I've been spending a nice day with the kids. :)   Went out to lunch, then to the toy store to buy birthday presents for Steven's best friend, then to the book store, then picked up Steven's friend for an afternoon visit. Then came Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Tonight will be taking the friend home, then taking Bill (or letting him take me) to his soccer practice (was Sunday through Thursday, now I think it might be gearing up to six days a week), then housework and bill paying. Tomorrow afternoon I will take Steven to his friend's birthday party, and then I might sneak out to Chelsea for a little while and go to a party myself...

We still have fireworks from Boomland that we haven't exploded yet. We were going to set them off tonight, but it looks like it will be raining... Maybe next Friday instead...

I also need to make plans to sneak away and see a play at the Michigan Shakespeare Festival, though maybe the kids will be willing to come out with me...(they really enjoyed going there last year and seeing Taming of the Shrew). This year they are showing The Merry Wives of Windsor and Much Ado About Nothing, two plays I have not seen on stage...

Listening to some Frank Sinatra this afternoon:

Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin' town
Chicago, Chicago, I will show you around - I love it
Bet your bottom dollar you'll lose the blues in Chicago
Chicago, the town that Billy Sunday couldn't shut down

On State Street, that great street, I just want to say
They do things they don't do on Broadway
They have the time, the time of their life
I saw a man, he danced with his wife
In Chicago, Chicago, my home town

Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin' town
Chicago, Chicago, I'll show you around - I love it
Bet your bottom dollar you'll lose the blues in Chicago
Chicago, the town that Billy Sunday could not shut down

On State Street, that great street, I just want to say
They do things that they never do on Broadway - hey
They have the time, the time of their life
I saw a man, and he danced with his wife
In Chicago, Chicago, Chicago, that's my home town

I have seen your eagle soar across the mountain sky;
How blessed Lord, am I.
I have seen your dolphins leaping, laughing in the tropical sea;
How I am blessed by Thee.

I have seen the waves crash into the cliffs of Maine;
How transitory is any pain.
I have seen sunrise on the rims of your canyons grand;
Lord, I await to see your promised land.

Lord, a wonderful man calls me wife;
Thank you so much for my life!
For the beautiful children you lent me to raise;
I cannot give you enough praise!

Lord, my life has been a wonderful gift,
My soul in yours you uplift;
When death comes and opens its maw
May I still be calling on you in awe!

So far, so far, so far
From lush green mountains
So far, so far, so far
From brown frothing streams
So far, so far, so far
From the homes of my forebears
How did I come to be sent across the sea?

So much is strange here in desert lands
With the endless horizons
And the cold night stars.
The women, engulfed in veils,
Making sooty fires to warm their children.

So far, so far, so far
From hills blanketed with dogwood
So far, so far, so far
From mist shrouded trees
So far, so far, so far
From my family
How did I come to be sent to such a barren land?

Life is so different in this place,
Instead of corn people grow goats
And even death comes so strangely
With blood, bullets, burns, battle
And war planes falling from the sky.

So far, so far, so far
From cold mountain springs
So far, so far, so far
From hymns sung in my boyhood
So far, so far, so far
From the snug log cabin
That sheltered little children from the snow.

Will I ever see those green hills again?
Hold my dear mother against my heart?
Laugh with my brothers and sisters?
See a face that moves me with its feminine beauty?
Until they send me home, I must go on.


To my father, who went from his childhood home in the green and wooded hills in West Virginia to the deserts of northern Africa as part of the Army Air Force in WW2. The memories of the sooty fires and veiled women are among the few wartime experiences he was ever willing to talk about, as he experienced (and wished always to forget) the fighting in northern Afica, and the Allied invasion of Italy.
_________________

To My Father

Trapped for life inside of a cage,
Bars forged from lonliness, honor, and duty.
I will die alone like you.

I wish I had a paintbox
Containing every shade -
Hues and colors for everything
From open field to forest glade.

And what would I do with this batch of paint?
Tints and colors of every variety?
Why, of course, I'd paint the world
In all its notoriety.

But this box I'll never have,
And I'm not sure it should be desired
For no mortal could do this job,
No matter how inspired.

Work was busy again for most of this week. We have been very full, and the emergency room has been very busy -- and a lot of our patients are very sick. Tonight every bed was full and we had an emergency room full of people too sick to send home. I am sure on midnights they will have to call around to area hospitals to see if we can ship some of our patients to them via ambulance, as sometimes happens when it gets this way. On one night, I got sick and came home early. Getting sick sucks, but at least I got to see the beautiful rainbow over my house on my drive home in the rain...

