My First Balloon Rally and (3!) Rides

On October 29th and 30th, the 29th annual Taos Mountain Balloon Rally took place and my friend Steve and I crewed for "Terrible Tom" (TT) Schroeder on his balloon, Pirate Treasure.  Crewing basically means that you help get the balloon ready for flight and then the crew takes turns riding in the basket with TT.  I managed to get three rides in over the two-day event (and was promptly nicknamed "Ride Hog"!) and have to say that I am completely hooked!  I've joined TMBRA (Taos Mountain Balloon Rally Association) so that I can be in on all the action next year, too!

Early morning, when balloonists are unloading their gear.



Our tarp (in the left foreground) and the next balloon over being inflated.  I seem to remember

that he was the first one to ascend.



The basket is assembled and TT is testing the burners.



Steve (on the left) and another volunteer holding the balloon open
so that the fan can blow hot air inside.  (Notice a familiar black
CRV with NM plates to the left of Steve?)





The top of the balloon from inside the basket.

 



Finally!  My first ascent!  Steve and two other volunteers are packing up the
tarp and will follow us in the chase car.

Looking out at some of the other balloons which were already higher than us.

 

Over Taos, looking north toward Taos Mountain.

A gentle landing with "Terrible" Tom, our intrepid captain,
in calm control.

 

A Visit to the Rio Grande Gorge

October 16th was another gloriously warm day in Arroyo Hondo, so I took Scout down to the Rio Grande Gorge for a picnic.  One of the wonderful things about being retired is that I can visit places during the week when not too many people are around and such was the case with this trip.  We stopped at where the Rio Hondo (basically a mountain stream) empties into the Rio Grande, where people had built up a series of rock "dams."  Scout was in his glory and spent the whole time in the water, as you'll see from the pictures below.

View from the Rio Grande up the side of the Gorge.

Another view to the top of the Gorge.



Scout, looking for a stick, in one of the pools created where the Rio Hondo enters the Rio Grande. 

John Dunn Bridge in the background, looking upriver.

Scout in one of the lower pools, still looking for a stick.

Returning home, the view toward the mountains from the top of the Gorge.



View of cottonwoods lining the Rio Hondo on trip home.

 

Another Road Trip

On October 11th, a friend and I took a road trip through the back country between Questa and Red River, two small towns north of Arroyo Hondo.  At the lower elevations, the road was fine except for having to drive around fallen trees from the snow storm.  As we got higher, the dirt road became muddy and still had snow on it in some places.  The scenery was spectacular, however, and despite the often sheer drop offs, it was well worth the drive.  No one can explain why the color of the aspens is "off" this year, although some blame it on the severe drought from this past summer.  Regardless of the explanation, it was wonderful to be in the mountains again and to do some NM "leaf-peeping."

At about 10,000', looking back toward the Rio Grande Valley.





First Snow

Although the higher surrounding peaks have had snow for a while, the first snow here on the mesa occurred on October 7-8.  We didn't get more than a few inches here, but Taos Ski Valley (TSV) received about 2'.  The snow was so wet and heavy that it took out a lot of trees with leaves still on them and created a massive power outage.  I learned an interesting lesson regarding the need for electricity when you're on a well system and now have jugs of water stashed for future outages.  Here are some pictures from here on the mesa.  The Rio Grande Valley was absolutely spectacular and, of course, Scout was in heaven!   (BTW, snow and colder temperatures seem not to have affected the tarantula migration.)

View across the Rio Grande Valley.





My First Tarantula Encounter

So, this morning while on our walk, Scout and I encountered our first tarantula.

This was actually a small tarantula, perhaps just 3" across from toe to toe.  (Do tarantulas have toes?)  Later, we saw a second small one which walked within 2' of my foot.  They're actually quite graceful, but I don't think I'd want to get any closer than those 2'.  Scout was quite intrigued but obeyed a "leave it" command like the intelligent dog he is.

So far, none in the house but certainly a plethora of various other spiders and bugs.  Yuck.

A New "Invasion"

This morning, my landlord announced that it is the time of year for tarantulas to seek warm places for the winter and to keep an eye out for them in and around the house.  He also demonstrated with his fist the size of the creatures.  Well, this is the first time I had heard that there were tarantulas this far north and this high up.  I am not a happy camper....actually, I'm totally freaked out about this new development!  I haven't seen one yet, but the season is young and the dental assistant I saw today gleefully told me about running over "lots" of them on the road betwen Taos and Tres Piedras. 

