Happy Birthday Baby Girl : )

Every pregnancy is different...as is every child.

John and I , Tessa, Tia and Joshua had just moved into the house on Wehewehe Loop. Josh was still a non-verbal toddler ( seriously, with two older sisters who could translate every coo and grunt he did NOT need to talk!) of 13 months and I was in the process of trying to move into a "fixer-upper" with a mango tree , hanging fruit and rotting on what should have been a sidewalk ( those came later ), multiple spiders, cockroaches and green shag carpeting with a red dirt path from the front door to the back.

Then I found out I was pregnant ( it wasn't 'we' who were pregnant back in the day and although I think the sentiment is cute, it was just me). Josh sat on my belly --sorry Lisa--throughout the entire pregnancy. Since Josh had been 9 days late the doc decided to induce.

Oh joy.

Apparently Melissa Anne was less than thrilled with the idea too. We had to get up at O'dark thirty and be a Kapiolani Women's and Children's Hospital at approximately ( who am I kidding...even after all these years I still remember EXACTLY what time!) 4:30am on 22 October....1981. Since I was a multi-para, they assumed it would be quick...usually was and no problem. Ha Ha Ha Ha....

For over 12 hours John and I watched insipid game shows while Melissa refused to cooperate. The nurse would come in every hour or so, see that I had had exactly one..at the most two contractions, turn up the pitocin and leave. Repeat, ad infinitum, or at least for 12 hours. The doctor finally showed up, told me that if there was no active labor shortly, I would be released to go home and we could try again soon. Really?

Melissa Anne Wyman was born shortly thereafter....and I dont know if it was fear or exhaustion on her or my part but she arrived safely. Pictures of her immediately after birth show a child not happy to be where she was ( out of a warm, safe comfy place and into the scratchy, blinding, loud light). I seriously doubt any of us remembers our true " birth day " better than our mothers. As a mother, every child's arrival is indelibly etched into our souls, isnt it?

We are very grateful for the gift of Melissa and proud of the wife and mother she has become. Happy Birthday Baby girl....and yes, you will always be our baby.

Mountain wreaths and rivers of gold

We woke up yesterday morning to skies of Oregonian gray....solid, from one side of the valley to the other. The leaves, instead of gentle wisps falling, turned into a storm of gilt, shimmering on their way to the ground, seeking the lowest paths and turning them into rivers of gold.

When the sky started to clear, only the mountain remained hidden.....wreathed in clouds with its summit peeking out. Whiter than the clouds, snow...the first of the season, blanketed it. There is a different "feel" to the air when snow comes. Even when the temp doesnt change, it has a different crispness to it.

Today those leaves are assuming the color of the earth....grayish brown and the gilt is gone. Changing back to the earth from which they came....the circle of their life. They will become nourishment for what comes in the spring....life out of death. As it should be. Hopefully when we go, as all things must, we too will leave something good behind for those who come after us...our love and our faith in Him. It is really all we have that is worth anything, isnt it?

A patchwork quilt, stitched by God

We have seen the aspens here when the first blush of color appeared on dead looking branches. The tiniest specks of color in a world bleached gray....life returning.

When we returned in May they were in full bloom, vibrant startling lime green, every branch shimmering.

Now , in fall the valley is stitched with color....amber and butterscotch and a few rare crimson scattered among them. The ground is covered in coins of gold...flung down to carpet the earth in splendor.

The valley, from this distance is a patchwork of color. The dark green of the pines and the wild excitement of the aspens. It truly is a living quilt, pieced by God Himself. Who else could create, out of the dying of a season, such amazing beauty.

Isn't that how we are too....our youth, brilliant, blazing....the middle, still colorful and beautiful but on the path to the end. And the winter of our lives when it seems death is there, hiding beneath the gray, brittle exterior...if we are safe in the arms of our Lord...there is life.

What a blessing to be here surrounded by such a gift, not only of grace but of beauty.

Shockin' ma : )

Joseph, Tessa and Jessie came down for the 4 day holiday weekend and I expected to be doing the "taking care" that I usually do. Man was I in for a shock! As soon as they got here Tess told me to relax...she was going to do the cooking and the clean up. Seriously....how often do you get guests who tell you to do NOTHING???

Um never.

And true to her word I had to do nothing...talk about easy guests.

On Friday the fire crews came through our area and cut trees that were part of the "right of way" that extends onto our property. Lots of wood laying there and from what I had witnessed almost as soon as it hits the ground there are people up here with trucks and their own saws "bucking" the wood and driving off with it. I knew by the time John got back it would all be gone.

The next day Joseph broke out John's power saw and spent hours getting what was here bucked and had Tess and Jess helping him stack it. You would not believe how much they cut and how hard they worked. John was in shock when he saw it...he just kept saying " that's ALOT of wood".

Needless to say ma is in shock....and Dad is thrilled. What a great homecoming gift for him and what a blessing for us both.

That kind of visit I am up for anytime : )

Day trippin' to Santa Fe....

Yesterday, after FINALLY finding out what Melissa and Tom are having ( this was the 4th or 5th ultrasound and until Wednesday that little one had managed to conceal what everyone wanted to see) and its BOY!!! Proof is on her facebook page....no question anymore.

