Monday, December 31, 2007
Got 'er done
Yeah! Just finished my running for the year and 2007's mileage is.........700.07 miles! Yippee!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Still going
Sunny and crisp here, cold enough to wear two pairs of pants and three tops when running.
But I'm chasing the goal of 700 miles of running in 2007, so I keep going. Actually these days, I look forward to my runs.
In August I kicked my running up a few notches. Since then I've run at least 20 miles a week, with the exception of last week when I was feeling run down and trying to get a cold, which I never really got.
New goal: 1000 miles in 2008.
Now I reread the very first entry of this blog with interest...at that time a run of a few miles was really hard. I was dealing with the stress of moving, trying to settle in to the changes in my life, trying to adjust to my new job and community. Running helped. And I've turned to it every time I've felt challenged by something, and also (more and more frequently) when life was feeling pretty good. Now running is a joy most of the time. Sure, sometimes it not easy to get out there, and sometimes the run doesn't feel great--but when I stop, I'm always glad I did it.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
"Prices for Tamales Dent Wallets"
That was the headline of the El Paso Times on Thursday, followed by, "Corn-wrapped delights go for$10-14 a dozen." Last year, a dozen tamales cost $8.
Tamales are a holiday food here, usually involving many family members in the making of the pork and red chile-filled masa dish. My initial exposure to tamales came in 1980, during my first Christmas in Texas. A couple of kids entered the neighborhood bar my coworkers and I frequented, carrying galvanized pails of the cornstalk wrapped treat, selling them for next to nothing....probably less than $5 a dozen.
The newspaper says the jump in the minimum wage, plus increased prices of gas and corn contributed to the higher cost of tamales. They're still a great buy. Two tamales for me makes a meal.
Tamales are a holiday food here, usually involving many family members in the making of the pork and red chile-filled masa dish. My initial exposure to tamales came in 1980, during my first Christmas in Texas. A couple of kids entered the neighborhood bar my coworkers and I frequented, carrying galvanized pails of the cornstalk wrapped treat, selling them for next to nothing....probably less than $5 a dozen.
The newspaper says the jump in the minimum wage, plus increased prices of gas and corn contributed to the higher cost of tamales. They're still a great buy. Two tamales for me makes a meal.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Come over and have dinner at my house!
A flurry of cooking this weekend: chili with chipotle and chocolate, cornbread casserole, steamed broccoli. And for dessert, your choice: pink grapefruit granita or pear caramel ginger ice cream!
Top Secret Project
The region got some good news on Friday, but it is hush hush until early February. I'll enjoy working on it...can't wait to tell you!
Border Absurdities
New government rules are due to take effect on January 31, complicating an already frustrating and complicated situation at the border. Currently it is easy to get into Mexico; the problem is getting back home. At the El Paso bridges, it can take 3hours to get back into the US from Juarez, and US citizens need only give an oral declaration to the Customs and Border Protection officers.
After January 31, every US citizen must show a passport to get back into the United States. Every postoffice in the area--even the tiny ones--are posting "passport hours" getting ready for the deadline. Lots of people here visit family in Mexico; buy their prescriptions in Mexico; even visit the dentist, who is likely US trained and offers services for a fraction of the cost.
The new rules even affects the raft and canoe tours of the Rio Grande. Because it is next to impossible to prevent a boat from traveling across the imaginary line at the center of the river and drift into Mexican territory, anyone taking a boat tour in our area will need a passport to get back onto Texas soil.
Visitors will no longer be able to book a river trip without a passport. How many Houstonians would think to pack their passport on a hiking trip to the mountains?
Currently there are no legal border crossings from Presidio-Ojinaga and Del Rio-Acuna, a stretch of 400 miles that includes Big Bend National Park. Before 9/11 there were informal crossing areas. Local folks are working to reopen a one lane bridge at La Linda, a former mining town in Mexico, which would help families visit each other again, and allow tourists an easier crossing to each country.
After January 31, every US citizen must show a passport to get back into the United States. Every postoffice in the area--even the tiny ones--are posting "passport hours" getting ready for the deadline. Lots of people here visit family in Mexico; buy their prescriptions in Mexico; even visit the dentist, who is likely US trained and offers services for a fraction of the cost.
