I JUST LOVE LIVING HERE
I can’t stop thinking about how wonderful it is to live here. I feel so lucky. Just take this weekend, for example. Saturday morning at 7 a.m. Meredith and I met at the tennis court in Anasazi and played tennis for an hour. It was crisp and cool, clear and invigorating. The view down the wide arroyo to the mesas was spectacular as usual. Occasionally people would walk by with their dogs, sometimes stop to say hello. Once in a while a car or truck would slowly pass, and the driver would wave. Meredith and I took it easy out there. I don’t play competitively anymore due to various aches and pains and just generally being out of shape and ancient. She does, however; so I “practice” her––or at least I think I do. We just hit those balls, keep it going, and luxuriate in the moment. No pressure, good exercise, high focus, and fun. We pick up our errant balls and admire the recently planted spirea and the blooming wild plants and flowers. We stop for a few gulps of water or Gatorade every 15 minutes or so and continue the ongoing lazy conversation - between women who know one another and don’t have to explain - about work (Meredith is a nurse practitioner; I am a Realtor), household challenges, gardens, health (and the new Curves in Bernalillo that may change my life!), finances, books, family and how wonderful it is to be right here.
After tennis and a short chat with the foursome taking over the court, we go on to the Pinon Café for coffee under the portal where the English sparrows are chirpingly busy at nest building overhead and the sun warms our weary souls. John Howard is capturing in pastels the ordinary but extraordinary in the light, shadows and subtle coloring of our mountain, junipers and grasses. Lots of good friendly folks are coming and going. On to the Flea Market where amongst the stuff changing ownership are more friends I haven’t seen in a while. Everyone is checking out the scene. After all, even a flea market is a considerable event in Placitas. Off to some work tasks and then to work in the office till 5 or so. Dick arrives to pick me up and we go to a couple of the several art openings in Bernalillo. We feel fortunate to have this aesthetic experience so easily accessible. Having art and artists in our lives has always been important to us. The quality of the work that is being exhibited at our local galleries is truly remarkable. It is delightful too being part of such a creative community. I was absolutely amazed at the work of my neighbors recently exhibited by the Placitas Garden Club. Carry on all of you. You are great.
Oh yes, answer the calls; check the e-mail; plan the next day; and crash with a good book. Having just read Reading Lolita in Tehran I am now inspired to go back to The Great Gatsby and Lolita which I probably read thirty or forty years ago. Is that possible? Yes, I’m afraid so.
Sunday I awake to the sleepy voices of the “great grands” who promptly find themselves a bed and sleep for a while longer. I am lazy too. But once the pills have been taken, bed made, plants watered, garden checked for growth and damage, doggies fed, Lucy dressed and hair pulled together somehow or other ––three heads of it actually, as Dick brings me the little ones and says, “Can you do anything a little better to these mops?” We load up, dogs and all, heading to the Pinon Café for breakfast. We have discovered that there is some considerable entertainment value in “out for breakfast” for Jo-Jo and Missy. Then on to the Fiesta of San Antonio in the Village. Jo-Jo fills out a warrant for Missy’s arrest, who delightedly goes to jail. Can anyone tell me why “going to jail” is such a successful game for children? Is there something about us that wants to be imprisoned? Anyway, Missy found a chair in jail, pulled it over to the window, pushed the bars apart and escaped. That was that. Then bean bags, floating eggs with numbers inside, lollipops, and Ping Pong ball games. Later we are loaded down with balloons, Tootsie Rolls and stuffed animals. We are ready to be back home. Time for great granddad to take over pool-side, and Lucy is off to stock up on materials and signs, hold an open house, answer more phone calls, make appointments, check out building sites, and all that wonderful stuff.
The day ends with dinner among friends gathered to listen to Becky Schreiber sing in the patio of the Indigo Crow in Corrales. The food was excellent, the company good and Becky just lovely. Now it’s Monday, and I’m off to do real estate and with luck, climb around the hills of Placitas. It’s a good life, and I’m very lucky.