on the brighter side..

Before I take my late and badly-needed shower, I'll write about some nice things that haven't driven me crazy...

This week we were all over the place; we went through Ruidoso, NM, which is up in their White Mountains, and happens to be a popular getaway locale for nearby El Paso residents. We did our work up in Ski Apache, and it was hard hiking but we saw yet another herd of elk (including calves!) and we did have flowers and humming birds. On our drive down from there we could see huge monsoon storms for miles around. I took a load of photos with Richard's camera (since my camera lens broke and won't extend or focus properly, I'm left with just my tiny pixelated camera phone and brief opportunities to borrow Richard's) but I haven't uploaded those to my computer. All in good time.

Then from there we went back down into the desert outside Alamogordo, NM. It's a cute little town, and it's situated right next to the White Sands Missile Range, which has no public access and often closes the Highway 70 that runs alongside so that it can test bombs and other explosives. Nothing I really approve of or respect, because bombs are used in wars to kill loads of people at once, but I won't get into that. In one tiny spot, there is a state park, the White Sands National Monument, and they allow visitors pretty much at all hours (except when the missile range is blasting) all year long. We went for their Sunset Stroll, had a very interesting ranger guide who told us all about how these amazing gypsum dunes are formed and showed us how the creatures and plants survive out there. As the sun went down, the sands glowed and it became more and more lovely. Sure, I used Richard's camera quite a bit, but I also snapped some stuff with my phone. It's tiny, but you get the gist, I'm sure.

We couldn't camp at the Oliver Lee State Park, though, because as night approached the wind became really out of control. My tent has just about had it and wasn't worth trying to set up for one night anyway, because of the hard ground and my lousy soft stakes, and also because my fiberglass poles are starting to snap. I was going to sleep on the picnic table, but that would've been no good. We packed up and moved to a motel for the night, and I got to sleep in the most wonderful bed! So comfy!

Then we drove north to the Cibola National Forest outside Corona, NM. The roads to get into the forest were closed due to fire dangers, and it didn't occur to me until the next day that we shouldn't have gone down the tiny dirt road off to the side and camped and done our field points because it was UNLAWFUL to be in the forest at all. I don't like that; I'm not interested in getting ticketed or even arrested because we're trespassing without a research permit in federal land. He doesn't even care because he's not a citizen, but it actually does concern me, because I am in no way informed enough to not be worried that something bad could happen to me. I don't need a criminal record. Anyway, I started griping again...SEE? I have a hard time avoiding it.

So then we drove to Santa Fe again yesterday. We went out for Vietnamese food and i had pho, which I've been dying to have for ages (it's totally my favorite food, it's my comfort food, and it's the only reason I'll eat beef), and it was delicious. I sat there for 40 minutes and made love to my dinner...glorious.

Then I realized that the cherry tree behind our hostel is finally covered in thousands of perfectly ripe red cherries! Last night I stood under the tree in the dark and had my fill, not considering the bird poop until I got some in my mouth! Today (my day off), I had breakfast and then went out and filled a bowl to the top with a hundred perfect cherries and tried my best to eat them all. I didn't finish the bowl, and I feel a little cherried-out. I'll pick some more for when Richard comes back.

But I ought to run off and clean up, even though it's really lovely to hang around in my underwear and idly surf the 'net. Reminds me of home.