The new rules even affects the raft and canoe tours of the Rio Grande. Because it is next to impossible to prevent a boat from traveling across the imaginary line at the center of the river and drift into Mexican territory, anyone taking a boat tour in our area will need a passport to get back onto Texas soil.
Visitors will no longer be able to book a river trip without a passport. How many Houstonians would think to pack their passport on a hiking trip to the mountains?
Currently there are no legal border crossings from Presidio-Ojinaga and Del Rio-Acuna, a stretch of 400 miles that includes Big Bend National Park. Before 9/11 there were informal crossing areas. Local folks are working to reopen a one lane bridge at La Linda, a former mining town in Mexico, which would help families visit each other again, and allow tourists an easier crossing to each country.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Too bad they didn't post the photos
Part of my job is working with travel writers and encouraging them to cover our region. In this case, the writer came to us out of the blue wanting to do an article about Van Horn. It was published in the December issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. The online version doesn't do it justice...the photographs are stunning...but here's the link anyway!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
December 12--Our Lady of Guadalupe Day
Shoot, I intended to post this on Wednesday...
An important holiday in Mexico...in honor of it, some images from the cemetery in Van Horn. You can read about the holiday here: http://www.inside-mexico.com/guadalupe.htm
Neatly Tended
All fall, there's been a transformation at this grave in Van Horn. First the hole, then the mound, then the mound completely covered with heaps of flowers, then bare mound again.
All of a sudden all of this appeared, the paint on the chairs still wet, and every item appearing to be deliberately set in place. Someone in the family has made a happy spot. The wind sometimes blows the orange dinosaur on its side, but someone always sets him upright again.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
I hope I have the grace
A wise person once told me, "Do not allow yourself only friends your own age, because when they go, they'll all go at once."
This is very good advice, but also for the perspective brought on by age and experience.
Just now, I am getting a lesson in handling life's losses with grace and dignity.
I get calls from time to time from an older friend, "I got this email, I don't know anything about it, and maybe you can remember it for me." Or, "This lady called about a budget page that's due today for a grant, I don't know her name, but do you, by chance, know what she's talking about?"
Sometimes it can be alarming, what he forgets. His wife makes sure he remembers the important things, but the business details and names sometimes fall away. We've learned not to leave things for him--better to give them to her, or leave a note. Email sometimes confuses him--he'll forget or get alarmed by old correspondence so it is just best to conduct business in person.
What amazes me is his attitude. I have never seen someone lose something so vital and be so matter-of-fact about it. I know he feels it, but he doesn't show an ounce of grief over his inability to remember things. He just forges ahead, asks for help without embarrassment, as if it were perfectly normal to need help remembering the simplest things. And you know what? It is normal, very normal, and something most of us will probably face some day. But he always says with a smile and a chuckle--and says as if it were the first time, "you know, I sometimes can't remember things so well." Boy, do we know, but he makes it easy to want to help.
This is very good advice, but also for the perspective brought on by age and experience.
Just now, I am getting a lesson in handling life's losses with grace and dignity.
I get calls from time to time from an older friend, "I got this email, I don't know anything about it, and maybe you can remember it for me." Or, "This lady called about a budget page that's due today for a grant, I don't know her name, but do you, by chance, know what she's talking about?"
Sometimes it can be alarming, what he forgets. His wife makes sure he remembers the important things, but the business details and names sometimes fall away. We've learned not to leave things for him--better to give them to her, or leave a note. Email sometimes confuses him--he'll forget or get alarmed by old correspondence so it is just best to conduct business in person.
What amazes me is his attitude. I have never seen someone lose something so vital and be so matter-of-fact about it. I know he feels it, but he doesn't show an ounce of grief over his inability to remember things. He just forges ahead, asks for help without embarrassment, as if it were perfectly normal to need help remembering the simplest things. And you know what? It is normal, very normal, and something most of us will probably face some day. But he always says with a smile and a chuckle--and says as if it were the first time, "you know, I sometimes can't remember things so well." Boy, do we know, but he makes it easy to want to help.
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