Wish someone had warned me...... 

Scout Update

Scout has had some difficulty getting used to NM--there's no grass, for one thing--but I think he's beginning to settle in with the help of some stress-relieving tablets and spending a lot of time with me.  Also his paws are beginning to adjust to the rocky ground. 




Scout in the "yard" outside my casita.

I try to get him out for at least a two-mile walk every morning, at which time he meets up with about seven neighborhood dogs.  However, his real joy continues to be spending time in streams.  Here are some pictures of him and his new BFF (best friend forever) Tula in the stream below Tula's house.

Let me at that stick!

Oh no!  Tula has my stick!

Tula can have the stick.  I'm going to dry off.

Views from My Place

There isn't a day that goes by but that I'm sitting outside, looking at the expansive view across the Rio Grande Gorge, which is probably one reason it has taken me so long to unpack.  Here are some examples of what I see.

Dust devils (think mini-water spouts but composed of dirt).

Every morning, at least two (sometimes four) hot air balloons lift off the valley floor.

One of many drop-dead gorgeous sunsets I've seen.

Another Road Trip

My mother's sister, Evalyn, turned 100 on September 1st, so many of her extended family attended a birthday celebration in her honor in Pueblo, CO, which is about three hours from Arroyo Hondo.  On the way back, I passed through wild horse country in southern CO and snapped the following pictures of two different herds.  (Yes, those are wild horses on open range!)  Note that there are some foals, too.

Road Trips

 One of my friends and I made a trip to Silverton, CO, (a funky old mining town with some original buildings) to see the sights and also to visit his son.  Below are pics of some of the killer scenery we saw along the way.  Sorry, I don't remember the names of the mountains.

One thing for sure, for a girl who's been used to driving the flat land of New England for the past 30+ years, real mountain driving was a very interesting experience!

Northern NM.

Coming down from the pass in the previous picture.

Just outside of Silverton.

In CO.

Still in CO.

Back in NM.

Ketchup (i.e., Catch Up)

Yikes!  I haven't updated this blog in almost two months!  Sorry about that.  Once my furniture arrived (11 days late!), I was faced with the daunting task of trying to fit everything into the casita, which just didn't work.  I have a storage unit filled to overflowing, but as of this morning, the artwork is up on the walls and all of the boxes are gone.  While unpacking, I've also been taking road trips, visiting museums (including the O'Keefe Museum in Santa Fe), enjoying the weather and sunsets, and eating as much Mexican food as my intestines will allow.  :-)  See additional entries for more about some of the above.

Home At Last

After an uneventful trip across southeastern CO from La Junta to Trinidad, Scout and I crossed over Raton Pass and into NM on August 3rd.  There had been a forest fire on the pass and the blackened trees and soil were disturbing to see.  However, from the top of Raton, you can see forever and ever into the northern part of NM and that was totally glorious.  After I hit the plains, I turned back west into the mountains, drove past the entrance to Philmont Boy Scout Camp, and turned once more into the mountains.  The air was fresh and clean so I rolled down all the windows as we climbed the pass to Eagle Nest, which was just drop-dead gorgeous.

From there, we dropped down into Taos where it took me no time at all to be totally overwhelmed by the commercialism (and traffic) that have devoured the Plaza and surrounding downtown of Taos.  It has also grown a great deal and there are new houses and developments creeping up the sides of  the mountain.  There are still open pasture areas and the road to Taos Pueblo didn't appear to have been overcome by fast food joints, tourist stops, etc., etc.

My new casita is everything it appeared to be in the photos and I'm totally charmed by my new landlords, Bob and Mary, who were putting the finishing touches on the place when we arrived.  I had dinner with a friend that night at a great little Mexican food restaurant and then slept like a rock except to get up every once in a while to gaze at the stars, which seemed close enough to touch, and listen to the coyotes.

On the morning of the 4th, still being somewhat on MA time, Scout and I went for an early walk, just in time to see the sun peek over Taos Mountain and illuminate the floor of the Rio Grande Valley, where a hot-air balloon was lifting off.  Then I had breakfast at the picnic table outside my casita and watched as probably a dozen hummingbirds flitted through the pinon pines and hit the feeders in Bob and Mary's yard.  Totally magical!