Have watched more movies, as I have been too stressed out when I get home to go to bed right away.

National Velvet:

very old children's movie set in a horribly sexist time and place...Elizabeth Taylor is both beautiful and charming in the lead role, a lovely little girl (hard to think that anyone could be fooled into thinking she was a boy, looking at that face and with her figure starting to develop..)... the interactions within the family are delightful, as the children are cute, and the parents, while pretending to be stern, both have hearts of gold...

 

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde

I thought the original movie was a lot of fun, as it told the story of a beautiful young woman who discovered that she had a brain, and that use of it was fun. This movie remembered the cuteness factor of the original, but forgot about the brain. I was somewhat disappointed with this sequel.

Finding Forrester

Rob Brown and Sean Connory star in this rather weird and very good movie about friendship. Brown is an impoverished and brilliant young black teenager living in the Bronx. Writing is both his escape and his passion. Connory is a famous writer who wrote one very acclaimed and influential novel, but who now lives alone as a sort of cranky hermit. They come together in an unusual way and forge an unusual friendship. I highly recommend this movie.

Have been listening to Diana Krall:

DIANA KRALL LYRICS

Popsicle Toes

When God gave out rhythm
Sure was good to you
You can add, subtract, multiply and divide by two

I know today's your birthday and I did not buy no rose
But I wrote this song and instead I call it, Popsicle toes

Popsicle toes
Popsicle toes are always froze
Popsicletoes
You're so brave to expose all those Popsicle toes

You must have been Mr. Olympian
With all that amplitude
How come you always load your Pentax when I am in the nude
We are to have a birthday party and you can wear your birthday cloths
Then we can hit the floor and go explore those Popsicle toes

You've got the nicest north of America
This sailor ever saw
I like to feel your warm Brazil and touch your Panama
But Tierra del Fuegos are nearly always froze
We've got to seesaw until we un-thaw those Popsicle toes

Worked short again tonight, but it was quieter, so that went OK. It was good it was quiet, since I was tired and had a bit of a headache.

Watched a bunch of movies in the last few days when the children were gone.

Under the Tuscan Sun -- a very good little movie about a woman who begins her life anew in her middle age when she impulsively buys a fixer-upper in Italy while on vacation.

Pillow Talk -- an old 1960's romantic comedy with Doris Day and Rock Hudson, very cute and frothy

Spider Man -- with all of the hype surrounding the recent release of the second film, I thought I should probably see the first...it was a nice surprise, with good special effects, a followable plot, decent acting...pretty enjoyable

First Knight -- yet another retelling of the King Arthur mythos, with Sean Connory as Arthur and Richard Gere as Lancelot...played a little too fast and loose with the basic story for my tastes (Lancelot as a newcomer to Camelot? when he has always been Arthur's best friend? Guinevere as a ruling lady of her own little city state before her marriage? and the whole plot line with the rebelling prince who used to be part of the Round Table...)...visually beautiful, yet somewhat annoying to a diehard Arthur buff like myself

I have been reading John Ford's The Dragon Waiting, an alternative history set in Europe in the Middle Ages, at the time of our Wars of the Roses. In this Europe, the Byzantine Empire is the major power, vampirism is a transmittable disease, and magic works. Four people come together -- a noble born mercenary from the Empire, a Welsh born magician, a German scientist and vampire, and a beautiful young woman from Florence who happens to be a gifted physician -- to try to help a young Plantagenet prince against the Empire...so far it is a very enjoyable read!

I recently read Lethe by Tricia Sullivan, a wild and very good science fiction novel. Entire ecosystems on Earth have been destroyed in massive wars involving genetic engineering/warfare and nuclear bombs. Humans are restricted to very protective reservations for their own safety. Some humans have been genetically altered so they can breathe with gills while in the water and lungs when on land. Others have become gigantic cyclopsians who are resistant to environmental poisons and radiation. The Earth is being run by disembodied human brains attached to computers, whouse dolphins and whales to supply their lacking creativity. And out in space, a gate to another, Edenic, world has been found -- a world that contains secrets that can bring devastation to Earth...

It was a rough, long week at work, capped off on Thursday night by a call-in and a computer downtime. Even after two days off, I feel exhausted and my back still aches. Doesn't help that Dan came home last night with an attitude, yelling at me then storming out of the room before I could even have time to say hello. Unfortunately, while the doctors wanted him to have his MRI and exam as soon as possible, the hospital is overbooked and he won't be able to have them until late August, and even then his appointment is scheduled for 2AM. And who knows if they will even find anything, much less anything that can help his headaches and rotten attitudes that go along with them.

