 |
| Emma played the possessive Mama Mae Peterson in 'Bye Bye, Birdie." She did not approve of her son Albert's attempts at age 33 to cut the apron strings. (I hope it was okay to use your Facebook photos, Joyce.) |
 |
| Mama Mae uses her most persuasive tone with Albert "Sonny Boy" Peterson |
 |
| Papa Tom, Fox, and I drove to Waco after school on Friday, October 27, to see the Horns and Emma's performance in "Bye Bye, Birdie." She was hilarious as Mama Mae Peterson, the overbearing mother of the main character, straight from Brooklyn. For all these years, I thought rock-and-roll heartthrob Conrad Birdie had been played by Elvis in the 1963 film. Not so. But the story is based on the effect Elvis's induction in the U.S. Army had on teen-aged girls. |
 |
| After the play, we had dinner at Cheddar's. |
 |
| Emma transformed into herself after the play, thank goodness. Dinner with Mama Mae Peterson would have been . . . interesting. Next year, Emma will be at Centenary College in Shreveport as a pre-law and voice major. |
 |
| Despite stormy weather, we arrived in Houston from Albuquerque in time to change planes. But our aircraft to Austin had mechanical difficulties and had to be towed to the hangar for a look-see. Departure times changed from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to 3:55 p.m. to (finally!) 3:10 p.m. Yes, they decided on an earlier time; we wondered if passengers had wandered off for a sandwich thinking the 3:55 p.m. time was correct. Anyway, after we got on board, the pilot and co-pilot sat in their seats flipping through an instruction manual (yikes!); got up to chat with ground personnel and flight attendants, and finally revved the engines. As we took off, unsecured drink cans rolled down the aisle. I was happy to get off that Halloween preview flight! Got home at 5:30 p.m. instead of 11:20 a.m. |
 |
| Albuquerque was founded in 1706, 70 years before the American colonies declared independence from Britain. Spanish conquistadors were in the area in the 1500s, long before the town was founded. Don Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva Enriquez, Duke of Albuquerque, must have had a tiny signature or a very long signature line. |
 |
| Cheryl and I dropped Papa off at the Albuquerque airport on Saturday afternoon as he had to get back to Austin for work on Sunday. We explored Old Town. Here's Cheryl in the gazebo in the town square. The cannons are from another era. |
 |
| Tree on the grounds of San Felipe de Neri church. The church has been in continuous use since it's 1706 founding by Franciscan friars. |
 |
| Color everywhere! I've heard of people chained to their desks but not benches chained to the sidewalk. |
 |
| This bride-to-be (or bride that was?) is ready for Dia de los Muertos, coming up on November 2, 2017. |
 |
| Adobe home/business |
 |
| Bench, art, wall |
 |
| After an afternoon in Old Town, we took in sunset at the very hip Level 5 tapa bar. The Sandia peaks are gray in the daytime but pink at sunset. We learned that "sandia" means "watermelon." |
 |
| Papa and I thought about all of you (grownups too!) while we were in Ojo. We enjoyed writing notes to each grandchild, grand-niece, and grand-nephew, and mailing them from the tiny Ojo post office. Did you notice the National Parks stamp on your envelope? |
 |
| Hmm. What else should I say? |
 |
| Golden-leafed trees were a treat since we go from green to no leaves in Austin. |
 |
| My favorite high desert fragrance is from this plant and I don't even know what it's called. Desert sage? White sage? I'm almost sure it's a sage plant of some kind. You have a beautiful middle name, Mya, whether for your wisdom or the heavenly fragrance of sage. |
 |
| Couldn't decide whether this contraption was for trapping fish during the spring runoff or for keeping cattle from using the river mosey from one fenced property to another. |
 |
| Papa was measuring the cottonwood's circumference, which required his tree hugging side to come out. |
 |
| Sunlight on autumn leaves |
 |
| Bench along the trail. And yes, flip flops are excellent for hiking in non-rocky terrain. |
 |