I'm writing this post on the computer of two new friends, Tammy and Denny, both of whom are incredibly talented artists, not to mention fantastic cooks.  Their house is located on a hillside overlooking a stream and we had dinner on their deck last night.  They also have three dogs, one of which (Tula) has completely charmed Scout--they spent about an hour playing in the stream and then throwing themselves in the dirt for a good scratch yesterday afternoon.  I think Scout has his first BFF in Taos!

My next project is to get my internet connection set up, so I probably won't write again until that happens.

Almost There....

Today Scout and I crossed the remainder of KS and into my home state of CO.  Tonight we're staying in La Junta, which is not far from Rocky Ford where my mother was born and raised on the family farm.  Unfortunately, because of the length of today's trip and the fact that I didn't think Scout could take one more minute in the car, I didn't get to go exploring for the old place.  Instead I took Scout to a public park to throw his ball and release some of his pent-up energy and, wouldn't you know it, we weren't 5 minutes into the game when he heard thunder and immediately went into his panic mode.  That was it for the ballplaying.  Tomorrow should be a much shorter day, however, and I'm going to try again as the stress of the trip seems to be wearing on him.

KS was very interesting to cross.  Immediately upon getting onto the interstate, I could see a huge wind farm in the distance.  There must have been 60-75 of those gigantic turbines, all going in different rotations--even with their stark whiteness, they are almost sculptural and not as intrusive on the landscape as I might have imagined. When we turned off the interstate and onto a state highway (parts of which turned out to be on or near the old Santa Fe Trail), we encountered another one, around Dodge City I think.  I also saw fields of sunflowers which were really pretty and all kinds of different birds, including a couple bald eagles and magpies.  Still haven't encountered a meadowlark--that will be a sure indication that I'm in the West.  I'm now in Mountain Daylight Time, too, which means that I'm 2 hours behind all of my friends in the East.

Tomorrow we head southwest to Ft. Garland, CO, and then south to Arroyo Hondo, where we should arrive by early afternoon.  To say that this has been an interesting trip would be an understatement.  We have gone from completely green MA to the semi-arid Great Basin of the center of the country and in many ways traced the path of my ancestors as they made their way across the country.  Of couse, everything is different now in a multitude of ways, but it's still possible to catch glimpses of what it must have been like for those early pioneers.

I'm very much looking forward to becoming a New Mexican tomorrow and starting the next chapter in my life.  This may be my last post for a while since I've not decided which internet provider to use.

Until then.....

One Day Closer via Salina, KS

This morning Scout and I left St. Louis at 7:30 in the most unbearable heat and humidity I've ever experienced.  Last night at 9:45, it was still 94 degrees, and when I opened the door to the hotel room, it was like stepping into a sauna.  This morning's drive across the top of MO would have been quite scenic if not for the constant barrage of gigantic billboards advertising everything from the local university to Grandma's fudge to one car dealer who seemed to like doing Burma Shave-type sequential signs.  We also crossed the mighty Missouri River which was actually in flood, which surprised me.  This must still be the result of the gigantic snow melt in the Rockies this year.

Then we entered Kansas City, where they seem to like their professional sports a lot (multiple venues for multiple teams) and where the drivers act like they learned to drive in Indianapolis (although I didn't see any blimps).  As we drove west across Kansas, it got hotter and hotter and less humid and there was an amazing shift in the scenery along about Manhattan and Topeka.  First, the vistas opened up dramatically and it was easy to see for miles and miles in any direction from the highway.  There were fewer trees and crops and more open grassland.  About the only things that broke the horizon line were grain silos and electronics towers.  Both of my parents' families migrated across this section of our great country to Colorado, and I wondered today as I sped along in air-conditioned comfort how this arid and barren land must have appeared to them.

Salina is probably a very nice little town but in the 107-degree heat (114 with the heat index), Scout and I didn't spend much time looking about except to get gas and escape into an air-conditioned motel room.  Even he couldn't take it and he'll put up with just about anything to play with his ball.  Right now, he's asleep on the bed behind me, with his nose toward the AC.  I am carrying a very special oil painting by Chief Muraina Oyelama, an amazing Nigerian artist who was a Copeland Fellow at Amherst College when I worked in the Black Studies department.  I didn't want to take a chance of shipping it with the movers because I thought the van would get too hot for the oils.  Well, tonight I brought it inside the motel room just in case it got too hot in the car!

