Waving Goodbye

My parents were working on the house as I was packing for school.  Dad kept telling me I probably had time to help them out...which made me pack all the faster!

The Last Dinner Party

Last night I invited some of my favorite people and had one last hoorah-rah before I start classes on Monday. We had a wonderful evening sitting around the table, drinking wine and Modelos, and telling great stories. I love my people!

Traveling

I guess since we've had a little bit of rain, I've been thinking about fall which makes me think about last fall which makes me think about France. I'll be sitting at my desk working and all of a sudden be overwhelmed with a memory of France. Not so much an exact memory, but more a memory of a sensation -  like the feeling of sunshine while we sat at a cafe, the noise of crowds, the smells of my aunt's apartment, or just the warm feeling of being with my family and having a wonderful time. It's the sensation of traveling and adventure, and I miss it. I"m thankful for the trips I've had and I look forward to many more!

Here's a pic that Nina took of Grandma and I as we walked to Mont St. Michel.

Butterfly Catcher

The rule is that you can't catch people or dogs. Everything else is fair game.

My Mountains

The owner of my old home took this picture of me while I was visiting, and was thoughtful enough to email the photo to me. So, here I am in all my glory standing in front of one of my favorite views. Catherine, in my last post's comments quoted Georgia O'Keeffe, "God told me that if I painted it often enough, I could have it." Below is one of Georgia's many paintings of Pedernal, the mountain that she was speaking of. That Georgia, she's a funny lady! I think I might need to get cracking on painting my own mountains.

The House That Built Me

This is our old house in New Mexico. When I was 10 years old we bought the small cabin and, the summer that I was 11 my family added on the stucco half of the house. We moved from this house to Oklahoma when I was 14. I guess we weren't there too long, but it is one of my favorite homes.

Anytime I'm up that way, I always drive by our old house. After hearing Miranda Lambert's song "The House that Built Me", I thought it might be fun to actually stop in and say hello to the owners. Of course, that song is a little bit sad, but my visit was far from sad. The owner was very gracious to show me around and let me take photos, and listen to all my little stories about living there. I think he himself was fascinated by the experience. One funny thing - every time I mentioned my folks he'd ask if they were still alive. Yep, they're still alive and kickin' it.

This is the view from the back porch.

Take Me Home Country Roads

This is the old honey farm road in El Rito, north of Questa NM. We lived a mile up this road. I stopped by the old place last week.