Running Around

Three days in the Albuquerque area and we know our way around pretty well, only occasionally needing Marsha, Kellee's GPS. I'm not sure why we have this need to name the disembodied voices on our electronic gadgets. Does it make us feel less dominated by our technology? Or do we name it because it speaks? I still don't have a GPS, and after spending the last couple of days with Marsha, I think I'll stick with maps, especially since I do most of my driving to new places without anyone else in the car. A GPS would be too distracting in the car.

Yesterday morning Kellee and I drove down to Albuquerque for breakfast at the Gold Street Cafe. The sign for our exit also marked the exit for Historic Route 66, which was the road we needed to take to get to the restaurant. After reading so much about this American icon of automobile travel over the years, I couldn't resist having my picture taken with one of the route signs. After breakfast, running a couple of conference related errands, and picking up our board colleague Laurie, we paralleled Historic 66 on our way up to Santa Fe. We were back on Historic 66 this evening heading for dinner at the Monte Carlo after picking up one of our board colleagues at the airport.

We didn't spend a lot of time in Santa Fe. After parking the car we went over to the Palace of the Governors to browse the works of the Native artisans. We had some great conversations with some of them. Lots of jewelry and some pottery. To ward off the chill, several of the artisans were bundled in blankets that bore native designs but were made of fleece.

We ate lunch at a little diner/cafe on the Plaza before wandering through some of the galleries and shops. I saw some pottery nativities created by native artisans, but the ones that I liked were more than I was willing to spend.

One of the issues with trips like this is food. Although we have refrigerators in our rooms, and we can keep some snacks, fruit, and some odds and ends in them, we end up at restaurants for most of our main meals. Fortunately, Kellee rented a car, so we can leave the resort and find less expensive places to eat. The food here is excellent, but as with most hotel food, it's a little pricey. Except for lunch today, the portions we've been served are more than any of us can eat. I've been leaving food on my plate. Lunch at the Village Inn down in Rio Grande was an exception. They offer half-sandwiches with either soup or salad for a very reasonable price. It was just the right amount of food.

We're transitioning from play time to work time. Forma Board members and conference participants arrived throughout the day. This morning Kellee, our conference chair, and our board president met with hotel staff while a couple of us assembled name badges and unpacked materials for the participant packets. We ran errands. We planned what needs to be done before tomorrow afternoon's board meeting.

More tomorrow.

From Old Town to Old Town

My friend and Forma colleague Kellee traveled to Albuquerque for the annual Tapestry Conference. We came a few days early, so we could spend some time sightseeing and also to begin setting up for the event. This year's conference will take place at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa located on the Santa Ana Pueblo, which is between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

This is my first trip to New Mexico. In some ways this part of the state reminds me of the San Joaquin Valley in California--an arid, flat area surrounded by mountains. Unlike the San Joaquin Valley, it's not criss crossed with irrigation canals. I didn't know, or had forgotten, that the Rio Grande flows through this area. We drove across it on our way to the hotel, a shallow, muddy-looking stream. I did remember that so much water is taken from the Rio Grande that it is nowhere near the size it once was. Still, it was rather anti-climactic to drive over something so ordinary looking with a grand name.

We met Pat, another formation colleague from New York City, in Atlanta where we changed planes. Once we settled in to our rooms at the hotel, the three of us drove back down to Albuquerque to poke around Old Town Albuquerque. It's quaint. It's southwestern. It was gray and rainy. Lots of art galleries and souvenir shops with everything from kitsch to fine art. There were a few native artisans along the Plaza. Many had already packed up and gone home by the time we arrived late in the afternoon. I imagine it's very different when the weather is better and it's not the middle of winter.

We had a list of options for dinner, but we decided to stay in Old Town and eat at the Casa de Ruiz Church Street Cafe. It serves a variety of salads, hamburgers, and what most Easterners would consider Mexican food. Fortunately for me, there were minimally spicy options. I ordered the mixed (chicken and steak) fajitas. I brought half of them back to the hotel with me (we have small refrigerators in our rooms) and still felt like I'd eaten too much. There was a time when I'd have finished the whole plate just because it was in front of me. I'm getting better about food as I get older.

It's been a long day having got up at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time for our flight. Even though it's only 10:30 p.m. here, I've been up for 19 hours, and it's time for bed.

The Yankee in Winter

This morning the alarm went off at 7:00 a.m., as it usually does. After I turned it off I heard an unfamiliar noise--rhythmic but not quite constant. My first thought was, "What's going on in the Guest Houses?" I got up and walked into the kitchen to see if I could identify where the noise was coming from. Outside. Someone was shoveling snow. That's a noise I haven't heard in a long time.

For the most part we've had a pretty mild winter here. Well, for a New Englander it's been pretty mild. As soon as the temperatures dipped into the forties I began seeing people in winter coats. The last three days, however, have been bitterly cold, which was a definite improvement over a full week of gray, foggy, wet weather last week. It was cold enough this week that I dug out my winter hat for the first time since I've been down here. I wonder how long it will be before I put on my winter coat when it gets down into the forties.

Today we had what some called a dusting. Yet it was enough to delay opening the local schools for two hours. Federal workers were given the option of generous leave or telecommuting. A colleague posted on Facebook some tips about driving cautiously. I learned my winter driving skills in Minnesota, northern Illinois, and Wisconsin, so I'm not too worried about my driving. It's all the other people on the road that have little to no experience even in this little bit of snow that I worry about.

Many local roads are still icy, and rush hour tomorrow could be interesting. Fortunately, I don't have to drive to get anywhere. More snow is on the way tomorrow afternoon. It will be interesting to observe first hand how little snow snarls up the DC area.

I don't envy the workers taking down the shell of the burned chapel. For quite a while it was difficult to see any progress because the work started with cleaning the debris from the inside and stabilizing the walls so they could take them down safely. Some of the remaining walls will enclose a memorial garden and outdoor worship space while preserving the footprint of the historic building and a few of the architectural details. Many folks still wish they could have rebuilt the chapel. A lot of history and memories resided in those walls.

I, along with the students who entered the Seminary after the October 2010 fire, have no emotional attachment to the 1881 Chapel. While the loss of a historic building is always painful, it really was an unremarkable piece of church architecture. Except the walls, which even after the fire, withstood the earthquake, the Derecho, and Hurricane Sandy, primarily because of strengthening beams added after the building had been completed. But even that strength really wasn't enough to justify the cost of rebuilding a chapel that no longer really served the needs of the community. In the meantime, we continue to worship in the Interim Chapel in the lower level of the academic building.

I wonder what all of this will look like after tomorrow's predicted snowfall.