Sidetracked Charley

Supposedly I am on the last lap of having my apartment ready for short term rental. I had a goal of being ready to take guests on the 1st of April. And per advice attempted a listing on AirBnB as of the 15th of March. Best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry. "To a Mouse" by Robert Burns.  After days of building my listing it still insisted it was in Taos, New Mexico. And nothing I could do got the attention of the site managers. Would have been frustrating enough without going through another virtual battle with Lowe's Building site to get a reasonably priced washer and dryer delivered. And then the plumbing issue. And Amazon failed me with their two day delivery schedule going to nine days on the little amenities required to please guests. Oh, did I mention the succession of snow storms. Whatever snow we didn't see in "real winter" we got shoved into a couple weeks in just before spring and after. I truly harbored thoughts of admitting this was stu...

Snow Blind Moon 20 x 30 Mixed Media on Canvas $1600   By normal I mean I was doing things I would have done before this date in 2020. I loaded up the Explorer with a painting to replace the one auctioned off at the library fundraiser, three glicee photographic prints on canvas to fill the holes in the display at Enchanted Circle Brewing Company, and remembered my little tackle box with all the things necessary to hang and label. Oh, and the little collapsible stool to make up for being short. Surprised myself by remembering all that. It has been a year since I have hung an exhibit or amended it. And at both places there were friends I had not seen in forever. Several were at the same place in the vaccine adventure. There was a kinship I had not totally expected. And stories of the last year. One came really, really close to losing her husband. Sounds like he may be a long hauler but is definitely convinced in the needs for masks. It was also nice to see my babies. My art which has ...

  When the pandemic had just plunged us into a lock down a long time renter had just bought a house and moved out. As was my practice I did not want to immediately rent my apartment out. A month or two empty was good for repairs and improvements. But with the passage of legislation to get us past this crisis I changed my mind. If I had a renter I could not press them for rent payments or could I evict them for non-payment. I decided as converting my rental property to short term -- VRBO or AirB&B. And so I began. My previous renter had left some furniture. The big things she didn't want to move. I certainly had art for the walls. And the carpet needed replaced. A friend sold me some laminate flooring she had overbought. I love to paint. Yes, even walls. And as I knew I was redoing the floors no drip cloths required. Living room looking toward entry hall As it is what is called and open floor plan downstairs there is no painting just one room. I picked up more paint cards than i...

  How different would history have been if Caesar had just stayed home today in 44 B.C.? After a full day of blizzard I am staying home to shovel myself out. And there are still all those strangers in town. But with the increased number of my friends being vaccinated I have noticed more mobility. Frankly, I am still waiting until my full immunity date which is two weeks after my last Moderna vaccine: March 20, 2021. I will not be present at the Senate today to knife Caesar. I believe I will be avoiding crowds (two is company and three is a crowd) for quite a while yet. Probably because I live in a Republican district largely opposed to the vaccine. I will continue wearing a mask. And maintaining social distancing. BTW that alone would solve a majority of the improper conduct Cuomo is accused of.  I will feel safe on my full immunity date to schedule a dental appointment. Got my eye exam after first shot because I thought I could wear my mask throughout the whole exam. Not...

  Not gone away. Locked away. Not locked down for all that time. If varies with the numbers. Or now the colors. I think we were green but now are yellow. I remember all the colors after 9/11. That was based on security threat level. These are based on number of new Covid-19 cases. Does anyone care anymore? Or is it like the Texan who bought two of my photographic giclee prints on canvas, "People will do what they will do." That is certainly true in Texas. Trouble is they also do it in New Mexico regardless of what our color is at the moment. "One fish, two fish. Red fish, Blue fish," is that one of the Dr. Seuss books pulled by the family because of subliminal racism? And isn't racism in the eye of oppressed? And in this whole theme of lifting up the oppressed we seem to forget women still do not have equal rights, and in this year of Covid-19 they have lost the most jobs and their career paths to home school. The number counting, the locking away of our seniors...

  A wonderful gray day that was hideously cold with a biting wind. Fortunately I have mastered the art of taking photographs out of the window of the car. You can even use the window up and down as a tripod of sorts. So after heading north toward Eagle Nest to procure the fresh farm raised eggs from the new chicks, I turned Spock south to the land of the lonesome Dove. I have a series of four pull off's from Hwy 434 which give me a good view of what movie makers thought looked like Montana for the Lonesome Dove. To me they look like the New Mexico where I grew up. The mountain range is the Sangre de Cristos which lie in the far north of the state between Taos and Angel Fire. Wheeler Peak is the tallest but it depends where you are standing as to which looks the tallest. Old Mike usually is mistaken for Wheeler. Today the clouds kept changing the light. I was surprised to find the cattle in the valley of Black Lake. These must have wintered in. Truck loads of cattle generally arrive...

  For absolutely everything from the Bible to women must cover their heads in synagogue and church. But men do not have to cover their heads in shame. And look at everything men have done!!!! I say we follow the lead of black women of the south and wear those hats with pride. Just do not go into those white men's churches, Girl. I have been put in 24 hour Facebook prison of shame because of something I posted which the white men didn't even read correctly. Maybe they cannot read. After all Facebook does not use Grammarly. My email uses Grammarly or something like it. And spell check. Facebook does not use spell check either. Facebook has no sense of correct grammar, or word use, or spelling. Think about it. They could get rid of their standards committee, which is too busy to hear my complaint about them doing wrong and ignoring 's, and just rely on two apps instead. Think about it. Look at who they finally banned from their site, Donald J. Trump, and his word usage, senten...

  I ventured out of my valley to Cimarron State Park on Saturday March 6, 2021. I had time to kill, as it were, before my 12:30 pm appointment for my second Moderna Vaccine shot. On Saturday 20 March 2021 I will be able to meet face to face sans masks with others who have reached the same milestone. I have been keeping track of my friends on the same vaccination adventure. We have become or are becoming a safe POD. Yesterday my garden club had a Zoom meeting and we are planning an in person meeting, outdoors and safely spaced, in May. It has been a long time coming. I hope we make it. At the moment Texas is on spring break and they are here. Houston alone has five variants. And at least two of the big companies are working on booster shots. We talked about all the extra slots on our vaccination records, and why not a good idea to laminate them. All of us had photographed them with our smart phones for a handy record we could whip out if asked. Obviously we see the world ahead a bit...