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Jun. 26th, 2011
far from the madding crowd
Jun. 26th, 2011 08:56 pmToday we went to Bandelier National Monument, not far from Los Alamos. It’s a 110-mile drive, each way, and we’ve been going a few times every summer since we moved to New Mexico. We have our favorite spot, right by a creek, and, after setting up our big umbrella, we sit down. And read. And discuss whatever needs to be figured out in Sue’s latest novel. And enjoy the locale.
We’d meant to go before, but the smoke from the Arizona fires had spread all the way there and it took a few weeks before things had cleared up. Mind you, it was disappointing to find the creek all dried up, although that wasn’t surprising, considering the state’s drought. It was also quite warm, but a breeze would frequently come along to cool us off. I caught up with my reading, scribbled things for future posts. I probably spent too much time in the same position because, when I did move a leg while still sitting, it started being seized by with a Charly Horse. I immediately responded by stretching my leg and knocking Sue’s drink onto the ground. Five seconds later, a sudden and strong gust sent our umbrella flying off. Broke one of its supports, but it was still usable so we resumed enjoying ourselves. By the middle of the afternoon though, we noticed that the sky was getting hazy. And there was a smell of smoke. We decided to put everything back in the minivan and head home. As for the smoke, it wasn’t an encore from Arizona, but a fire about ten miles away from Bandelier. I hope it doesn’t spread too far.
We’d meant to go before, but the smoke from the Arizona fires had spread all the way there and it took a few weeks before things had cleared up. Mind you, it was disappointing to find the creek all dried up, although that wasn’t surprising, considering the state’s drought. It was also quite warm, but a breeze would frequently come along to cool us off. I caught up with my reading, scribbled things for future posts. I probably spent too much time in the same position because, when I did move a leg while still sitting, it started being seized by with a Charly Horse. I immediately responded by stretching my leg and knocking Sue’s drink onto the ground. Five seconds later, a sudden and strong gust sent our umbrella flying off. Broke one of its supports, but it was still usable so we resumed enjoying ourselves. By the middle of the afternoon though, we noticed that the sky was getting hazy. And there was a smell of smoke. We decided to put everything back in the minivan and head home. As for the smoke, it wasn’t an encore from Arizona, but a fire about ten miles away from Bandelier. I hope it doesn’t spread too far.