turkeylurkeyhobo time

it's long gone to the dogs around here...

thanks to all of you for your gracious comments from my last post. i am most definitely inspired to write on and provide pictures and tales of the day to day. above you will note a bad habit completely instigated by yours truly. it has been condemned by many visitors, yet upheld by certain family members so can everyone stop blaming me already!? by the way, she does like the sweater. we were also visited by some pilgrims recently...

and here's one just in case you forgot what i looked like. i feel like lauren taking pictures of myself in the bathroom. miss you, lor...

today i got to take n to his physical therapist who works with him at a residential therapy pool in town. it was great to see him moving around in the water-- one of the places he has always been at home. they keep the temperature at 95 degrees so he was plenty warm and it's ozonated not chlorinated so that is wonderful. and best of all, it's mostly covered by insurance. praise the Lord! his p.t. is a wonderful woman who gently challenged him with lots of arm and leg reps. with kickboards, floats, and her own resistance against his. she finished up with a really cool aquatherapy technique called watsu... something like water shiatsu. she helped him strap into leg and neck floats then buoyed him up on his back. i watched a marked relaxation and relief wash over nathanael's tired and unbelievably frail body as his head slipped into her hands and the floats upheld the rest. i wanted to cry and fall asleep a the same time watching n float like an angel with no pressure on his joints nor anywhere. there was just the sound of water echoing off concrete as she softly zigzagged him through the water making sure to keep his eyes from the refracting sunlight that was dancing off everything. we both felt better afterwards. the other great news is that she said we could pay for facility use and come on our own time if i could remember her techniques and practice them with him. this really blessed us, since she didn't have any ego involved and just wants n to get exercise. this would be a wonderful activity for us so i'm just praying we can make it work with our schedules.

here is n a while back before it got chilly. wally is surely a nice companion dog for him.

and here is our pretty girl whom everyone we meet on street or trail calls: "Buddy! Hey, Buddy!" come on, people. doesn't she look like a florabelle?

and here is her sci fi debut in tent rocks not far from area 51...

thanks for reading. i surely appreciate it. i hope all of you wonderful family and friends are well. thinking of you much on this thanksgiving weekend.

one more thing...george washington? fraggle? or lucy? let me know.

tired

it's been a while. most of you know that n is not doing well. his legs and feet are in much pain as the tendons, ligaments and bones are deteriorating in his knees and ankles. the best we can do right now is to try to get him to a therapy pool. we so appreciate all of the prayers and phonecalls. we had to get n a walker. it's been pretty sad around here.

we had a visitor, our friend jeff, who loves n. he is a treasure hunter and adventurer who brought over some old weaponry and tales from the past to cheer n up. they get along famously and j.d. was greatly impressed, too. we are blessed to be here in NM with so many kind folks who want to see n well.

and of course there's wally. she is the queen of the lamy frontier and keeps us smiling. if anyone is still reading this here blog, will you do me a little favor and leave a comment so i know if it's worth my time to write these here updates? peace and love.

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.