Spring break rolls on

Today, although it started out cold, I really do believe spring is on its way. Greg, the wonderful neighbor who keeps my yard in shape, came to begin the spring cleanup and move indoor plants outside. I swear I will scream if it freezes again. It will take a while before the yard and porch and deck look like I want them to, but we're on the way, and we have great plans. I saw somewhere the idea of buying potty soil, slitting the bag lengthwise, and pushing seeds down into it, so you can grow rows of lettuce, spinach, whatever. Perfect, because I have an old glass-topped table I can put the bags on so a) I won't have to bend over to get to them, and b) Sophie, who is a great plant killer, can't destroy them. Last year she killed three roses--not knock-out but like them--that Greg planted. She literally trampled them to death.
Pleasant evening tonight waiting for Colin, my oldest, and his family to arrive on the way home from Santa Fe. They are bringing another family I've never met, and I had every good intention of cleaning house. It went by the way when I remembered I had a speaking engagement this morning, but I have sort of straightened. Because I'm anticipating their arrival--and a phone message that Jordan is home--I don't really want to settle down to work, so I'm going through the food magazines on my desk and clipping recipes I want. Always makes me happy. Anyone for salmon with smashed peas?
Meanwhile I haven't heard from the Austin branch who are skiing at Beaver Creek but I am getting wonderful pictures from the Frisco Alters who are in Seattle. Makes me want to jump on a plane and join them.
They report that the farmers market is one of their favorite places so far, and I can see why. It's enough to draw anyone from dry Texas to the lush Northwest.
But they also enjoyed a ferry trip to Bainbridge, wherever that is. I understood the joy on Maddie's face--I, who am firmly against a cruise, love to ride a ferry.

Post-Christmas retrospect

The Alters, minus two, on the Plaza--sunny day

Back to blogging. My blog vacation was actually a Christmas vacation in Santa Fe with all of my family--16 of us in one large contemporary house within walking distance of the Plaza. It made for wild and noisy good times, a boisterous Christmas morning, and a generally wonderful experience. Years ago, when my children were in high school and college, we spent every Christmas vacation in Santa Fe, and it was a city where I felt completely at home, as though I'd lived there in another existence. It's now been ten years since I've been there and even longer for the children, but there was a lot of "Remember when..." as they reacquainted themselves.
Skiing was a major attraction for all but three of us, though it didn't happen until Dec. 26th. We arrived late Sunday, fiddled on Monday, and went to brunch and walked the Plaza on Tuesday. I found some trinkets for this one and that and a lovely wall cross for Lisa. Fun, but after one walk around the Plaza in my awkward boot, I'd had enough. Besides it was cold.
I also chickened out of caroling on Canyon Road, but everyone else had a great time.

Caroling on Canyon Road

For folks like me, who travel to Santa Fe on their stomachs, we ate at Gabriele's, new to me but delicious--can't beat crab enchiladas. One morning all sixteen of us had brunch at LaFonda--the kids and adults both loved it. They split us into tables of eight--so much more manageable. Another night, we thought we had reservations at Guadalupe Café, long a favorite of ours, but when Megan called to say we were running late, whoever answered said, "We're not open for dinner." Big problem, but it wasn't. The Pink Adobe has bought Guadalupe--the latter serves breakfast and lunch, and the Pink Adobe had a private room waiting for us. Expensive, but oh so good. Melanie, Jordan and I went to Chimayo one day--they had never been to the Sanctuario and brought back more than their share of holy dirt. I found a few quiet moments to sit in that wonderful chapel and talk go the Lord about 2014 and pray for the people on my prayer list. Lunch at Rancho Chimayo was as good as always. I get tired of spicy food and was happy with an avocado filled with chicken salad. And, finally, the three of us found ourselves on the next ski day with Maddie (14) and Jacob (7) for company, so we had lunch at Harry's Roadhouse, where I love the meatloaf. Very carefully saved and protected half my large sandwich for the drive back--sad story. Jordan though I packed it, and she thought I did. No meatloaf. I ate a cold cuts sandwich--good but inferior!

Lot of cooking went on; here, Mel and Eden make banana pudding

 

Full time life for a week with one teen and six children is interesting. We have a ten, nine, eight, two sevens and a six. The have incredible energy, even after a day on the slopes, and are incredibly noisy. I think we had never before been in as spacious a house where they could run and play. I learned to take my hearing aids out. For me, much of the week was quiet--reading and doing miscellaneous at my computer--but I liked that. And I liked knowing I was in Santa Fe and looking out over the lights of the city at night. I was glad to be back home, and I'm grateful for the privileges and opportunities and loving family that I have.

Some of the noisemakers

 

There were down moments of course--it's hard to be the matriarch, and it's hard to be in a house where no one is in charge and everyone has their own idea of how and what to do. And the trip ended badly with an emergency hospitalization of my oldest son. But more about those things later. Now I prefer to dwell on the pleasant memories--and they are many.

Goodbye until the next time

(photo courtesy Lisa Alter)

Some thoughts on friendship

Next week I expect houseguests, friends from Omaha that I first knew in a small Missouri town in the early 1960s. They moved north, I moved south, and there were great gaps in our friendship, times when we weren't much in touch. They came to Fort Worth when both our children and theirs were quite young--I remember the two dads took them all to Six Flags. When my ex-husband left me with four children to raise, I called these friends a lot. After that, we exchanged Christmas gifts and sporadic communications. There was a time when I almost flew to see them in Singapore where they were living, but, not being a good traveler, I lost my nerve. Then about eight years ago, they announced that they were coming to Fort Worth to pick me up and we'd all go to Santa Fe. We had a wonderful time, and I finally confessed that I was afraid the friendship wouldn't be the same and rejoiced that it was. They were astounded. Martha came to my youngest daughter's wedding, and there was always talk of another visit. Now they're finally coming, and I'm excited.
I'm still in touch with my two best friends from high school and even before, one in California and one in Mississippi. The latter used to visit with her husband and children on the way to see family in New Mexico, but then there were gaps in our communication. A few years ago, she and her husband came for a long weekend, and he complained as he always did that all we ever talked about was the past. Last year, now widowed, she and a friend came to visit--and it was like we saw each other every day. Now one of us will email, only to be told, "You've been on my mind." We think alike, all these years later.
These are friends I treasure, friendships that have weathered the test of time. I am saddened when I think about the people once friends who have slipped from my life. Some because they moved to far parts of the country and aren't communicators. When I retired, I lost people who had been part of my daily life--though I hold on to a few of them. I sense other friendships changing and becoming more distant, and I realize that I have a whole new set of friends. I've always prided myself that my friends all become friends with each other--and they do. But I notice now when I gather a close circle around me, there are few of the faces that I saw ten years ago. And I rarely see some friends with whom I used to have a weekly lunch.
I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I'm sad to lose the closesness with people I've treasured, but I am blessed by many good friends. And I am truly grateful for friends that I have kept over many years. What is it that say?

Make new friends
but keep the old.
One is silver,
The other is gold.