And Far Far Away....
It Was that time of year, Dear Readers, for my Annual Trek out West to visit my Family. It is a Long Long way to Silver City, in the southwest corner of New Mexico, requiring several flight changes through several airports.... up and on the road way before dawn to get to the first airport an hour from home.... a mad dash from one flight to the next in Denver on those moving walkways.... a couple of hours waiting in Albuquerque, where I could at last grab some food... and then onto the little plane out into the desert in the late afternoon. I was lucky to be able to schedule all the flights for the same day!
We took off in the middle of the afternoon up into the clouds....
I didn't manage to get window seats in either of the long flights,
which I usually try to get because
I love the view from up there above the clouds!
The little plane seats only eight passengers
and everybody gets a window seat.
The pilot is right there and you can watch the instrument panels too...
Here we are approaching the landing in the desert.
It is waaaaay out in nowhere....
a tiny little airport in the desert.
There are a few large towns nearby
and a couple of Enormous open pit copper mines.
My brother met me at the airport
and brought me to my Mom's house in Silver City.
My goodness it is a long way to go!
It was wonderful to see them....
but it wasn't the same.
My Dad died last April at age 94 and 8 months...
so everything was different....
he wasn't there anymore.
I spent some time at my Dad's house with his partner...
in the house he designed....
sitting at the table that was my Grandparents table...
going through his things...
deciding what to do with his artwork,
his sculptures....
his writing and his photo slides.....
I packed up boxes of stuff to ship home to my house
(not that I have much room... but it needs careful reviewing....)
This will take time.
I spent days at my Mom's....
going through more boxes of things from Dad
that had already been moved out of his house
and were waiting for me to look through...
packing more boxes...
discovering some treasures....
(he wrote quite a lot.... poetry and philosophy....)
a file of ancient family photographs...
that I had never seen before...
And I spent hours with my Mom talking about "stuff"...
family stories from long ago....
Interesting tidbits I had discovered about some family history...
(I am the family historian in case you couldn't tell)
looking at family trees I had put together...
and helping her with paperwork that had piled up.
It was much too short and way too busy....
and then it was time to go home.....
Retracing those steps...
On a crystal clear desert morning...
at the Tiny airport.....
Except.....
There was a problem with the airplane.
It was grounded.
They moved it away and we had to wait
for a replacement plane to fly in from Phoenix Arizona....
which took hours.....
It finally arrived three hours later
and they did all the "turn- around" as fast as they could.
And we headed North to Albuquerque...
more than three hours late and I was sure
I would not be able to catch my scheduled flights.
It was a bumpy flight through lots of clouds...
(a bit too bumpy for taking photos...!)
And when we arrived I needed to reschedule my flights
for as soon as possible which turned out to be not until the next day...
so I got a hotel room near the airport....
on the seventh floor with a great view of the Sandia Crest...
(that big hummock of a mountain)
and watched the rain showers passing through.
And pulled the embroidery out of my suitcase
which I had not even had time to do all through my visit!
Yes, it is another of Janet Granger's mini stocking kits,
this time with a girl theme...
pink, with a doll and dollhouse
and other toys.
I was so glad I had it with me!
I started right away...
and I made some good progress before the light began to fade...
(these kits are 40 stitches to the inch and require good lighting to stitch).
The sun was setting.
And the following morning,
up well before dawn and at the airport and through security
and on our way at seven AM...
It was pouring rain in Chicago where I had to change planes,
but there was time to catch a snack before boarding the last flight home.
Once again I had no window seats...
so no pictures of clouds to share...
I was going Home at last!
I arrived well before sunset, East Coast time...
but after the Autumnal Equinox....
Fall had tiptoed in while I was away.
Yes, Dear Readers,
It's a Long long way to Silver City,
And it just wasn't the same...
(but it really never is...!)
I am Very glad I went....
over the hills and through the clouds,
and wish it could have lasted longer...
But it sure is Wonderful to be Home again!
That was quite a trip, and you wrote about it poetically! It's difficult to go through a loved one's things, so I'm sending you extra good thoughts and virtual hugs.
ReplyDeleteThank you Michelle! The boxes arrived at my house the other day.... a whole new layer of "oh...now what am I to do?"! I will figure it out... but it's not easy. :)
Delete💗
ReplyDeleteThank you. :)
DeleteHi Betsy! What an experience this trip has been, all to visit your family in certain mood and circumstances. The view of the clouds must have been incredible beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBut the journey must have been difficult or you now that your father has passed away, I'm sorry for your loss...
And he left behind a whole life of stuff. Sorting everything out is quite a journey through his life (and yours): and also old and new discoveries. I read now your father was an artistic man, so you inherited these gifts/talents from him.
