ahead

thinking of warm, summer sunshine.
open windows with soft air.
glad to be in the end of winter. trying to be patient for Spring-into-Summer.

in two weeks I'll be landing in Berlin. being greeted by a loving smile.

i've got some serious pre-travel lists to make.

dinner

we need a big table.
and we weren't even all there.
but we ate plenty of chicken, potatoes & biscuits.
and grandma was happy to see all of us.

and on the way home, we stopped at the farm to see the new lambs.

brilliant

the other night this light caught my eye.
amazing sunset, which lit up my sun room.
it was, as my niece would excitedly say, "pink".

evangelos lounge.

old bar.

art on burro alley.

old burro.

cathedral of san francisco de assisi

old faith.


leaving behind an unheated Taos, we spent a night in Santa Fe.
found a warm & cheap-enough hotel room.
ate & drank well.
and walked around the pretty plaza.

2 feet

today it felt more like digging out, than shoveling.

my neighbor hired a guy & a tractor/plow to come dig out his cars on the street. while they were at it, he asked them to dig out my driveway too.

while my other neighbor is helped with my sidewalks.

I didn't need the help. but that it was given, without even asking, is amazingly kind.

also, for fun, I jumped in some drifts. they came up to my knees. 

steps

plans are made for Berlin & Prague.
visiting good friends & seeing a little of old Europe.

I made the decision when last camping, while hanging onto a tarp in 70-mile/hr wind, praying the tornado would skip us over. Scared, rain-drenched & listening to the sound of roaring wind, I thought to myself that, shit, life is short. I should travel more.

but I bought the ticket because my traveling companion bought his, & he reminded me why I should go too.

as mom said, the winfield tornado brought in fresh air & fresh possibilities.

eastbound

leaving is the hard part.
during the long drive south to the station I think about things other than living 500 miles away.

the view eastbound was snowy. often with a fog of snow rushing by the train windows.
coal-black cows in the white fields.
and then the sun went down.

then a nap took me into night & Kansas.

modern winters

it snowed. and the winds blew.

and in the negative cold. the heat left for a few days.
















but the sun is out. & we are lucky, because the camp stove is enough for hot water. which means coffee. and mac & cheese.