2/12/08 Santa Fe Making Jewelry and My Future

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Sarah and I decided to take a break from being miserable with our colds and ventured out to Santa Fe today -- just the two of us and our kleenex box. The picturesque town is about an hour away so the drive gave us a chance to chat and ponder the desert landscape and Pinion Pine forests.

Sarah talked about the future -- she plans on sharing a house with friends when she moves out -- she wouldn't want to live alone. She is thinking that seven people might be the right number for a house along with some dogs (especially a Portuguese Water Dog, a Komondor, Swiss Mountain Dog, a tabby and a black cat.)





She thinks that I'll be like Maude (the woman in her late 70's who lives every day to the fullest. When we watched the movie recently I realized that Maude had a number tattooed on her arm -- did you remember that she was a concentration camp survivor?) in the 1970's movie "Harold and Maude."

She asked if I would be one of the seven (I suppose she imagines that I'll outlive Mel) and if I would like to be in charge of the flower garden so there will always be flowers in the house to make everyone happy and feel glad to come home. Interesting take on the power of flowers! I guess we both miss the Villa Park gardens with the 100's of agapanthas, lilies and my cherished rose bushes.

Where I'll live when I'm old has come up several times since our visit to Mel's Aunt Ethel (in her 80's) after observing the role each one of daughters plays in her care. If I don't live in Sarah's commune, Dave thinks that his wife would like to have me live with them, especially if I help out with their kids. Personally, I'm still hopeful for a little cottage nearby a library and a bus stop. I'll turn into my "Nanna," my father's mother Anne, wearing purple canvas tennis shoes, going on long walks collecting "snips" from neighbor's gardens to grow into plants and a canary to welcome me home.

Our mission in Santa Fe was a jewelry making class at "Crown Jewels." It was difficult to choose which beads to use to make a necklace -- they were all so pretty. Sarah fell in love with the ceramic frogs (maybe she's hoping for a prince in her future) and I thought turquoise and heishi (heishi are beads made from shells - the oldest form of jewelry in New Mexico, the Pueblo Indians got them in trade from the Gulf of California) would be a lovely reminder of Santa Fe. The women that run the shop, Missy and Shanna, were delightful and made us feel very welcome.



After our class we drove around because it we weren’t feeling well enough to walk in the cold. What an interesting city – we can’t wait to go back and see their museums and visit the art galleries.