Moab in January

January 6, 2012

For some reason, I feel a wish to touch bases after my first week a an officially retired person.   Although I took all of December off, there really is some sort of reality that kicks in when the official day arrives, which for me was December 31.
    
December was lovely, but busier than I have ever been.  I spent the month with my family, at first in Eugene to help with the arrival of Leonardo Francisco (my newest grandson) and then in Placerville where the previously-mentioned arrived for the holidays, as well as Xochitl.

As of December 31, we came to Moab, and have been trying to relax, although our friends here are still in celebration mode.  Some come from far away (Australia being the farthest) and others are local.  But we have spent some time hiking with them and sharing meals.  I have also indulged in the Moab Aquatics center, trying my hand at swimming laps, which seems to be a generous type of exercise that is kind to my knees.  I have done some running, but much more hiking, and it  has been freezing cold here when the sun goes down.  Even so it gets tolerably warm during the day with the full Moab sun.  It seems to be almost shorts weather on my front porch in the afternoon, and I have spent some time basking in the sun there in the rocking chair my daughter Rosa gave me, reading good books and smiling.
As of tomorrow, most of the Moab friends will be gone -- either back to their real homes, or off on long vacations.  In honesty, I am looking forward to that, and the anticipated quiet and solitude.   I thoroughly enjoyed hiking with these folks, and showing them some places that we have learned about, but I kept thinking that the constant chatter was too much and I longed for the quiet hikes that I love out here -- where you can even hear the wings of the ravens when they fly past you overhead.  So, I get that soon.
 
Also, I long to set up my art studio here in Moab - soon to be called 'Lopez Annex'.  I brought many things with me and I only need some time.  I was unable to do anything in December at all and I really need that time with my art tools to really feel content.  Well, I should qualify that last statement a little bit.  Benjamin and I built two pinatas in December, which was art after all.  He chose to make two cars that are featured in the animated film 'Cars', so we did.  That was a messy and fun adventure for which his favorite part was filling them up with goodies.  It all culminated, of course, when we brought those back to Placerville and smashed them in a celebration with his cousins.

I have such a lovely family and am lucky beyond any reasonable expectation. 

January 13, 2012

I thought I would report in about my second week, jobless here in Moab.  In summary, I can say that I feel more relaxed than I have for as long as I can remember.  For one week now, I have had no heartburn, have not had to take any tums, and have had no trouble sleeping at night.  I would bet that my blood pressure is getting to where I can stop taking meds.  But I will check with my doctor when I go see here on February 1.  
 
We are still exploring the red canyons that are local to our house.  They are endless, and never seems repetetive.  The way that geology decides to do it's tricks keeps changing around every corner.  Every time I get up to some rocky high point, I feel a sense of peace and ownership that is quite nice.  

I especially loved getting to the end of Negro Bill Canyon this last week.  As we got close, we could here this loud noise of water falling, which clearly had to be the headwaters of the substantial creek that runs through it.  However, when we got right up to the end, we could see nothing but a trickle coming down a crack.  We got closer and decided that a lot of the water coming down was behind the rock, and the crack was but a window into the fall.  And I am sure that the sound was also amplified by the canyon.  I put of flick of this on facebook if you want to hear it.  In some places the ice is treacherous but what can you expect when the temperatures are in the 'teens at night..  I will note that the days are sunny and actually seem warm when you get up against some sunny wall or my front porch.


I also have been going to the Moab Aquatics Center with regularity and mostly doing water aerobics.  Today they are doing Zumba Aerobics and I think I will try that..... supposedly it is aerobics with a latin beat.  But swimming in between all of our hikes and my morning jogs along Mill Creek seems to be a nice thing for my knees.  Plus, I have a year pass, so why not?

Finally, I went with my next door neighbor to observe her art lesson in pastels with a guy named Jaycee Borders.  He actually does really good work, and lives in a beautiful Santa Fe-style ranch with his 3 border collies and a flock of sheep.  We talked and he wants to learn more about oils, and we are working out some mutual training so that I can go and learn about pastels these next couple of Tuesdays.

Bob has fixed up the electronics in this house so that I can hook up my new IPod to speakers either in my art studio or here in the living room.  I also spent some time and copied the 200+ music CD's onto the pod.  Our internet is a bit touchy right now, or I would spend more time making special playlists.  But it remains a pleasure to randomly listen to beautiful sounds while I draw or while we cook dinner.

So that is it for now.  I wish particle-transporting were feasible.  You know, Star Trek style.  But it is not, and at the end of this month we will be heading back to California, and shortly after that up to Eugene.  I do miss my little boys and really, really appreciate all the postings of them that R&G do on Facebook.

Love m (for mom or margie as the case may be)