In this case, it was the same old crap. He had promised that morning that he would come home in the afternoon and we would all go the big Ann Arbor Art Fair together. It was his idea, his suggestion, and his promise. And, then, of course, he didn't show up until late that evening, much too late to go anywhere. He was certain I would be angry and yell at him (after all, I am so well known for yelling at people), so he made a pre-emptive strike. (rolls eyes)

The children are home, and that, at least, is delightful to me. Back to work tomorrow. Hopefully this week will be better....

Well, Dan made it to the doctor today. It was not something as simple and easy to fix as a sinus infection or allergy problems. They suspect possible migraine headaches due to stress. They pulled blood and will be sending him in for an MRI and other neurological tests very soon. They put him on several medications, including prednisone. His blood pressure, which is usually lower than average, was higher than it has ever been in his life, so they have him on some medicine for that, too. High blood pressure can cause headaches -- or pain can cause high blood pressure.

Day Sixteen

Started out the day with a trip to a lovely city park called the Garden of the Gods. It is filled with huge and interesting red rock spires, usually covered with rock climbers.

Then we headed to Pike's Peak. We took the toll road to the top, at 14,110 feet. The road is 19 miles long in each direction, with some rest houses and picnic areas to stop at (and when coming back down, a booth across the road where they inspect the brakes of all descending vehicles). The first six miles are paved, then the remainder is gravel. The further you get up the mountain, the narrower and twistier the road gets, with some hair pin turns and huge drops without guardrails. And it is lovely. Colorado Springs gets its drinking water from snow melt, so they impound it into some beautiful lakes on the shoulders of the mountain. And when you get to the top you see the endless views that directly inspired the words to the song America the Beautiful.

**********************************************
lyrics by Katherine Lee Bates

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.

America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.
**********************************************

After coming down from the mountain we visited the US Olympic Training Center. We were very lucky in that our group got to go into the wrestling room and watch the Olympic wrestling team practicing. The great Greco-Roman gold medalist, Rulon Gardner came over and spoke to the children standing in the front of the group. You should have seen their faces shining!!! One of the women wrestlers also came over (unfortunately, I did not catch her name) and spent quite a bit of time talking to my two sons. They had worn their wrestling shirts with the team name on them, so she was asking them about two of the awesome nationally ranked female wrestlers our little school has produced.
I so wish you could have seen Steven's face in particular. This year he qualified for two national championship tournaments (though we did not have time to take him to either) and is now, while only eleven, is regularly practicing against (and beating some) high school students. Who knows how far he will push himself now, after such kind and encouraging words from these two very special strangers?

One rather odd thing did happen this morning. We had been talking about our first visit to Colorado Springs, many years ago, and how it was for Dan's sister's wedding in Canon City. We happened to look down into the hotel parking lot from our little balcony, and there was a woman who looked exactly like his sister, who had twin girls with her who looked exactly like her twin girls, and had a much younger little girl with her, who looked just like her younger daughter.  That was sooooo strange, seeing these people who looked so much like people in Dan's family!!! (I should start playing the theme to the Twlight Zone about now).

Day Seventeen

Said goodbye to our beloved mountains today. Since it was hazy, we lost even Pike's Peak in less than twenty miles as we headed east across the Great Plains. We made pretty good time across the immensity of sky and grass that is Kansas. We stopped off for dinner as night was falling in Kansas City, then pushed on to St. Louis to spend the night. We ran into quite a bit of construction, so didn't reach St. Peters until the middle of the night.

Day Eighteen

Had breakfast with my college buddy, Dave this morning in St. Peters, where he lives. Then headed home, with lots and lots of wonderful memories. We had to pull off the freeway in Illinois for a while due to torrential rain, but otherwise made it home just fine. Unpacked the Jeep, then fell into bed. Back to work tomorrow!

I think Bill must be a bit homesick. He called home twice today on his cell phone...

Dan had another of his debilitating headaches today. We were supposed to meet at Gallup Park before my work to have a picnic, and when I pulled into the parking lot found him there in his truck with his head down, looking awful. I did finally get him to agree to go to the doctor...

