hot wally sees loretto chapel

actually hot wally had to stay in the car looking baaaaad. she only saw the chapel from the outside and that was quite enough. when you are this cool it is best to lay low...

...and lick your chops. sometimes dressing up makes wally sleeeeeeeeepyyyyyyyyyy!

dear gramma bamma, i finally went inside the famed loretto chapel and saw the miraculous windy staircase. it's beautiful in there, but that german guy sure ruined it with those nasty barristers... excuse me, i mean banisters as my brainy husband just informed me, although there were probably many lawyers involved in supervising the construction defect litigation for this otherwise miraculous edifice... jutting off from the sides! we got a book on it called the sisters of loretto and their chapel which looks very interesting. for those who haven't been keeping up with "unsolved mysteries," the loretto chapel was built in 1878 without access to the choir loft. woops! there was no easy architectual solution in such a small space so the sisters prayed and a mysterious carpenter showed up on dia novena of their prayers. he worked quietly for 6 months and the end result was a staircase with two 360 degree turns, without any center support and apparently no nails, just wooden pegs. architects are still baffled by it today. the carpentero disappeared without pay or thanks even though they sought for him in newspapers etc. since then it's caused a stir, but the woman who wrote this book, thinks she may have figured out who he was. we'll keep you posted. it's surely a sight to see.

thanks to that tenacious french archbishop jean baptiste lamy, this chapel was installed with stained glass ordered from paris. bravo, m'sieur lamy!

downtown santa fe is always full of visual stimulation like this mud-riddled jeep. someone was having fun!

hils and i had a nice break walking around downtown after dropping johnny off last sunday. then it was back to a busy week at work teaching and planning civics activities including a letter writing campaign to a NM state senator who is on one of the congressional committees working on the stimulus package. most students admitted that the economy was hitting them hard and they were happy to write letters in support of continuing their education. the letters were written by engineers, magazine and newpaper editors, mechanics, bakers, moms, teachers, and many who only finished 6th grade coming from all over the world. they all passionately want to learn english and get their citizenship, own a business, find an american girlfriend etc. it was a delight to read and send their stories to washington d.c.

as for my n, things have been rough. he has lost some weight so we're very concerned. he is still loving his physical therapy pool, and i am so grateful he has something that brings him joy. i know an amazing grace is upon us, but it's very intense. thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers towards us.

"the witness in the sky in faithful" (Psalm 89:37) just like Jesus. i trust Him and i am thankful for His nearness which is getting us through each day.

professor joffrey

all week the moon was doing lovely things: rising in fullness over the pecos valley at sunset, setting like a grand balloon over hills and highways as southwesterners drove to work, quietly crawling out of blackness over glorieta mesa in a radioactive yellow-greeness which reminded me of a wedge of cheese. the sky is always entertaining us here in new mexico, but this week i could barely keep up with all the tricks of earth's wonderous satellite.

one afternoon hilary and i took the dog on a walk at the "top of the world," as n likes to call it, which doesn't overlook more than a slice of lamy and the haunting and vast galisteo basin. they want to start drilling for oil there and there's a huge mix of emotions over it as it's a very historical area. we don't have mineral rights here in the wild west so it's a scary prospect. i'm sure it will all come down to money, but there are many activists fighting hard to preserve this dry and ancient land. we shall see.

we tried to hike down to lamy proper, but couldn't make it because of hil's feet and wally's legs. here is the lonely view of the basin; i don't know if you can see the tiny cluster of edifices that are "downtown" lamy, but they are there. it was the old railroad stop off for this area. many artists and easteners of the early/mid 20th century were deposited in lamy off long train rides then weathered rough roads to get to santa fe and ghost ranch to bask in the romance of pueblo culture, stunning geography, campouts on horseback etc. i can't say i blame them!

speaking of easterners drawn to the southwest, i received a voicemail one day from our dear friend, geoff, that he was to be in town leading a group of fellow drew ph.d. candidates on a two week journey through the southwest in a study of pueblo religions. of course he did not get to stay at a dude ranch like his intellectual compatriots of the past, but i picked him up at the best western and took him promptly to lamy. n greeted him with a huge hug and a detailed house tour, and was making great efforts to visit all night even though he was very tired. i know geoff appreciated it. in fact, one of our local pastors stopped by to pray for n that night (he and his wife do so as often as they can- they are another treasure to us!) and i know that helped him stay energized.

when g.p. first arrived i whisked him off to a walk with wally in hopes of decreasing her martyrdom for the evening. as you can see they were not quite sure of each other at first.

but they warmed up to each other.

especially when we got to talking southwest history and wally donned her special necklace replete with grizzly claws, old italian glass beads, a civil war button, and an arrowhead- a gift to n from our other history-loving friend jeffrey of glorietta pass. can't you just see tubbery in it?

geoff is such a dear friend to us. we treasure him like a brother and i can never forget how he helped me plan my whole homespun wedding! he, meag and mel worked behind the scenes buying and hanging japanese lanterns, tulle, and white christmas lights from the 50 foot high warehouse ceiling at our old church. to say the least! poor geoff. i think he will never plan another wedding. i know i sure don't want to. but n and i always reacall our wedding supper serenade from tim and him on guitar and violin singing one our favorite robert burn's tunes, sweet afton, with "roxie" sung in place of "mary." ay. as warren testified, there wasn't a female in the room who wasn't teary eyed that night for all the music and blessing of God in the room.

and what a blessing is our friend, geoff. for anyone else who treasures this fellow, you know there is no one else who will cook for you or help you complete a task with such sincere beads of sweat budding on his professorial forehead. like old friendships, it felt like only a few weeks had passed since we were having dinner together in tacoma. what a gift it was to see our delightful friend! we love you, geoff!