the worlds I make

Tonight as the all-day snow clouds cleared out we were stunned by this sight in the west. That's the flat-top Pedernal (Georgia O'Keeffe's Ghost Mountain about 40 miles away in Abiquiu). We had light snow "down here" at 7500 feet, but hope that they're celebrating in the Ski Valley (9000 ft). We awakened this morning to light snowfall and disappeared mountains. Three horses had materialized in Floyd's field next door and were rolling around in the thin snow, getting up and galloping wildly - energized by the weather. Horses do that. And they looked beautiful with white snow on thick brown coats. Here's a tidbit for you urban people who don't have horses living next door - they develop thick coats for winter. Most people don't keep their horses in heated winter barns around here. They live outside 24 hours a day. If it's a really cold winter (which most are) their coats get super thick and fuzzy.
           So what did I do on this snowy day? I ran around like a turkey without a head trying to finish up, organize, shop. And made turkey soup out of the remains of Thursday's bird. It bubbled on the stove for an hour or so and filled the house with delicious smells. Frankly, I haven't made turkey soup often and sort of didn't know where to start. But common sense and decades of cooking came through and the soup was enthusiastically devoured for supper.

I feel pretty achy today after three days at the Yuletide Craft Fair where I barely sat down the whole time. An amazing number of people came through the three big buildings to see the variety of crafts. We heard reports that tons of people were walking around Taos Plaza all weekend. This is good. Good for morale, good for business, good for the community which struggles even in good economic times. And it proved to be an unexpected boon to most of the vendors at the show. I returned home on Sunday night with a quarter of the inventory I'd started out with. Throughout the three days I felt warm appreciation from visitors, buyers, and friends who stopped by. That sign on the pegboard reads: life is short, wear cashmere and alpaca. There was lots of agreement. Overall, a good mood prevailed.

But now I'm feeling that I've finally reached the point of saturation. My last two classes are tomorrow with papers and exams due, I'm leaving the next morning before dawn and haven't figured out what to pack, my toenails need a pedicure, my hair needs cutting and styling, my clothes need to be laundered and, oh yes, the car has to be unpacked with the craft fair stuff which is rattling around in the back. When I returned from the organic market this afternoon I noticed that one of the boxes had opened and there were feet and hands scattered in the car. Sigh! Take a deep breath. Think of kissing the wee baby (and giving him the snuggles bear I bought for him at the show) and forget what I heard today - that New York City is expecting heavy rain on Wednesday afternoon. Sigh!

under orange clouds
and a disappearing moon
thin snow glistens whitely