Four Months In

An update on the hip. Four months ago I had a total hip replacement. Hip surgeries are notoriously easy and most people are all healed up inside 6-7 weeks. I was on that damned cane for over 3 months! Really cramped my style, to say of all the pain.

I did my best at entertaining myself and keeping ahold of my patience the past weeks and months. Better time of year for healing I guess.

Today I returned to my favorite cemetery for a long overdue walk. And my how things have changed! Well, really the only surprise was this bounty of cedar roses! Aren't they gorgeous? They are the seed pods of those beautiful Japanese looking evergreens. I tried to look them up for the proper name, but to no avail.

I used to go here daily and I look forward to putting in some real time here again. Last year I spent all spring here, in lieu of my beloved rail road tracks, which I still miss powerfully. Still, not a bad trade. I gotta get my nature fix somewhere in the city, and RR tracks are notoriously difficult to walk on. Of course I rather enjoyed the challenge, but seems like a cruel thing to put my hip through, after all that damned healing up.
So it's back to the cemetery for me, to put many miles on my fancy new hardware!

Time Capsule

Oh law, I opened up the time capsule last night. Been draggin' this little foot locker around with me everywhere since I was a teenager. I haven't dared open it in over a decade, for fear of all that nostalgia. Last night I felt a powerful compulsion and I couldn't resist. The Devil made me do it.

Four photo albums and two packs of Philmont mail and pictures. I didn't dare read the letters, the pictures were enough.
Here's me my last summer at Philmont, 1998. In order to ride out with the cowboys, I was made to use the saddle. That summer was actually the first time I learned how to abide a Western saddle. I'm a saddle hater, but it is a necessary tool  for any working cowboy. These boys took me out to mend fences, and test my horse sense. We went out at a full gallop for several miles non stop. I passed.

I befriended them, such a cute bunch of horse boys. I got to ride out with them on many an evening. Let me tell you, the majesty of hauling ass on the open New Mexico range was not lost on me. What an experience!

The boy in the middle here was a 17 yr. old cowboy named Nate something. Sometimes I made them all bunny eggs for breakfast and they loved them! When asked how they got their name I explained it was because they are soft and fluffy, like a bunny. Nate was so enthusiastic about them, he literally hopped up & down in place in the kitchen one morning in his excitement pronouncing "They're soft and fluffy like a bunny!" as he did so. Too cute. He also told me he liked art class, and he made roses out of clay, forming each petal individually. He gave them "to a girl I liked" at school. I can not imagine any girl resisting his charms!

I didn't dare read all the letters, I can always do that later. I did sort of skim through a pile and was tickled pink to find several correspondences from my dear sweet Dana Dee! It pleases me to know that our friendship is the same as it ever was, and she is the same one of a kind hilarious National treasure she's always been.

1996, first trip to Grand Canyon with my sister. If you haven't gone, make it happen, the sooner the better.

1995, my first year at Philmont. All geared up to go hiking out of tent city at base camp. Good times!

This is me and my bf Nadine Fernandez, a friend I met that first summer who got me through awful homesickness and took me home with her on days off to nearby Wagon Mound NM. She was one of those people I just took a powerful shine to and we adored each other, becoming fast friends and practically inseparable all summer. She was a really amazing spirit and to my southeastern eyes an exotic beauty. I'm still looking for her and I hope she is doing well and living a happy life.

This concludes a brief skimming of my Philmont days. I wouldn't trade those 3 summers for all the tea in China.