snowy date

a good drink in a cozy bar.
a disappointing dinner in a favorite restaurant.
laughing at ourselves. & how we're okay if some things never change.
and the snow fell all night.

we decided next year, to skip the restaurant and all of those valentine's expectations.
but still plan to go out for a good drink.

sunday morning snowy walk

woke up too early for a sunday. and then the altitude got in the way of successful breakfast baking.
but we saved the morning by taking a walk in the new snow.

explored little streets and hidden courtyards which I had not yet seen.

walked through the city cemetery and found one of its famous residents, her tombstone decorated by plastic, red roses beautifully peeking out from the snow.

I do love how the landscape of brown adobe is so often interrupted by colors brightened by the snow.

and I learned last night that when you are ordering a burger that comes with a side of "corn chips" that in Taos, that means "tortilla chips" & not the fritos you began to crazy crave after you thought you'd ordered them.

morning sun

baking bread at 7,000 ft isn't as easy as at 1,500 ft. my first attempt only half successful. but am determined to figure it out.

the morning sunshine is mighty today.

drinking coffee slowly.
thinking about friends, family & changes.

eventually, a walk to the plaza to look at yarn. or used books.

afternoon drive

today we took a drive, to see some country around taos.
and our road led us to a hot springs, which meant stopping for a good soak.

getting to the springs meant a rocky walk down into the gorge.
nature seemed settled & quiet into winter silence.

my heart keeps leading me back to this place.
I never intended to live anywhere but my kansas plains.
and now, when I consider the future, and how it might mean living here with the wide, open desert always nearby, and these old, sloping mountains always in view, it seems like a chapter I wasn't expecting but maybe needed to find.

the challenge would be in feeling so far away from home, while also being someplace I would be calling home.

starting february

the kitten didn't help too much with packing.

the sign that the train is now in new mexico.

with a generous christmas gift from the folks, I had booked a sleeper car for this trip. which feels luxurious when you've become used to trying to sleep in a reclining chair in coach along with 30 other people. so I was able to watch the scenery roll by, while in bed with cozy, quiet solitude.

trees blackened but still standing, from last summer's fire.

and this is the landscape that tells me i'm closer to taos than I am to newton.

and new mexico greeted me at the train station with freshly brewing pressed coffee.
which is one of the ways I know that I am loved.