It must have been an intense and educational journey for you, as if you had stepped into another world..?
And what to say about a tiring, energy-consuming journey home for you. It's good to read you had some embroidery work with you, it looks already beautiful.
Welcome back home, dear Betsy, after such a bumpy (life) journey.
Sending you good thoughts, warm hugs, Ilona
Thank you, Ilona. It is so good to be home. But there is still so much to to, it feels a bit overwhelming. But it doesn't have to be done all at once... so I will just take my time. It will be easier this way. :):)
DeleteHola Betsy! me alegra mucho que pudieras disfrutar de tu familia, a pesar de la ausencia de tu padre, cuanto lo lamento, se les echa mucho en falta. Pero pasarás buenas horas revisando su obra y evocando bellos recuerdos.
ReplyDeleteEl viaje largo, muy largo, pero valió la pena, incluso sacaste tiempo para bordar, eres una maga!!!
Besos.
Thank you, Pilar. I wish my family lived closer to me.... they wish I lived closer to them... no... there is no happy middle place! So I go every year to see them. I will take my time with my Dad's things... it will remind me of so much.... but that can be very good too! Thank you for your wishes.
DeleteHi Betsy. So nice that you could go home to see your family again, but yes, also very sad without your dad there. I can't even drive past our old family home as it tears me apart. Your return journey was a bit of a disaster but it sounds like you had a mini holiday within your holiday! Glad you are home again though,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughts, Shannon. I know what you mean about going past the "old place"... fortunately for me none of them live there now... all the childhood homes are long gone. (Americans move around so much!) I like to stay in one place... really root deep... but almost all of my family left New England years and years ago. Just me and one Uncle and two cousins and some grandnieces and nephew still here.... times do change! And yes, I was really glad I had my mini embroidery with me! It made a huge difference... stitching always helps me feel better! :):)
DeleteOh my... two songs are battling now in my inner ear. The first is of course "Over the hills" by Gary Moore although its lyrics have nothing in common with your trip but the headline "Over the hills and far away..." *LOL* I don't know if this wonderful Irish singer and guitar player is known at all in the U.S. - but I am pretty sure the singer-songwriter of the second song that is running now in my ear is totally unknown to you. It's a song by Reinhard Mey (almost) everybody in Germany knows and the first two lines of the refrain became a well known German catchphrase. I found an English translation of the refrain at wikipedia:
ReplyDelete"Above the clouds,
Freedom must know no limits,
All fears and sorrows,
They say
are hidden below [the clouds]
And then
Everything that has appeared so big and important
Suddenly feels vane and small."
It's easy to see why you're enjoying looking through the clouds so much - and you've managed to take stunning pictures. As far as I am concerned I remembered the eight-seated plane very well as it is beyond my imagination getting on board of something like that! *haha* But okay, this comes from a woman who only took two flights in her life... from Hamburg to Vienna and back. *LOL*
But regarding the purpose of your trip even I might change my mind and enter that 8-seater... if this would make me see my family again. But no plane in the world will ever get me there - and as I had to face the 3rd return of my Mom's passing at the end of September I have a good idea how hard it must have been for you to go to a place where your Dad was supposed to be but will never be there to meet you again. It touched me so much what you had and still have to deal with... and I suppose you will need quite a few tissues when going through your Dad's things. And still... although it will be hard, sad and sometimes almost impossible to bear you will be able to celebrate his life and his artistry when looking over his things. And it was interesting to learn how much impact your Dad must have had on his very talented and gifted daughter. And I must also say that I loved to see the picture of Harriet and her gentle smile (although her "air support" - I don't know how it's called in English - makes me cross fingers that she's well).
And it was also lovely to learn that even a late flight and a missed plane can have advantages as your unplanned stay in a hotel made you start this new stocking. And speaking of that stocking - I need to hop over to your newest post... ;O)
Hugs
Birgit
Dear Birgit, Thank you for your lovely comments... I learn so much! :):) But I think I always knew that the place above the clouds is also above most problems... and that is why the Cloud Palace floats so freely...! Yes, the clouds are fascinating to fly through and around... I did miss the window views this year! As for processing my Dad's things... it is a bit startling what one learns about one's own parent! (I had no idea he wrote poetry...!) But yes, it is also a heart wrenching thing to know I can't just say "Hey, Dad...!" and hear an answer.... But this time comes to all and I will manage and learn and grow wiser for it.
DeleteAnd thank you for the comments about my Mom, she is still doing really well for a 93 year old... the Doctor is always astonished at her "statistics"! She needs oxygen since she caught covid last year... and her memory is not very good any more.... but this too, is fairly normal. I just wish it were easier to get there and back! :):):)