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Taking stock

The rug I was working on as I moved last summer. "Welcome to New Mexico."
The rug I was working on during last summer’s exodus: “Welcome to New Mexico.” Since then I’ve been taking stock of our first year here.

 

Taking stock – that’s what I did with some of the time I took off from the blog these past couple of weeks (which passed by REALLY QUICKLY). July 30 held particular significance and not just because it was the day before my kid’s 19th birthday. This year it marked exactly one year since we rolled into the state of New Mexico to stay.

Wow! We can’t believe it either. At times it’s been tumultuous, there’s no denying that. The holidays, they were tough without family and friends. The kid crashing her car – no injuries other than to pride! – means that just like in high school, Tom’s stuck driving her back and forth to work till she saves for a new vehicle.

Big picture, though, the move’s been most everything we wanted.

 

Where Tynan and I walk in the Bosque along the Rio Grande.
Where Tynan and I walk in the Bosque along the west side of the Rio Grande. This is city living Albuquerque style.

CLIMATE:
Certainly, the weather’s wonderful: lots of sun, lots less winter (compared to New England). One day last January, we hiked in the snow on the east side of the Sandia Mountains then drove the 45 minutes to home where it was 55 degrees. No need for a stinkin’ snowblower here!

 

RUG HOOKING (this is a hooking blog):

You'll find many of AWAG ladies demonstrating rug hooking at Albuquerque's Biopark the first Tuesday of most every month.
You’ll find several of us AWAG’s ladies demonstrating rug hooking at Albuquerque’s Biopark the first Tuesday of most every month.

Who would’ve guessed that there’s such an active guild of hookers out here in Albuquerque? I’ve made some great friends this past year, even one, Melinda, who moved from New Hampshire about the same time I moved from Massachusetts. Now the two of us try to get a hooking afternoon in each week. Better yet, she and her husband are New England Patriots fans just like us. Tom and I are no longer alone in a sea of blue and orange Bronco fans.

 

"Desert Gone Wild" went to a good home just last week.
“Desert Gone Wild,” a table runner or wall hanging, went to a good home just last week.

As High on Hooking, I’ve managed to start selling pieces and been involved in not one, but two shows. The Adobe Wool Arts (ATHA) guild volunteered me as our representative to Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Council which is currently planning next May’s Fiber Arts Fiesta. Then back in January, three of us headed down to Tuscon in Arizona for a hook-in with the Old Pueblo Rug Hookers. It was 80 degrees there! In January! I even managed a little sunburn!

 

You can't get much closer to a balloon without being in the basket. This one landed behind the house last fall.
You can’t get much closer to a balloon without being in the basket. This one landed right behind the house last fall.

 

 

 

 

HOUSING:
While we didn’t down-size like we planned (hey, with no cellar or attic, we realized we needed an extra room for the treadmill and bike), we found a great house close to the Rio Grande. That means the dog and I can head out to walk the scenic trails of the Bosque (the forest) whenever we wish. In summer this is best done in the early morning hours.) So far we’ve come across a snake, hawks and hummingbirds, lots of bunnies and geckos, two coyotes, and, just last week, a porcupine.

 

Tynan running free in the Bosque. Like, Just like New England, autumn is the best time to be in New Mexico.
Tynan running free in the Bosque. Just like New England, autumn is the best season to be in New Mexico.

 

 

PERSONAL:
I turned 52 this summer. Moving here signaled the start of the next half of my life. (You think I’m optimistic, but one of my grandmothers died as an active 93-year-old, and the other is still very much alive.) One reason we moved here — besides the BIG sky, the art scene, and there being less people — was for the outdoor lifestyle. We like to hike. Unfortunately, a couple of months before we left the east coast, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I won’t lie, it’s been a pain in my ass, amongst other places, but especially for my knees. That’s limited our hiking some. But I’m on a new med; here’s hoping it works without too many side effects (the scary kinds they recite to us in all the TV ads). And that the damn hot flashes stop soon. (I am 52.)

20160522_121931
On the trail again at Tent Rocks.

Luckily, though, while my fingers have swollen some, they’ve suffered little pain. Maybe all the hooking keeps everything lubed up. Thank goodness. I know that most of you feel like I do: hooking is therapy. Without it, life would, to put it bluntly, suck.

Life here in Albuquerque definitely does NOT suck. There are all kinds of new experiences:

 

Tom posing in Tent Rock's curves.
Tom posing in Tent Rocks’ curves.
Navajo rugs up for auction.
Navajo rugs up for auction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could go on, but I won’t right now. There’s too much to do. Rugs don’t hook themselves. Plus, we have company coming early September through mid-October. I can play Julie McCoy to the relatives.