Thoughts on today's travels:
- Kansas motorcyclists join their brothers and sisters in other states in the anti-helmet campaign.  Today I would have also worried about sunstroke!
- Kansas has a 70 MPH speed limit, which means that it's okay to do 80!
- I'm getting terrible gas mileage, which is probably a function of the load in the car, running the AC, and the heat.
- A sign at a Salina Midas Muffler shop:  "Don't play leapfrog with a unicorn!"  (No, I'm not kidding.)
- Saw my first Herefords today (those are the white-faced red cattle for those of you who are wondering), along with stock pens, cowboy hats hung in the rear windows of (lots) of pick-up trucks, and had some authentic Mexican food for dinner tonight! 

Tomorrow we drive to La Junta, CO, which is close to Rocky Ford, where my mother's parents homesteaded and which is where I spent the best summer vacations of my childhood.  I hope to spend some time looking around, visiting their old farm (unfortunately long gone from the family), and revisiting some very special old memories, before I head toward home (in Arroyo Hondo) on the 3rd.  Part of the drive tomorrow will not be on the interstate, which will be a welcome change.  If we hadn't had to beat the movers to NM, I really would have loved to have taken some of the scenic smaller roads to our destination.  We truly do live in a great and amazing country and to experience it at a less frantic pace and on its own terms is very special indeed--I know this from personal experience.

Until tomorrow then......

The Left Side of the Mississippi!

Today, Scout and I left Dublin, OH at 7 and journeyed across the remainder of OH, IN, IL, and into MO, where we crossed the Mississippi River to the "proper" (i.e., west) side and wound up in Westport on the outskirts of St. Louis.  The Mississippi is just as wide and magnificent as I remember it from my travels in the opposite direction in 1973 in New Orleans.  Unfortunately, I didn't see the Arch as I think we were too far north.

I have only three words to describe the states we drove through today:  flat, flat, flat.  No, make that a total of six words by adding:  hot, hot, hot.  I had forgotten just how level the landscape is in our central states.  But what I did remember about the beautiful farms and acres and acres of corn and other crops hasn't changed.  I am beginning to see quarterhorses (and paints and pintos, too), stores for western wear and cowboy boots, and signs for Mexican food restaurants.  This is a good sign!  I also saw three oil wells today which was not so good.

The air in St. Louis this afternoon is like being in a sauna so I'm particularly happy to head out for the drier climes (I hope) of KS tomorrow morning.  I'm also in the central time zone--halfway between mountain and eastern time--and, at about 1,400 miles, Scout and I are over halfway home.

Some observations about today's travels:

- Ohioans must be a very curious bunch of folks.  I can't tell you how many times a car would pull up close behind or next to me on the interstate and slow down to check Scout and me out.  Is it because they've never seen anyone with MA plates?  Do I look like an Okie from the Dustbowl days with my car packed to the gils?  I don't know the reason, but after they made sure we were okay, they sped on by.
- The IN and IL DPWs must use the same kind of asphalt for the interstate as OH as there was an equal amount of shredded truck tires on the sides of the road.  It decreased somewhat in IL, but it was still there.
- The folks in Indianapolis drive just like race car drivers.  There must have been a race at the 500 track today because there were digital signs with directional information and a blimp sitting above what I think is its location.
- We saw some Amish on their way to church (I assume) in their buggies and carriages.
- Motorcyclists in all the states we passed through today still have that death wish or else just like having the wind in their hair and the sun on their faces because there were still no helmets.  Are these people crazy?
- I wished that I had had a mathematician with me today to talk about the mathematics of how many times I passed the same trucks (after stopping at a rest stop)--I saw one particular rig at least 4 times!
- A nasty little bumper sticker that has popped up has a picture of Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer (as in the old recruiting posters) with these words:  "Uncle Sam wants you ... to speak English."  I'm no longer in Happy Valley, that's for sure.  :-(
- I think I've discovered one of the reasons for the obesity plague in this country:  all the food and restaurant signs along the interstates and all-you-can eat places.
- And speaking of signs, immediately upon entering IN this morning there were these two:  "Hell Has No Exit!" (with some quite well-done flames) and "Jesus Saves."  Oh brother--the Bible Belt has moved farther north than I thought.