Day Fourteen

The day began with Dan's cell phone ringing its little brains out repeatedly. All business calls. Gave him a debilitating headache.
Ate yet another great breakfast at our French bakery, then hit the road for Alamosa.
We crossed the Continental Divide at Wolf Creek Pass in the San Juans, near the headwaters for the Rio Grande River. They were doing all sorts of road construction at the Pass, and it took hours to get through the work zones. They were building snow walls, avalanche sheds, and rebuilding heavily damaged area of the roadbed.
We came down from the San Juans into a large dry valley between the high and wet San Juans and the more easterly high, dry Sangre de Christos. The valley is called the San Luis Valley, and is home to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Preserve. The sand is carried down by streams in the San Juans then blown across the dry valley. Then the Sangre de Christos act as a wall, trapping the sand. The dunes are as tall as skyscrapers, and cover some thirty square miles. A huge area adjacent to the dunes was once an incredibly large ranch called the Zapata Ranch. It was turned over to the Nature Conservancy, who is restoring the ecosystem, such as reintroducing bison.

The nearest large town to the dunes is Alamosa, where we were staying. When we reached Alamosa, big storm clouds were building over the Sangre de Cristos, so we decided to check in to the hotel and let the kids swim a bit. Calibaby suggested I try to get into the hot tub and pool, as this was the first day I was not limping from my ankle injury. So I did try, but it was still too tender (still bleeding, too).

We then headed out to the Dunes. The kids had an absolute blast -- this is, after all, the ultimate sand box!!! There is even a small stream, Mosca Creek, that runs along the base of the dunes, so you can build sand castles. After a lovely sunset, we headed back to Alamosa for dinner and bed.

Day Fifteen

Got up early, checked out of the hotel, and headed out to the dunes. Let the kids play as long as they wanted, then drove on the Jeep trail along the base of the dunes, which was fun. We then went out for ice cream, then headed for Colorado Springs.
South of Pueblo, we spotted an immense mountain to the northwest. I said

Quote: I think that is Pike's Peak.

but the others all said that since Colorado Springs was still more than 60 miles away, that it was not possible for it to be Pike...
But the white topped mountain loomed larger and larger the farther north we travelled on the freeway. Eventually everyone had to admit that it really was the Peak. It was large beyond description, beyond imagination. It is rather far down on the list of Colorado's 14000 foot + mountains, but it has so much bulk to it, and it is rather alone in its part of the Front Range, whereas most of the other 14000 footers are surrounded by other Giants...

There was a bit of confusion when we got to Colorado Springs, as our hotel had changed from a Holiday Inn to a Park Place, but we eventually figured it out, settled in, and had a good dinner in a sports bar.

After dark we visited Seven Falls Park, to see the seven waterfalls lit up with laser lights. It was pretty, and Steven enjoyed climbing up the huge staircases to see the tops of the falls...called it the Pass of Cirith Ungol.

Stevie has been asking for a bow and arrows for a long time now, and I have been denying him, as I am worried he would use them to hunt squirrels in our yard. I do not mind hunting as such, as long as the animals are eaten, but animals dying for no reason does bother me. But they had a bow with suction cup arrows at the gift store, and I got that for him. He was overjoyed, and soon decided that Bill's butt is the most ideal target on earth.

Was a very busy weekend, getting the kids all packed up and ready to leave for wrestling camp down in Ohio. They left yesterday morning, and will be gone to the end of the week. I am hoping to watch some movies and take a lot of hot, relaxing baths while they are gone. I will also try to force myself to take advantage of the opportunity to try to get the house a bit cleaner, though housework might be one of my least favorite activities on the face of the earth (especially since I will still be working full time all week, anyway).

Day 12 (Fourth of July)

Got up early and ate the French pastries we had bought at a bakery in downtown Durango the night before. Then walked the two blocks to the train station and boarded our train.

The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad follows the Animas River the approximately 40 miles between Durango and Silverton. It goes through some of the most rugged and beautiful snow capped mountains in America, right through the heart of the San Juans. For a while it follows the river canyon, with precipitous vertical cliffs on both sides of the track, straight up on one side, straight down to the river on the other. It passes old mine ruins and waterfalls, through mountain meadows, and crosses rushing streams. It is an all day trip if you take it in both directions, which we did, stopping off for lunch in the lovely historic town of Silverton, high up in the mountains at about 10,000 feet in altitude. We had lunch in a building that is one of the oldest standing historic brothel buildings in what was once one of the wildest mining camps in the Wild West.

After our wonderful day in the mountains, we went to the grocery store and picked up a picnic dinner. We found some comfortable boulders next to the river and settled in to watch the fireworks, which were lovely.

Day Thirteen

This is why four wheel drive vehicles are made.

