placed in a new clinic, where they will stay for a year (mission accomplished at last). Saw Cobi and Aimee before going to dinner. Also saw Marisa and said our good byes (but also think it was in the morning, not evening). We went to a Mexican restaurant that had such an extensive menu, I did not know what to order. From here on I will only look at the salad section, maybe add a cup of soup, but that's it. Ended up ordering way too much food, which was very good but not excellent (though the iced tea kept flowing). I liked everything, it was a combination platter, but there was a chili releno, deep fried, that I did not recall being part of, and I ate half of it thinking it was an enchilada. I think that is the culprit of my heartburn this morning. As always we talked about all things, and specially television. I am really excited about their TV pilot project, I hope it gets picked up, not only because it is a good story, but because it would be great to see their talent recognized and a financial reward coming their way. I feel like they are younger siblings I've never had, living in a bare minimum space in order to practice their craft, which I find wonderful, but also feel protective of them (I guess this is how one feels when they get older and have no kids).

We got back and I was feeling like a sausage, bursting in the seams, but still had two loads of laundry to make. Was feeling extremely sleepy. Put the last load in the drier at 10:50, set it for 40 minutes, just in time for the time limit of laundry by 11:30, house rules. After I post this I will pick it up, fold, and get ready to leave this place.




- posted via iPad

Location:Cactus Ln,Santa Fe,United States