So it was time for this grandmother to do a little shopping.....but the closest place is Santa Fe. Trusty GPS by my side, off I went. I do not understand why, when the easiest route to any given destination is the LAST way a GPS tells you to go. It is almost like the stupid thing takes a perverse pleasure in leading you in circles to get you where you are going. Once I got oriented ( yes, it does occasionally happen) I realized its a straight shot down one long street and a left turn and bang! you are there. And please do not try and tell me techie toys dont have attitude. I am pretty sure after having this little machine tell you for the 16th time that it is "recalculating" in its snotty voice, you would agree.

Got fun boy things and located, by accident, Borders, Target and the only Sam's club. No time for extra shopping but good to know where they are. I did enough damage at Ross and headed home. We have been having daily afternoon thunderstorms and I wanted to get home before it hit. Sure enough, as I came through the last pass into Taos all I could see were huge black clouds in the direction of Angel Fire. Made it almost all the way home before the storm hit and its wasnt rain, it was hail. Not the monster golfball size that hit south of here a few days ago...just little peas of ice that hit the window and slushed off.

This morning there was no bowl of clouds.....just a light, bright mist everywhere. Then lightening and thunder ( huh?) and frozen slush started sliding off the roof, past the windows. I checked out the neighbor's roof and there was indeed frozen something that the rain was washing away. I have no idea whether it was our first snow or hail that had stuck. What I do know is that winter is on the way....woohoo!!!

That was an hour ago....now there is a rainbow arched from one side of the valley to the other. I guess if you dont like the weather up here you can just wait a few minutes and it will change.

What an amazing planet we live on and what a blessing from an amazing God.

Water, rocks and the path of least resistance....

The landscapers did a great job of creating a man made river rock water way along the side of the house to move rain and melting snow away from the base. This is good because it was causing damage to the support of the house. However ( yes, yet another however...) it ends at the bottom of the back deck stairs and flows toward the propane tank. So I think to myself " I'll just get a few more river rocks and divert the flow a bit more". Hahahaha.

Got the rocks a few days ago. Took me two days just to get them moved out of the buckets in the car onto the floor of the garage. Did I mention that rocks are REALLY heavy? Rocks are really heavy. Ended up carrying them in my cleaning buckets ( I now need new cleaning buckets as these will never, ever recover) through the house, stopping to change shoes in both directions since I had no intention of mopping up mud, down the back stairs and placing them where I thought they would best stop or redirect the water. I even dug up dirt and repositioned some gravel, thinking I knew what I was doing. After all , its not rocket science, right?

It started raining again a little while ago and I checked to see how the fruits of my labor were holding up. Water is pretty sneaky. It moved around the rocks although not to as great a degree as before. I guess what I need is a nice beaver family to dam the damn thing.

Not that I am giving up.....as soon as the thunder and lightening stops I will probably be out sloshing in the mud again with a few more stratigically placed boulders.

The weather is a bit different here.....

On Saturday when I went to mass ( one priest for 4 churchs so no Sunday services here in the village) it was 58 degrees....by the time I got to the community center it had dropped to 54. Five minutes, max.

Some light rain and very distant donner und blitzen. By the time I got home it was in the 40's. Lightening and thunder closer and raining. All the dogs get nervous but Lady was terrified..she gets the shakes. So all of us sat in one chair and watched the Ducks cream Stanford. Go DUCKS : )

Along the bottom of the TV was a weather advisory for the areas just south of us for not only the above mentioned thunderstorm but also hail the size of golf balls. Having lived in Hawaii for so long and it being so small, there just isnt enough land mass necessary for the convection heat that gives you dramatic storms like this.

Then the storm actually hit the valley...not with hail but with thunder that echoed and reverberated from one side of the valley to the other and whipping rain. Wow.

Apparently I was not the only one impressed. It literally scared the crap out of Tonka. All over the bedroom. Have I mentioned that I have an excellent gag reflex? Oh man......that is just not the right reason to start the day on your knees.

It's a long and winding road....to Taos

Although I try and stay here in Angel Fire, there are things that you cannot buy here, for example piddle pads for the dogs. For the most part they do go outside ( or in the garage if the weather is bad...no problem) but Bikki has a weak bladder, no doubt because of her pregnancies ( like I don't know what happens when more than one kid sits for an entire pregnancy on your bladder, although to be fair I never had a litter) so she goes in the middle of the night. Can't blame her since I do the same thing except I dont need a pad on the floor...yet. The upshot being that the drive is necessary sometimes.

It is a 21 mile drive from here to there ...unless you are traveling from there to here, then the road sign says it's 24. Someone , somewhere got it wrong but either way its a 45 minute drive. With exceptions. It is not a straight shot as the crow flies but switch-backs where at times the speed limit is 20 mph. Unless you are a Texan. They are definately the exception. Give them a slice of road, on a turn, with oncoming traffic and they will pass you. You can see them coming and usually I just pull off the road if there is that possibility, and let them go. We are talking about a 2 lane road with no shoulder to pull off on. You basically have to have a driveway ( there are some...) to pull of onto or you just slow down and pray when they gas it.

That is the fun part. The not so fun part is the political and mental climate of Taos. Politically, when one sees how this state votes , one sees a democratic stronghold. Wrong. Reality is that Albuquerque and Santa Fe are dem, pro-illegal and not representative of the rest of the state. But Taos is where you see all the Obama is our savior bumper-sticker crap. Also one of the only places you see beggars ( yes, I do give them money ) and hippie/artist/losers. They make me want to throw up in my mouth. But its either shop at that Wally World or drive another 40+ miles and shop at another Wally World.

I got A LOT of piddle pads today.