weekend wandering

these daisies get more and more plentiful as winter approaches. here it comes...

in light of the current economic crisis, and other problems, cho (hilary) and i decided to escape, that is, take leave of the house this weekend and ponder lighter things. on saturday we went to the randall davey audubon center to tour randy's not-often-opened house and check out the property. it was lovely and fun to see things of the past in another picturesque high desert landscape. on sunday we attended the first in a series of lectures at the museum of spanish colonial art. it was about the origins of the plaza and pal. it was kind of boring, but hils thoroughly enjoyed it. i did like the story about the guy who broke into the palace of the governors by scaling the wall, cruising the place, picking up what he wanted, leaving out the front door, burying loot in a timber pile right out front, and then passing out in an adjoining ditch... all with footprints left in the snow. nice one, dude. he was readily apprehended. here's a wall at randy's audubon center. photo courtesy of cho!

and this one, too. bar maiden in randy's private cantina.

randy's pastels. kinda blurred.

mr. davey's beautiful house.

we also went to an open house for kindred spirits animal sanctuary. they take care of disabled and elderly animals.

this was my favorite dog. he is ralphie. it was a little depressing to go here because i was thinking about n the whole time and creatures who suffer and have no one to help them. it's amazing when you find people who dedicate their lives to helping creatures like this.

autumn will come

"He will give the rain for you land in its season, the autumn and spring rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil." Deuteronomy 11:14

the fall is absolutely gorgeous here. the changes are subtle- the monsoons and lightning are less frequent, sharp, little purple daisies are replacing sunflowers on the roadside, it's easier to find a parking place downtown, chapped lips (a bain of winter in NM) are beginning to creak for moisture. i've been quite busy at work and haven't had much time to enjoy scenes like this one for a while, but when i do chance to look up, i am very grateful to be here.

above is apache plume, below is a lounge lizard. i looked up from the computer one day and there he was. and then about 10 minutes later, there was a king snake slithering through the courtyard. it's a jungle out here.

autumn has always marked changes for us. mostly in N's health. i remember the fall when we began dating and how i watched a decline in his cheerfulness and hopefulness, and increase in his discomfort and symptoms. i thought he would be supernaturally healed by our april wedding 4.5 years ago, but instead, since then, we have learned to walk by faith and not by sight. it has been a tough journey, but each year, the Lord has provided grace. Grace to keep going and grace to believe He is who He says He is. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He does miracles in our lives everyday, and these are not just coincidences or resolutions to press on. Nope. I know some would like to credit our strong personalities or sensible attributes, but if you witnessed the challenges and breakdowns from within our hearts, if you talked to those who have to put up with us, you'd have to admit that there is something else at work here. And that something is Jesus in our hearts, living and moving as we invite Him. I know it sounds strange to many of you, but if you really want to know what I'm talking about, I suggest you ask Him yourself who He is, if He's real, and see what happens. If He's the way, the truth and the life like He says He is. What does that mean? I would ask Him. I'm not kidding, knowing Him, not just knowing of Him has changed my life.

"Ask and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened." Jesus-Matthew 7:7-8

field trip and flu

believe it or not, n and i went on a field trip the other weekend. it was way too hot for him, but it was cool to finally get to take him on a little adventure. a very nice elderly park worker at pecos national historical park came out to the car since n couldn't get out at the visitor's center and issued him a lifetime permanent disability pass for all national parks. isn't that neat? well, it would only be better if he could get healed and we could tour the country and pay our fees, but this is a nice perk for those with limitations. this is the same place meago and i went.

it's monsoon season and i climbed up one of the site's old trash mounds and found some pretty remarkable pottery unearthed. i have never found any with red paint so that was exciting. even though i naughtily went off trail, i still left the pottery there for others to enjoy. that's the legal thing to do, eh.

i can't say enough about the colors here. it's like standing in a painting.

this is the road to our house. i am so thankful when i turn onto it. i always have to roll all the windows down at this point and let all that good air rush in. although i also try to concentrate on not running over all those adorable, jet-black stink bugs that so determinedly cross the road with their butts tugging behind them like cargo. why do they do it?! don't they communicate or observe patterns!? i will ask God someday...

this is my man. he got hot and cooled himself down. today he has the flu which he hasn't had forever, so we are praying for a miraculous deliverance from whatever has hit him. thanks to those who are fervently praying with me.

1Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers...

momentary afflictions

it's been a busy couple of weeks. hilary's back has gone out like it's not done for years. she literally can't get out of bed without help and can only limp around the house. as most of you know, she ruptured two discs about 15 years ago and had a failed surgery. she has been extremely limited ever since, but has felt much better (energetically) in NM. now she is flat on her back again, but her attitude is amazing. i know it is God's grace. she had to cancel her trip to CA and johnny flew out on monday to help us. when she can get in the car, we'll get her an MRI to see what's going on. we pray it is just muscular and not structural. she has done so much to help us this past year; i don't know what's in store next.

to top that off we have a major mouse problem. a couple of weeks ago one ran across N's foot in the night as he went to pee and nearly gave him a heart attack. we'd just begun to hear them building something (an empire?) in between the roof and the ceiling. the terminators, as we call them, came monday and blocked off all entries to the house/roof. seemed pretty good. we all hoped the mice were out hunting and not sleeping in the ceiling. we were wrong. they ran rampant on monday night and johnny and i were up 4 times taking care of business (killing rodents with flip flops and disposing of ones caught in traps- gross). on tuesday night a mouse landed on N's face as he was lying in bed. we figured out they crawl across the vigas (wooden beams on ceiling). he jumped out of bed only to severly dislocate the rib that was just healing. basically, jd and i shut hils and n up in the guest rooms with towels jammed into doors while JD and i sleep/not sleep on the couch and master intermittently getting up to kick rodent. it is tiring and disgusting, but i do feel God's help which comes in the form of a peace definitely outside myself. thanks for all who have been praying for us. God is good.

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18

aslan sighting in santa fe

that's right, folks. i saw the true king of narnia heading north on cordova at 1:30 pm today.

it's a crazy town. always summer and winter, but never spring or fall. glad he's here.

the diamond

our dear jewel of a friend, the lovely meag diamond, visited wally and the rest of us last weekend. it was a relaxing time full of God's grace and it was a much welcomed reprieve from the daily routine.

meag and i were blessed to go on several outings. one of these was to bandalier national monument. it's north of santa fe near los alamos (where they built the a-bomb) and it's wonderous. hmmm... the parenthetical info. doesn't make it sound so good, but it is still a special place. don't drink the water. the chollas were in bloom against the volcanic architecture of the dramatic frijoles canyon. the canyon walls are full of holes due to something (beans? can't remember) that fell out of the ash and made for some nifty, anasazi apartment complexes. here i am climbing my way up to "ceremonial cave." it's a 180 feet of ladders and it was fun!

here is a picture of meag that i took for her new album cover. the guy in the background is her drummer, dudley. the album is called "what time is lunch?" should be pretty cool.

here are some good friends. n and meag hadn't seen each other for many moons so it was a sweet reunion. n gave meag the official tour of the house with special focus on the humidifier section (it's dry here) and the hows and whens of candlelighting for evening ambience. i think he especially enjoyed asking meag to light the livingroom candles each night since we have a giant "trick" candle. he encouraged her to be diligent.

here are two superwomen eating our usual modest portions of salad. these were accompanied by whole foods mini pizzas lavished with jalapenos, endive, garlic, olive oil, purple onions, chicken etc. they were good, but if i ever meet the man who changed the dough recipe up at corporate, he's gonna get it.

meag and i also enjoyed taking photos of each other around santa fe. here i am behind a lifesize apple jolly rancher. some call it art but i say yummmmm.

we had a blast taking photos at pecos national monument just 20 minutes from our casa. it was the largest indian pueblo in all of new mexico at one time. it's one of my favorite places in all of new mexico. it's on a little hill in between the pecos river and glorieta creek with vistas of varicolored hills on one side and a looming canyon on the other. they set up their multistoried pueblo right in the middle. these people knew real estate. it was also a huge trading center. willa cather describes it well in her novel death comes for the archbishop which i am now reading and thoroughly enjoying. when n saw these photos he said i looked like a native american. sounds great. maybe i am entrenched in my roots here. after all, those traders who camped on the field were spanish and my people live just over the mountain and still do. who knows how it all got mixed up, but i still get called gringo.

look! it's another mysterious ethnic woman!

it was a great visit and now our amiga is baking in the sun in todos santos, mexico with her dad. then she's back to the pacific northwest to say farewell to friends and family as she heads off to teach first grade in nigeria. we are grateful she stopped to see us. she is a treasure.

papa nick's day

dude... that's a sweet tractor-mower.

hey, mister...

and here's a little story to catch everyone up...

there once was a little guy called nick, formally known as mark, bif ironcomb etc., but due to his greek features he earned the traditional name and still wears it to this day.

as a young dude he hanged out with his brotha, steve, a.k.a., uncle baked bean, auntie roberta, and auntie tina. they played on boats, in the backyard of cactus circle, at the buena park mall, at knot's berry farm when it was still a farm, and all over orange county when they were still growing oranges.

he also went to the zoo with his beautiful greek-irish momma, elaine a.k.a., penny.

and sometimes he disguised himself as a frontiersman. who didn't?!

this gentle soul is my papa nick. it's his birthday and i hope he's having a smokin' bbq or something groovey going on in his backyard. here we are at a party he threw for me before n and i officially moved to california so i could meet all of his superfriends including this smart, little poodle. if you are ever in the bay area in the middle of winter, my dad, like n's in so. cal., will be one of the few gentlemen wearing shorts. them california boys sure are hearty.

my dad is a wonderful friend, father, artist, genius, writer, eclectic music and movie connoisseur, comedian, and creature... to know him is to love him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY NICK!!!

WE SURE LOVE AND MISS YOU!!!!

CHEERS!!!!