Saturday, August 28, 2004
Going to Trinidad
I knew I had to do it. Mom was whining about no one coming out to see her, but more importantly, she needed help with her finances and didn't trust anyone in town to help her. Donna insisted that I go and probably wanted me to get out of the house for awhile anyway, so I made the reservations to land in Albuquerque.
I prepared for the trip by packing silk clothes and the things I absolutely needed, keeping the size of the bags as small as possible. It was a long trip but I made it intact including my checked bag, which I neglected locking, but all was there when I got off the plane.
forgetting how far things are apart out in the West, I got anxious when I didn't see any signs of life or any road signs, for that matter. Some places in New Mexico looked quite lovely and others like the surface of the moon before the craters struck it. I got to Las Vegas and called Judy, who met me outside the entrance to the private land where they had their home. It was a bit of a shock to see how things were laid out, but the inside of the house was quite comfortable. Judy had worked for days preparing a Southwest meal complete with salsa, guacamole, pesole soup, squash, corn/beans on the side and pull-apart pork enchilladas with her own chilli. It was a feast! I enjoyed every bit of it while we caught up on about 20 years of chat and shared an Australian wine bottle or two.
Later, we went out to the campfire to watch the stars and talk some more. The beautful thing was that no lights were lit and when it was had to see, Hal lit candles. It was so relaxing. Later I bedded down in an ancient school bus converted into the world's first RV. I forgot to mention that I brought my sling and their son, Nathan, took to it until he nearly killed himself and his father while skipping stones across their pond.
I got dust all over my rented car and will face the same going back, but the 75 MPH speed limit blew most of it off except for what stubbornly clung to the tires. Leaving the next day, I got lost a few times trying to get back on the highway and encountered more desolate land before I-25 came into view. I wondered about breaking down and was glad I had plenty of gas and a new car.
Mom's house was familiar; it was clean but not overly so. It smelled OK even with Baby the dog there. Mom told me she tried cleaning ladies but realized she could do just as well if she took one project at a time.
She made dinner out of a fish that was frozen soon after it was taken out of Monument Lake up in the mountains. She served it with some frozen vegetables. I got it down and didn't have an appetite for the rest of the evening. My GI tract was still getting over Judy's meal at the same time. For some reason something in that meal made me pollute the atmosphere with ethlene gas.
I had a hard time sleeping as I did as I listened to the wind in the pines in the back of the bus at Judy's, but got enough rest to make it through the day. Mom and I worked on her finances and I soon discovered that she had not one but two aco s in one annuity. I discovered that she could apply for a tax reduction and delved into her long-term care insurance by calling Atlanta. They were very helpful and couldn't understand why she would need extra insurance, so we are going to see the NY Life people on Monday morning.
I'm writing from the public library in town. I was going batty not being able to check my email so when Howard Schmiel told me where to go I jumped at the chance. Soon I have to return to the world of Trinidad. It is filled with old sandstone buildings that are beautiful and mostly used for something different than that which they were originally designed. The town being the first in Colorado North of the Raton Pass holds promise of being something better than it is now and the improvements in the roads will certainly not hurt. But it is the tax advantages to senious, which encourage so many to settle here.
I went with Mom to the senior center to meet and greet over a hamburger and found from Mom that Dad had been instrumental in persuading the town to take the abandonded school building and convert it into a place for the elderly to come for fellowship and a good meal for $1.50. They also have a transportation system that takes folks around. Mom would not have any of that, but persuades her friends to drive her. In fact, I have to return to the house soon for a trip with Major Helen Marshall, one of her friends. We are going to the new Mexican restaurant in town, then to Walmart for the weekly shopping exursion. Mom spent a long time planning this trip and called Helen several times to insure that the proper order would be adhered to; no dogs, Mexican food first, then Walmart. When you deal in little everyday things, they become big and time consuming.
Who theorized that work fills the time alloted for the task in any endeavour? I'll have to find out. Well, I love writing (talking) on this Blog, but I have to tear myself away now and see the bright sun and what it will bring today.
I prepared for the trip by packing silk clothes and the things I absolutely needed, keeping the size of the bags as small as possible. It was a long trip but I made it intact including my checked bag, which I neglected locking, but all was there when I got off the plane.
forgetting how far things are apart out in the West, I got anxious when I didn't see any signs of life or any road signs, for that matter. Some places in New Mexico looked quite lovely and others like the surface of the moon before the craters struck it. I got to Las Vegas and called Judy, who met me outside the entrance to the private land where they had their home. It was a bit of a shock to see how things were laid out, but the inside of the house was quite comfortable. Judy had worked for days preparing a Southwest meal complete with salsa, guacamole, pesole soup, squash, corn/beans on the side and pull-apart pork enchilladas with her own chilli. It was a feast! I enjoyed every bit of it while we caught up on about 20 years of chat and shared an Australian wine bottle or two.
Later, we went out to the campfire to watch the stars and talk some more. The beautful thing was that no lights were lit and when it was had to see, Hal lit candles. It was so relaxing. Later I bedded down in an ancient school bus converted into the world's first RV. I forgot to mention that I brought my sling and their son, Nathan, took to it until he nearly killed himself and his father while skipping stones across their pond.
I got dust all over my rented car and will face the same going back, but the 75 MPH speed limit blew most of it off except for what stubbornly clung to the tires. Leaving the next day, I got lost a few times trying to get back on the highway and encountered more desolate land before I-25 came into view. I wondered about breaking down and was glad I had plenty of gas and a new car.
Mom's house was familiar; it was clean but not overly so. It smelled OK even with Baby the dog there. Mom told me she tried cleaning ladies but realized she could do just as well if she took one project at a time.
She made dinner out of a fish that was frozen soon after it was taken out of Monument Lake up in the mountains. She served it with some frozen vegetables. I got it down and didn't have an appetite for the rest of the evening. My GI tract was still getting over Judy's meal at the same time. For some reason something in that meal made me pollute the atmosphere with ethlene gas.
I had a hard time sleeping as I did as I listened to the wind in the pines in the back of the bus at Judy's, but got enough rest to make it through the day. Mom and I worked on her finances and I soon discovered that she had not one but two aco s in one annuity. I discovered that she could apply for a tax reduction and delved into her long-term care insurance by calling Atlanta. They were very helpful and couldn't understand why she would need extra insurance, so we are going to see the NY Life people on Monday morning.
I'm writing from the public library in town. I was going batty not being able to check my email so when Howard Schmiel told me where to go I jumped at the chance. Soon I have to return to the world of Trinidad. It is filled with old sandstone buildings that are beautiful and mostly used for something different than that which they were originally designed. The town being the first in Colorado North of the Raton Pass holds promise of being something better than it is now and the improvements in the roads will certainly not hurt. But it is the tax advantages to senious, which encourage so many to settle here.
I went with Mom to the senior center to meet and greet over a hamburger and found from Mom that Dad had been instrumental in persuading the town to take the abandonded school building and convert it into a place for the elderly to come for fellowship and a good meal for $1.50. They also have a transportation system that takes folks around. Mom would not have any of that, but persuades her friends to drive her. In fact, I have to return to the house soon for a trip with Major Helen Marshall, one of her friends. We are going to the new Mexican restaurant in town, then to Walmart for the weekly shopping exursion. Mom spent a long time planning this trip and called Helen several times to insure that the proper order would be adhered to; no dogs, Mexican food first, then Walmart. When you deal in little everyday things, they become big and time consuming.
Who theorized that work fills the time alloted for the task in any endeavour? I'll have to find out. Well, I love writing (talking) on this Blog, but I have to tear myself away now and see the bright sun and what it will bring today.
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