Hasta manana, mis amigos.....

Sights Along the Way

Here's a sampling of what I saw along the way today:

- A stretch pickup truck.  No, I'm not kidding.  It was the kind with the "back seat" and there were about 10 of those back-seat windows between the front seat and the bed of the truck.  Very bizarre looking.
- Lake Ontario--so vast and blue under today's clear sky.  Lots of sailboats out.
- A caravan of open-sided jeeps.
- LOTS of campers and 5th wheels.
- A license plate "2TH PIX" at yet another NY Thruway toll booth.  They certainly collected their fair share out me before I escaped.
- Once we hit OH, a multitude of motorcyclists with death wishes.  There's evidently no helmet law in this state and more often than not, the riders weren't wearing them.
- Lots of vineyards, in addition to all the other fruit.
- Once we hit OH, incredible amounts of shredded tires on the sides of the road--do they put something in the asphalt here?
- Unlike in MA, people in PA and OH pretty much adhere to the speed limit, with the exception of the guy in the red Volvo convertible who must have been doing 100 when he went by me.
- The terrain is getting flatter.

Travels with Scout (or My New Favorite Toy is My GPS!)

Okay, okay--so I didn't add to my blog yesterday, which was the first day of my trip!  After five hours of driving through downpours, I spent last night decompressing at the 1875 home of my friend, Priscilla, who is an incredible fiber artist (wearables and quilts) in addition to being a teacher, world traveler, and all-around nice person.  You can see who she is and and her amazing work at her blog:  http://www.priscillakibbee.blogspot.com/  Priscilla took me to dinner at a bay-side (on Lake Ontario) restaurant last night where I had some delicious shrimp and she had the largest jumbo scallops I've ever seen.  She lives in Wayne County in upstate New York and, according to what she told me, there are over 100,000 acres of apples and fruit trees in the county!  I was amazed to see that they are now growing apples on supports (vs. as stand-alone trees), much like grapes in vineyards.

This morning, after breakfast with Priscilla, Scout and I hit the road at 8 and drove to Dublin, OH, just outside of Columbus, where we arrived at our hotel for the night just after 3.  We have 747 miles of the trip completed--about one third.  It was so nice just to set the GPS this morning and not have to look at a map--if I had, I would have been very discouraged by the sheer distance we had to travel! 

Tomorrow we follow I70 past Dayton and Indianapolis to Westport, MO, which is just outside of St. Louis.  This will be another long haul but it will also make the two following days easier.  In case you're wondering, our stops were predicated on finding motels that welcomed dogs (and other animals).  I used this site:  http://www.petswelcome.com/ and highly recommend it.

Scout is doing amazingly well.  He gets two "doggie downers" in the morning to help him deal with the anxiety of traveling and I feed him treats throughout the day.  He's a little anxious at first, but then calms down and I've even caught him lying and sitting down, watching the scenery fly by.  We're doing rest stops every couple of hours and he seems to love having a chance to sniff out where all the other traveling dogs have left their marks (which, of course, he overmarks).  I am so, so proud of my beautiful boy.

Today was the first day that it has begun to sink in that I am now retired and setting out on my new adventure....that this isn't just a vacation but that I'm actually leaving behind not only my work life but also everything familiar about my life for the past 38 years.  Every time I see the word "west," I know that I'm finally heading to my real home......

About Cooking and Moving.....

Most people who know me also have come to realize that I hate to cook--I've never liked it and I'm not good at it, with a few notable exceptions:  I make a killer lasagna, a mean chili (compliments of Penzey' spices: http://www.penzeys.com/), and really good pasta salads.  So, after a long weekend of dutifully packing and sorting and planning, tonight I decided to make myself some Pasta Alfredo.  I defrosted some turkey bacon in the microwave, located the frozen peas in the freezer, pulled the box of pasta and Newman's Own Alfredo sauce (hey, I didn't say I did things from scratch!) off the shelf, and prepared to cook away when I discovered, much to my dismay, that I had packed all the pots and pans.  It's really hard to make pasta without a pot to boil it in.  I also didn't have a colander to drain it or another pan to heat the Alfredo sauce in.