 

How’s your summer been going?

 

Mass ascension at Balloon Fiesta 2015. Have you ever seen so many balloons in one place?
Mass Ascension at Balloon Fiesta 2015. Have you ever seen so many balloons in one place?

 

"Welcome to New Mexico", 29.5"x20", $225, Recycled t-shirts
High on Hooking says “Welcome to New Mexico.” Stay for a while and see why we love it here.
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This moving thing’s a bitch and a busy one at that

Balloons are dropping in all over the city this week.
Balloons are dropping in all over the city this week.

First of all, let me apologize for the lack of hooking news and fun these past few weeks, but this moving thing is truly a pain in the patootie. There are still unpacked boxes not so stylishly decorating the house. We can’t find all our stuff…because it’s probably hiding in the aforementioned boxes. Lamps! I’d kill for more of my lamps. And don’t even start me on the need to get bookshelves. Then there’s the busy-work: finding doctors that we need asap; running to Lowes to buy a new dishwasher (the one that came with the house pools alarmingly when not in use); locating the local grocery stores; and our personal favorite, teaching the kid to drive. Today was my turn. She did okay, though we do apologize to the honking car next to us at that one light; she did swing r-e-a-l-ly wide to the right to make a left turn. She’ll do better next time; I promise. Not!

 

Damn little camera on my phone. You probably can't see the hundreds of balloons at different levels participating in mass ascension. (Better photos after we head to the Fiesta field.) In the meantime, see the Rio Grande there - okay, not looking all that grand - some balloons swoop down from the sky and do a "splash and dash." Very cool. I learned more from one of the hookers in my guild; she and her husband work a balloon's chase crew.
Damn little camera on my phone. You probably can’t see the hundreds of balloons at different levels participating in mass ascension. (Better photos after we head to the Fiesta field.) In the meantime, see the Rio Grande there – okay, not looking all that grand – some balloons swoop down from the sky and do a “splash and dash.” Very cool. I learned that term from one of the hookers in my guild; she and her husband work a balloon’s chase crew.

Not that there haven’t been the fun moments. Our hopes were great after that pre-fiesta balloon landed behind our house last week. Now we’re deep in Albuquerque’s famed Balloon Fiesta. We humped up the hill to the neighboring Catholic high school – which happens to have a great view – and watched the first “mass ascension.” (Okay, fellow Catholic peeps, the ballooning term “mass ascension” is nothing but a coincidence. Ironic though. Maybe they could’ve gone with “the Rapture,” but I digress.) Tom and I will head to the fiesta tomorrow in the early, early 50-degree morning. We’ll be right on the field, phones/cameras in hand. How I wish I had a really good camera…

And I have been hooking; most evenings, in fact. I finished hooking, though not blocking and such, my rug-sized New Mexico mat that will eventually grace the floor somewhere in the new house. Now I’m working on a table runner: t-shirts and some gossamer, chiffonny fabrics. Going for a different texture. I got to work on it at a hooking demonstration with my new Adobe Wool Arts guild just yesterday at the BioPark Botanic Gardens. I’d love to share some photos of this (insert long face here) – I even brought my phone.camera and planned on it – but we were so busy chatting with one another and visitors, that I plumb forgot…till we were packing up. Next time, I promise!

Georgia O'Keefe's Petunia No. 2, 1924.
Georgia O’Keefe’s “Petunia No. 2,” 1924.

Another highlight this week: a visit to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe. It’s taken me two vacations to the area and a final move to make it there, but Friday was the perfect time. Tom’s niece – an artsy type, too, with good taste – was in town and also wanted to see it. There was an American Modernist exhibit going on with O’Keefe’s and others’ work represented. Excellent! Oh, and the street food on Santa Fe’s plaza was fabulous.

Alexander Archipenko's Woman with a Fan, 1958.
Alexander Archipenko‘s “Woman with a Fan,” 1958.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, while this moving thing’s a bitch, we managed to tame her for a bit and just enjoy the area. Hey, it’s why we moved here. So far, no regrets, and that’s all that matters.

PS – How do you other bloggers remind yourselves to take pics when you’re all agog listening to stories and looking at beautiful things? Tell me the secret!

My favorite piece, I think. (I reserve the right to change my mind, of course.) O'Keefe's Pond in the Woods, 1922.
My favorite piece, I think. (I reserve the right to change my mind, of course.) O’Keefe’s “Pond in the Woods,” 1922.

 

 

 

 

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