#7 SCOOTER TRAVEL JOURNAL - September 23, ‘23 Santa Fe
It’s been a while since I’ve crafted a report from Santa Fe where my parents and I are visiting my human sister’s home. I should tell you about all the reasons people visit Santa Fe. Not the altitude necessarily, but yes, the expansive sky with a cloud and sun show nearly every day. The Mexican food! Canyons and Aztec ruins, the Plaza, adobe buildings, Jackalope for shopping, coyote fences, the blending of Spanish and Native American cultures, and at least a dozen museums, like the Full Cart . . .
“Folk Art, Scooter. You are right, there are more than a dozen museums in Santa Fe, but the one you’ve mentioned is called Folk Art Museum, not Full Cart,” said my mom who was listening to my report. She may be right.
There’s Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in the village of Abiquiú. Oh, and Bandelier.
I asked, Mom, did you know even over 11,000 years ago Puebloan peoples lived up in those soft rock cliffs? No dogs apparently. The signs at the park say, “No dogs except in the parking lots.
“Los Alamos is near Bandelier,” said my mom. Then she added, “Neither of those sites have much good to say about the white people who came to claim priority; but that’s the nature of nearly all living things I guess, to claim priority.”
That’s a different conversation. For later? I said, easing away from her assertion. My mom is still smarting a bit from the Covid virus. Her thoughts turn easily to negative things. Especially because my dad is still suffering the affects of that virus while my mom is ready to pack up and start our journey home. My dad is just not yet well enough.
Have you ever seen a very old dog with aches and pains stretched out in a chilly day on a warm slab of sidewalk soaking up the warmth of the sun? Go ahead, try to urge that animal to move. Nah. That body needs to be where it is. Resting. Recovering. In my dad’s case, he is resting to right the wrongs Covid managed to inflict. We won’t be heading home just yet.
Here’s good news. That is, from my perspective it seems good. You know all those places I mentioned at the beginning of this report? The museums, the parks, the notable sites making Santa Fe a great place to visit?
In our first five days here, my parents made it to the 99th year of the Zozobra burning, met some lovely people, watched beautiful Hoop dancing, ate massive amounts of Mexican food, explored the Plaza from end to end, saw the house in the neighborhood where their son-in-law grew up, and then succumbed to Covid.
“That’s the extent of Pine tourist time. Five days of fun followed by three weeks and counting of Covid and recovery. Here’s the good news. I’ve rarely been left alone. It didn’t matter that museums and famous homes and park sites said, “No dogs allowed.” My parents weren’t going. They were tending to survival, and I was tending to them. Imagine this ― 24 hours a day. Together. This has been the best Santa Fe visit ever.
Scooter shares Covid blankets