Plan B:  opened a can of fat-free, low-sodium refried beans, chopped up some onion, added the diced turkey bacon, thawed some organic tortillas, and I had instant burritos!  I also had on hand shredded cheese, chopped lettuce, and sour cream which are mandatory for burritos. What's that old saying about making lemonade when life hands you lemons?

I did remember to keep out the can opener and hot pads, which I put safely away among the things I'm taking in the car, just in case I have to repeat this scenario in NM before my stuff arrives.  Now if I could just figure out how to get Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream to NM.  Will it be possible to find ice cream better than B&J??

The adventure continues......

Packing, Packing, Packing - or How Did I Ever Get This Much Stuff?

It feels like I've been packing for months!  Well, come to think of it, I have.  When I decluttered the house to put it on the market, I packed stuff in boxes labeled "NM" and "tag sale," so a lot (one of those stand-alone storage units full) was done already.  But now I'm packing for the movers, who are due in just under two weeks.  I thought I was down to the bare bones, but I keep finding more and more STUFF! 

The moving/tag sale will be next Saturday, and that will clear out most of the furniture and things I packed away last winter.  As much as I'm not enjoying all of this turmoil, I will admit that getting rid of everything but just the essentials has been very good for me--I feel "lighter" in many ways and it's making the transition to my new life that much more exciting.

The New Owners

The young couple who are buying my house are just plain amazing, full of energy and love.  It is a wonderful feeling to pass my home on to people who will create their own memories and appreciate the property in their own way.  Here they are after having stacked two cords of firewood in a record-breaking four hours!  It was wonderful to be able to supervise for a change instead of stacking.  (My contribution was buying a tarp cover and sweeping up the debris from the driveway.) 

Andy & Wendy

Where I'll Be Living in NM

Many of you have asked for pictures of my new home in New Mexico.  Well, here you go, compliments of my new landlord, Bob.

The view to the west, over the Rio Grande Valley.  No, that's not a typo on the pic--it was taken May 2nd!

View down the driveway, to the South.

View to the South, from the livingroom.

Oh!  You wanted pictures of the apartment itself!?  Sorry--these killer views are what sold me on the place (and it's beautiful, by the way).



What I'll Miss

There are many things I will miss about New England--it will be especially hard to leave behind my good friends and community.  I'll also miss, in no particular order, summer fireflies, living within two hours of the ocean, the stream that runs across the back of my property, a wonderful 12-grain bread from a local bakery, watching winter blizzards roar through, the warmth of a blazing fire in the woodstove, the amazing diversity of artists in the Pioneer Valley, and, of course, the glorious fall foliage.

Springtime in MA, with the bulbs just beginning to show.

I'll also miss my cozy little house with all of its good memories--the gardens which (for this non-gardener)  were a never-ending, ongoing work-in-progress, the diversity of wildlife (bobcats, coyotes, deer, and a wide variety of birds), sitting on the deck and watching the sunset or waving at the folks in a hot air balloon floating over at tree-top height, skiing out the back door to one of the trails, skating on the pond next door--many, many fond memories.

A portion of the front flower beds, summer of 2010.


 

A view off the deck in early spring, showing Plum Brook at the rear of the property.

 

New Beginnings

My spiritual journey home to the West began in 2004 with the death of my husband, Dan.  We had been together 36 years at the time of his death; needless to say, his death rocked the foundation of my life.  We had moved in 1973 from Colorado to New England, an area he loved but one in which I never felt quite at home--I missed the West's brilliant blue skies and distant views, the dramatically beautiful sunsets and glorious sunrises, the ways of Westerners, and other intangibles that I could never quite articulate but which I felt in every fiber of my soul.

Dan's death provided me with the time and space to grow in ways I couldn't imagine--sometimes that growth was exhilarating, often it was incredibly painful, but always, in the end, it was very much worth the effort.  I learned to trust my judgment, to follow my heart, and to understand that the universe is perpetually conspiring to help me. 

Over the next several weeks, I will be packing my belongings--mostly art and the contents of my studio--in preparation for the move to my new (temporary) home in Arroyo Hondo, NM.  I plan to rent for about a year while I look around beautiful northern New Mexico for my permanent home--a place where I will be able to get lost in incredible vistas from every window, raise a few horses and dogs, create my art, and generally live out the rest of my life in tranquility.  I hope you will join me on "My Journey Home," the subject of this blog.