Study in Contrasts

After several days in Albuquerque to experience election night and visit with Robert, we headed south and east on our way to Thanksgiving in Dallas with Allan, Jamie, Brian, et. al. We walked down into the ground 750 feet to wonder at Carlsbad Caverns, and waited for the bats to fly (they didn't, the consensus was that they had headed out the night before and kept moving south.) and then drove into West Texas (where it wasn't so cold at night that our pipes might freeze) and discovered to our delight that we were near McDonald Astonomical Observatory, so we spent a day on their mountain top looking at the stars and listening to lectures on the research they are doing there. Lovely, all of it. As an added bonus, we are camped at Balmorhea, a humongous aretisian spring that pumps 20 million gallons of water a day out into a huge pool and adjacent wetlands. The water stays at 74 degrees all year long, and is a popular place for scuba divers to test their equipment and skills. The pool itself was built by the CCC and is more than 20 feet deep in spots with little fish and turtles swimming around in it.

Lake Cochiti

We stayed for ten days at a Corp of Engineers site above Lake Cochiti 25 miles from Santa Fe. We divided our days between hiking, kayaking, shopping in Santa Fe (dangerous!) and trying out our latest hobby. We've taken some of the abalone shells we gathered in California and shaped and polished to make zipper pulls, an amulet, and earring. (Yes, only one so far.) Judy shapes and polishes, Frank drills the holes, and we both have learned to loop the wire ties. Of course this necessitated buying new tools, silver wire--- The next thing we want to try is inlaying turquoise and abalone in wood pieces. Who says you need a workshop? A picnic table works just fine.