Reconnecting

The friends we've been staying with in New Mexico have so many visitors that they've put a B&B-style comment book in their guest room. The first several pages are filled with fond farewells, including Jerry's and mine, from when they left Sea Ranch several years ago. Now we've moved on as well. Among the more recent messages, we recognized the names of many mutual friends. I added our own thanks this morning, before we left for the airport.

Yesterday's outing was a long, scenic drive, the ultimate goal Los Alamos and the enthralling little historical museum there that several friends had recommended. The photo is a replica of an "atomic cake" that someone baked in "celebration" of, I think, the bombing of Hiroshima. Los Alamos has streets named after explosion sites. Just after we crossed Trinity and Bikini Atoll, Linda pointed out the local wellness center, an amusing juxtaposition, we thought. En route home we meandered through the Jemez mountains and some spectacular red-rock country. We had to stop for a while to wait out a fairly intense hailstorm.

We also got to see and share a couple of meals with Cynthia and Jim, another pair of Sea Ranch transplants, including dinner at their cat-filled (four) rancho-style house one evening. And we reconnected with Mary and Gary, who relocated to Placitas from Marin some time before Floyd and Linda made their move. I introduced the four of them via email, and they've since become good friends. Mary and I had breakfast yesterday at Home at the Range, a restaurant/bar in Bernalillo that's a favorite local hangout. She and Gary hosted us all for brunch the day before. They have a spectacular home with a thousand-mile view, endearing kitties (that's The Mook in the bowl below one of Mary's many chicken-themed paintings), and intriguing artwork everywhere you look. I'm so glad I had the opportunity for some gurl-schmooze with Mary, whom I met on the WELL years ago.

Last night, after our long day on the road, we went back to the Range for dinner. Our visit wound down with a couple of hours of quiet conversation back at Casa Floyd e Linda. We're more than ready to be home with our own kitties. But the change of scenery was good for us, and the reconnection with old friends even better.