AMAZIN' PAINTIN'

The paintcheros did a great job. The only mishap was when a picture fell off the wall and into the nest of computer wires after they had gone. Chopsy! Luckily, even though the guillotine travelled 4 feet, it didn't scrape the wall. Culprit: failed nail. I rewired the broken connections and all appears fine.

They did it all in one long day, too, so my computer-withdrawal symptoms weren't as bad as I had thought. I spent the day listening to music in my music room. Very nice. A little jet-lag still has me.

Back to Santa Fe before I forget - it's supposed to be the number two tourist destination city behind San Francisco. Don't know if I believe that. It IS a town of art and artists, and the altitude gives off wonderful colors and shades. We hoofed it through almost every gallery. Many $19,000 to $40,000 pieces. Cough. But the winner and champion was a painting of a woman... sorry, don't know who she or the artist was - actually the picture looked almost unfinished... shows what I know: ready? SIX HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!! Take it home with you!

Seems the streets are loaded with motorcycles and the guys like to rev 'em. So it's noisy.

We took a trip which brought us very close to Los Alamos, and there was a sense of government all over the place... signs warning of explosions and fragments! And guard gate houses, barriers, etc. Apparently there's a place called the black hole where the labs throw out stuff they don't want anymore. I found this out in a shoe store which had some very odd looking super wire mesh hose in the corner - the salesgirl said they use it to show off shoes as they make little stands of it. Taxmoney at work!

I've got to download hundreds of pictures so if you have interest, come back after I've added a few of the best.

We went to Bandero National Monument where there are caves in the rocks once occupied by natives. There were ladders to climb up and in... very National Geographic! Supposedly there are petroglyphs (caveman art), but we missed them. I did see some recent stuff: "Joe and Donna '05" and the like carved into the historic caves' smoke scarred walls.

They warn you to stay on the trail and watch out for snakes and bears. If you come upon a bear, they say to scare it away by making loud noises. Happily we saw neither.

This is a land of pteroducktiles, large ancient billed flying beasties. We didn't see them either.

I believe my picture-taking ability has ramped way up with all the digital practise plus no waste... take several, erase the losers. Experiment.

We passed the oldest church in the US which was built pre-US, obviously. Over 400 years old. And the oldest house in the US. Two more mortgage payments to go!

I took many shots of windows and doors. Some are pretty funky. I thought I might make a collage or something. I am also trying to snap grizzled guys wearing cowboy hats, but that's not very easy as they look at Ralph Lauren T-Shirted guys with disdain. More grizzle seems to indicate more disdain.

Perfect weather - great food - Terri was super and her arrangements wonderful... we even lucked into the owners suite at the hotel.

We flew ExpressJet which left ON TIME and EVEN SERVED FOOD. Glory glory.