Southwest Trip

After a month in the Southwest I am back home in Seattle, unpacking, washing clothes, opening my mail, deleting emails, and most importantly, preparing for my next trip.

I flew to Albuquerque on September 20th, picked up a rental car, and drove to Gallup to stay with my friend Terry Sloan overnight, then I drove to Shiprock to start a two week stint.  It’s always good to go there, both to work and to see friends.  The work’s not hard - I don’t take call - and I (almost) always find it enjoyable.  And there’s lots to do - half price hamburgers at Three Rivers Brewery on Monday nights, cookouts on Ten Mile Mesa on Wednesday nights (although we did get rained out), dinners with friends.  Over the weekend between my two weeks working I drove to our cabin in Chama for a quick visit.  It was great there - peaceful, quiet, beautiful.

After my work was done I drove to Gallup again to visit friends (the Iralus,  Milan and Paula, Ed Hui,) then I went back to Shiprock and met Nonnie, Colin, and Oran there, and after eating dinner with the Mohs family we crashed in the apartment overnight.   The next morning we drove to our cabin in Chama.  The solar electric and water collection systems were working fine, and in the evening we had the luxury of reading by an electric light plus the light from candles and an oil lamp that my grandparents used.  Oran seemed to love the cabin life, as did Ono, the three legged dog.  Did I mention that she came with Colin, Oran, and Nonnie in the car?  A real road trip for all of them, camping out in Yellowstone, The Grand Tetons, and several other campgrounds on the 1,400 mile trip from Seattle to Shiprock.

Next Nonnie and I drove to the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and Colin and Oran, after picking up Sarah and dropping Ono off in Albuquerque, drove to the park and met us in the lodge.  We spent three days and nights there and had a wonderful time.  My favorite evening was eating pizza and drinking red wine on the veranda overlooking the canyon.

After the drive back to Gallup we ate dinner at Jerry’s and stayed with Ed, then we went to Albuquerque and stayed at the uptown Marriott, just a couple of blocks from where we used to live.  We had breakfast with Bruce and Isabelle and dinner with Dave and Eve at the home of their friends Erica and John.  The next morning Colin picked us up and we drove back to Seattle, stopping in motels in Provo and Baker City along the way.  The last morning we had breakfast at one of my all time favorite cafes, the Inland Cafe in Baker City, and then we were home for dinner.

My next trip?  I leave for Bangkok, Yangon, and Mandalay next Thursday.

Memories of My Melancholy Whores

“Sex is the consolation you have when you can’t have love,” says the ninety year old narrator about his love for a thirteen year old virgin whore.  She is the first true love of his life, and he likes her best when she is asleep.  Perhaps because when she is asleep he can make her whatever he wants her to be, but when she is awake she is what she is: poor, illiterate, immature. 

A common themes in the authors writing is the power of love to make old men young.  And the power of unrequited love to make men bitter.  “Age isn’t how old you are but how old you feel.”  At ninety the narrator gladly exchanges wisdom for emotion, and starts writing his weekly column in the style of love letters to the girl.

I suppose all men want to live forever, and falling in love at ninety proves you are still alive.  To love is to live.  What do ninety year old men want more of in their lives?  "More love," wrote one ninety year old author.

It's a great book - Highly recommended.