| Papa on the front porch of the Ojo Caliente bath house built in 1868. Seven mineral pools in the desert, at the base of a cliff, were used by Native Americans for thousands of years before Spaniards discovered them in the 1500s. Ruins and shards of pottery from the Posi tribe are at the end of a short hike to the top of the mesa. |
 |
| Warmth from an early morning pinon fire is welcome in the crisp, cool 43 degree aur. The smoke is very fragrant. |
 |
| Superman used to change in these. Wear does he change now? |
 |
| About 10 years ago, when I was at Ojo, I took a yoga class held in the hayloft of the barn, not yet renovated. Light filtered in through cracks in the roof and doves landed near us, their wings whistling when they took flight again. On the walk back, the yoga teacher stopped to show me medicinal herbs growing along the dirt road. Magical time! |
 |
| Magic Papa at the Thinkery's air flow exhibit. |
 |
| At the park across from the Thinkery. We call it Nessie Park because of the Loch Ness monster sculpture at the entrance. |
 |
| Such a relaxing way to swing! Later, Fox pushed me on it. Felt like Rock-a-bye Baby in dappled sunshine. |
 |
| Former co-workers John Beeler and Bill Newchurch show off John's belated 60th birthday and current retirement cake. Here are the personal connections: (1) John's daughter Kara taught kindergarten with Brandy in Round Rock, Texas. Kara visited Brandy in NYC and Kara's son Peter danced in Central Park with Mya. John and I wonder if we'll be grandparents-in-law someday. (2) Bill's brother lives in NOLA. Bill's nephew Drew Newchurch was Destry's close friend in elementary school. BTW, Destry, latest is that Drew is engaged to be married. |
 |
| Papa Tom took a turn at the keyboard to regale us with Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag." |
 |
| The first line was the Dead Music Capital Band. Check them out at dmcband.org. One of the sousaphone players lives in the neighborhood near ours; any excuse for a parade! |
 |
| The DMC Band plays traditional New Orleans brass band tunes (When the Saints Go Marchin' In, but in a minor key); heavy metal; even some Chopin. |
 |
 |
| In the second line |
 |
| We all met in Shreveport on October 9, 2017, and took this rare photo of Dad with all five kids. |
 |
| After pajama day at school, Fox and I caught the "My Little Pony" movie at the Alamo Drafthouse at the former Mueller airport site, now a residential/retail area. Umbrellas protect from the sun as well as rain. Cooler in the shade! |
 |
| On our way home from Asheville, Papa Tom spotted "LUECKE" as we flew over Smithville, Texas. The giant word is spelled out in over three miles of trees, each letter stretching thousands of feet in each direction. The geoglyph, spelling out the name of local landowner Jimmie Luecke, is the world's largest signature. (Yep, everything is bigger in Texas). The signature has been used by the U.S. government to analyze its satellite imagery. The signature is also useful for evaluating spatial resolution of astronaut's photographs. |
 |
| After a day of playing and games at Chuck E. Cheese, the kids were excited that Mama and Daddy would be home around 10:30 p.m. and would wake them up to give them hugs. |
 |
| Piper, River, Mia, Mya, and Mylo, just before the kids's bedtime. |
 |
| Mya's photo of Mylo: one cool cat. |
 |
| While Piper was at speech therapy with Mya and me, Papa Tom and River played. |
 |
| After speech therapy, we indulged in regular or vegan ice cream at The Hop. |
 |
| Tuesday was vacuuming, sweeping, car washing, total clean-up day. |
 |
| Mya on the bouncy pillow at the annual Eliada Home's Corn Maze. |
 |
| In the corn kernal box. So comfortable to lie down! |
 |
| On the hayride |
 |
| Piper in the corn box. |
 |
| Mya and River raced each other through the box, only to immediately lose their flip flops. It took us about 20 minutes of digging to find them again! |
 |
| River sends his found flip flops flying! Mya's wearing hers, but one of them promptly broke. Luckily, there was a Dollar General store nearby that still had end-of-summer flip flops for sale. |
