I guess I better go walk with Mom!

If this is true, all that walking that Dick & Sparky did with Mom over the years, and the somewhat regular walks she still gets with me, are keeping her brain from being worse!

Click here to get to NPR story

Robin's Travelogue

John's niece Robin visited with us several days while she was in town with Dick & Betty visiting John's Mom. She got to go hiking in the Jemez Mountains with a camera. These are just some of the shots (John took some).

Sorry - Lots of pictures of John because Robin had the camera most of the time.

Redondo Mountain from the Bear Trail.

Typical Wild West scene

A regal dog

Robin on the rocks!

Just one of two beautiful dawns around the winter solstice.

Two butts

There's a reason we call it "The Most Beautiful Hike in the World."

Two views of Robin on the Posing Rock, then one of John

Then on to Hidden Falls

Next stop - the top of Battleship Rock

View from our deck!

Update: Well, it turned out there WAS a need to worry. Piles from 2021 burns like this ignited the fire in 2022.

No worries! Just USFS burning slash piles west of us to help create fire break and keep forest healthy.

Helen & Kimberly visit Mom

The latest visitors were Helen & Kim. Mom recognized Helen at least, and knew that a picture of Kim standing by a horse when she was little was the same person standing next to her!

In a particularly lucid moment, Mom told Helen that John is a good cuckoo!. 

Breaking the Trend

FINAL UPDATE: See end of blog.

I am trying very hard not to drive today. Eleni is going to visit my mother on her way through town, so if there are no fire department calls, I should be OK.

Four days ago, a car towing a trailer started backing the trailer into the lane I was traveling in. Honk, slow, swerve, and I got neatly by without too much of a scare.

Three days ago, I was driving up the mountain when a car came around a turn in front of me totally in my lane and seemingly out of control. Gladly, it swerved back with only a little scare.

Then two days ago, a trash truck did the same thing, only much closer and of course much bigger. Slam on brakes, with no escape to the right, but the truck got control and barely missed me. I noticed the pattern and started getting more scared.

Yesterday, a car ran a stop sign right in front of me. "Luckily," I noticed that he didn't seem to be slowing down, so I moved my foot to the brake in time to smush it to the floor. Also, "luckily," I was driving my Tesla so it entered into some sort of fourth dimension and stopped immediately somehow without throwing Chewie or the groceries through the windshield. Honest - I was not going slow and I have no idea how I stopped so fast and avoided T-boning the very scared kid driving.

So I figure today is a good day to not drive, and hope that today was the day I was going to get into a real accident, and that the scary trend will break.

Well, that kind-of worked. I didn't drive all day until we got toned-out for a 62 YOF fallen down stairs. Because we were at the station with the big rescue that is more work to drive, I got in and drove. We hit nothing! And rather than escalate, the trend calmed by only having to hit the brakes to avoid a baby deer walking out onto the road. They didn't need us at the scene, BTW. Transport ambulance was pulling away as we arrived.

Nope. Didn't work. First day back to driving to Los Alamos and I almost got hit by a monster truck coming around a turn half way in my lane. Had to stomp the brakes again and almost hit the guard rail. Had to check, actually, because the anti-lock brakes make a grinding sound. Needless to say, the monster truck didn't come back to check on me.

Whew. It is over for now. Three days in a row with no close calls. I am a lot calmer when no one tries to hit me. 

More Chewie and fall colors

Oktoberfest in Las Vegas

Hiya all, trying out this blog thing. This Saturday was Kiwanis Oktoberfest, my pet project for the Kiwanis chapter here. My folks came, the nieces were supposed to, Chewie came and was coy with all the ladies. I think we made a few thousand for the local kiddos, and had a great time playing yard games, drinking beer, and eating brats!

How did I not know this?

We've lived in the Jemez Mountains 15 years and only just now I have learned that the tan bark of a mature Ponderosa pine smells like butterscotch for several days after a rain!

Fall in the Jemez Mountains

Chewie admiring the Fall colors on a cloudy day.

Happy 97th birthday, Mom!

She keeps having them, we keep showing up!
Brother & I took Mom to the grocery store before her birthday, and she was quite anxious, though we didn't know why.
But we knew how to fix!

Day-before-birthday anxiety quelled with a small beer

Brother & I had to go on a great hike!

Hidden Falls near Battleship Rock

To get from where he is standing to the top of the falls behind him is a grueling hike that takes you to the top of Battleship Rock before plunging back into the (deadly) box canyon. Chewie really liked the creek water.

 The view from the top of Battleship Rock, looking back towards Hidden Falls, which you can't see because . . .

Then we went and took Mom out for early dinner. She started with (a small) Birthday beer

then Birthday cards

and Birthday food (sorry about the weird artifact)

Unfortunately, that (and a lot of chocolate, and maybe some germs) was too much birthday for Mom, who got a little sick. She has recovered (physically), but is still tired all the time and has extreme knee pain. I am going to have to take it a lot easier on her. Too bad - the walks seem to be what was keeping her going.