gravity still works

I'm happy to report that we did several tests yesterday, and yes indeed, gravity is still fully functional here in the southwest.

I spent the day in the studio, but didn't much feel like making beads. So I started pulling out all my toys and making earrings. I made a big mess, and I also made some very cool earrings. After our lovely calm morning, the beasty-wind had kicked up again, so I didn't want to go outside and play anymore. Instead, I declared it a Party Day, and sent Rick to Sonic for orange cream slushes and tater tots. These are not part of our normal diet, but they were just the thing for yesterday. Lauren and Rick and Heidi and Daisy-the-cat joined me in the studio and we all had a really fine time with tots and slushes and earrings until Daisy decided to slink down most ungracefully from the top of the desk, and spilled two big bowls of Swarovski crystals all over the place...



They went everywhere. Rick helped me scoop most of them up, but I'm afraid they will never again be sorted by size or color. Apparently they all wanted to mingle and get to know each other.

Later on we decided to brave the wind and go out to the hot tub. We wore hats and huddled down low in the water. Not ideal, but we do what we can. Eventually it was time to eat again, which always makes us happy. Rick got out to dry off and go to the Guad (Guadalajara Grill is such a mouthful) for those fish tacos we've been talking about for days. Waiting for my turn in the shower, I stayed hunkered down in the rapidly cooling water, wishing really really hard for the wind to die down for just a minute or two so I could get out without freezing. Clearly this wasn't going to happen any time before midnight, so I climbed out, grabbed my towel, slipped into my Crocs, and made a dash across the gravel patio to the front door. But then, somewhere in mid-dash, my foot slipped out of my slidey rubber shoe, and the rest of me seemed to catch the wind and go flying. I'm sure it actually looked more like crashing, since I banged into the door and hit the ground hard, landing on my butt and my left hand, which was holding a glass... made of glass. The glass slammed to the concrete still in my hand, but miraculously didn't break. I got up, feeling most fortunate to only be embarrassed rather than badly damaged, and went inside to tell Rick, "I fell down..." It wasn't until I got out of the shower that I noticed the big scrape on my shin and the blood dripping down my left arm. I guess I hit a couple of places before I came in for the final landing.

Like I said, gravity is working quite well here. I'm glad to know that, just in case I need it for something. At least I know I won't go flinging off into space. That's a comfort. But the thing I find most interesting about this little fall-down is this: Seven years ago, after living here for two months, I had my first wind-related fall. Now here it is, seven years later, and just about two months from the date we hope to move, and I did it again. This time, thankfully, I wasn't hurt too badly, and it was my left side that got banged up instead of the right. It looks to me like a bookend sort of accident, one to mirror the first one and neatly close in my time here in Taos. It's that Mountain. They say it tests us and sends us messages. I think maybe now it's saying, "Get outta here already!"