We drove up to Silverton on the Million Dollar Highway, then took some Jeep trails up into the high peaks from there. We found an old ghost town at the timberline called Animas Forks, where we ate a picnic lunch on the covered porch of one of the old buildings, as we watched a winter mix of rain and snow come down. The meadows there were filled with gorgeous wildflowers, and fat, funny marmots which ran around and played.

We also visited the beautiful historic mining towns of Ouray, famous for its hot springs (called the Switzerland of America because it is nestled in a bowl surrounded by high, snow capped peaks) and Telluride, famous for its skiing and music festivals. Telluride is where a headwaters of the San Miguel River come plunging down some 300+ feet in a waterfall at a rock cliff where the valley ends...gorgeous, just gorgeous. The drive back to Durango was filled with snow capped mountains and meadows filled with grazing elk and deer...

Day 10

Woke up in a more timely fashion today and got breakfast at the hotel. The called Danlo to see how his leg was doing. He said it was doing OK, and to drop by in an hour to go up to Santa Fe.

I am so glad he felt up to going, because you could not ask for a better or more knowledgable person to have with you. (Besides the fact that it is great to spend time with him, period. ) He knew just where to go to find street parking near the very congested historic area. He led us through the warren of narrow streets right to the Plaza and the Palace of the Governors (seat of New Mexican government for hundreds of years, beginning in Spanish colonial times). He knew the history behind the lovely, historic buildings, and took us to one of the oldest churches in America. He knew just where to go to get a reasonably priced lunch in that rather expensive place. And he took us to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum.

Previously, I had only seen pictures of her work in magazines and books, and always of those huge flowers. The museum had an exhibition of her New Mexico landscapes, painted in the most vivid colors you could ever imagine. Believe me, those books and magazines do not even begin to do justice to her artwork. One painting was The One Tree, complete with the stars...Danlo and I stood there with our mouths hanging open. I need to try to find that painting somewhere on the internet and post a link...

We also drove around Santa Fe for a bit, looking at all of the mansions (some with their own private heliports ), and Danlo pointed out the turn to go up the mountain to what had been Roger Zelazny's house.

On the way back to Albuquerque instead of taking the freeway, we took a surface road called the Turquoise Trail. It led through charming old mining towns that have been taken over by artists and turned into art colonies. We stopped off at a lovely place called Madrid, where we stopped for ice cream and cold drinks at an old fashioned soda fountain. I have never had anyone mix up my root beer from scratch before. I just stood there on the front porch for a long time, soaking in the sunshine, the beauty of the mountains, the pretty town and its art galleries. (sigh)

We came back into Albuquerque from the east (a stunning way to come into town, through a gap in the Sandia Mountains, as John pointed out. ) I had mentioned that I would like to buy some New Mexican goodies to take home with me as gifts, so Danlo directed us to this great store, called the Chili Addict. That is where, besdies goodies for my friends, I found the Fist and Faith Memorial Socks.

www.chiliaddictstore.com

www.nmpinoncoffee.com

When we were finished Danlo and his Lady came to the hotel for a little while to soak in the hot tub. His poor leg definately needed that, and she had had a tough day at work and needed the relaxation, too. I stayed behind and printed out some pics for them in the room, as my ankle was still bleeding. Then it was time to say goodbye. That one just crushed me.


Day Eleven

Got up, ate breakfast, packed the Jeep, and got ready to go. There was a lost toddler at the front desk of the hotel. They had found him wandering the hallways, and had called every guest room, but no one would admit to having lost him. He was obviously terrified, and his diaper was soaked through with urine. Poor baby. I can't imagine how afraid I would have been if one of my sons had gotten lost, even for a moment or two, as a baby...

We drove through the desert on a main highway up to Colorado. It was beautiful, as nearly every part of New Mexico we had seen was.

We stopped off at Aztec Castle National Monument to visit the ruins there. People had lived at that site for about 2000 years, though the Pueblo ruins dated back to Chacoan times. The people who live there must have been tiny, as even Mr. Sunshine, age 11, had to duck to get through the doors (I had to crawl to get through some of them, and I am 5'6"). They had a reconstructed great kiva there, and that was really interesting to visit.

We then drove up to Durango, Colorado. This is my second visit to Durango, and both times I have had the same weird and overwhelming feeling I have never had any place else I have ever been -- that I have come home, that this is the place I was born to live in. We are only a couple of blocks from the train station and downtown, with a room that faces the river and its pretty biking/hiking trail. We walked downtown and ate at a good Mexican restaurant. Tomorrow is the Fourth of July and the fireworks will be over the river, right outside of our room. And we will get to ride the train through the lovely, snow crowned mountains.