Amherst Street: ABQ

We like to think of ourselves as a perpetually moving target. To that end, we have just submitted an offer to buy a little bungalow in Albuquerque -- and the seller has accepted! If all goes as scheduled, we'll take possession at Thanksgiving.

The house is on Amherst Street, three blocks south of the University of New Mexico campus. It is within easy walking distance of the library and concert hall. Central Avenue, the main drag through campus, has all of the amenities of urban living that we have come to enjoy along Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C.

These four pictures were taken by our realtor. The furniture is just staging, but the pictures should give you an idea of what the place looks like. Come see us!

http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/AmherstStreet#

Bippity .... boppity .... BOOH!

One visit from the King of Construction, JD, and see what you get (with a little hard work).

OMG ... more construction!

Susie returned to New Mexico in early October for the last phase of the cabin renovation. Jon Lloyd & Michele McGrath were co-conspirators and invaluable help. The task at hand was to remove the remaining walls on the interior of the original cabin, to make it one large open space. We attacked with the big guns -- sawzall & sledge hammers.








The first phase of that project was the easiest part .... DEMOLITION!!!! We attacked the least complicated walls first and left the walls with all the electrical outlets until the very last. We have had quite a time keeping all the wiring sorted out, but we still have working outlets & overhead lights, so we must have done something right. Our electrician, Joe Garcia (Little Joe), will have a time sorting out this wiring arrangement.





During the removal of interior walls, we discovered the "winter stash" of one of our woodland furry friends. Very interesting melange of bedding and nuts.

The cabin is now a lovely, open space with (as they say on HGTV) great flow. We get lots of interior light from all the windows, and the cabin is much brighter. Obviously, there is not much substance to the space at this time. Tune in again to see the newly rearranged kitchen area.

Build-o-Mania 2

Despite some rain days and a small hitch with an inspection, the building project moves steadily onward. Here are a few pictures of the current status. The foundation has been backfilled and a new parking area has been graded and graveled. We moved some big rocks to mark the edge of the parking pad. On the exterior, we now have siding on two of the three walls. We'll stain it to match the logs on the exisiting cabin. On the interior, the wall studs are all up and most of the insulation is in. Wiring and plumbing are almost complete -- and the new jacuzzi bath has been installed. Susie can't wait to start tiling the floors and walls.

http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/BuildOMania2#

Los Alamos Rodeo

A few weeks ago I posted a few pictures and videos from the 4-H Junior Rodeo in San Isidro, NM. This past Sunday (August 9) I went to the Open Rodeo at the Los Alamos County Fair. It was attended by about 200 spectators, equally divided between ranching families and physicists. There were only a few contestants in some events (bull riding, chute dogging), but there was plenty of action in two of my favorites: team roping and barrel racing.

In the former, a two-person team consisting of a "header" and a "heeler" must rope a very fast steer. The header lassoes the steer around the horns or head and then takes a "dally" (wrapping the rope around the saddle horn) and turns the steer for the heeler. The heeler then ropes the steer's rear legs and also takes a dally around his or her saddle horn. The ropers then turn their horses to face each other and pull back to stretch out the steer. The fastest time wins. It is the only event I can think of where men and women can compete on the same team.

In barrel racing, women riders must race their horses in a set pattern around a course consisiting of three 55-gallon oil drums. Fastest time wins (duh). Here are eight short videos to give you a little of the flavor of the afternoon.
http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/LosAlamosRodeo#

Build-o-mania

The construction project at 476 Horseshoe Loop is making incredible progress. Here is a little slideshow to give you an idea of what has been done in a very short time. Our builders, Nick and Ted Bennett, are incredibly skillful, cooperative, and hard-working. We also have had the good luck to engage the services of the electrician ("Little Joe" Garcia) and plumber (Mike Tomatowski) who helped us with the initial renovations of the main cabin. Susie supervises and coordinates everything, discussing changes and solving problems on the fly.

When it's finished, the new additon will have a main bedroom (with a real closet!), one and a half baths (including a large whirlpool tub!), and a large entryway/mudroom. Then we will take down the inner partition in the old cabin, eliminating the original bathroom, enlarging the kitchen, and turning the whole space into one huge open cooking/dining/living area.
http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/BuildOMania#

Rock Art

On Sunday, Will, Maya, and I took a hike along a couple of trails at Petroglyph Monument on the western outskirts of Albuquerque. About 150,000 years ago, lava flows on West Mesa created a layer of basalt that has now crumbled into large boulders and slabs forming a dark, jagged escarpment overlooking the city. Native Americans created fascinating rock art by pecking, chipping, and incising the dark patina of the basalt, revealing the lighter gray rock beneath.

Today, Petroglyph Monument preserves more than 20,000 sacred images cut into the black stone. Some are easily recognizable images of animals, birds, snakes, and people. Some are geometric figures: spirals, circles, rectangles, stars, and crosses. Others are unidentifiable biomorphic hybrids, deities, and mysterious figures drawn from the artists' vision-quests into the spirit world. Some may be 2000 years old, but archeologists think that most were made between 400 and 700 years ago. Spanish explorers and settlers carved their marks into the rocks as well.

Whatever their original meanings may have been for their makers, these thousands of examples of rock art offer precious, beautiful, baffling, and at times amusing glimpses into our shared past.

http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/RockArt#

For a fascinating account of an individual's efforts to protect the rock art at Mesa Prieta, see Katherine Wells's book Life on the Rocks: One Woman's Adventures in Petroglyph Preservation (UNM Press, 2009). Our friend Jan Stone is an active volunteer in this project.