Passions

"Today is 1-1-11. Isn't that cool?" I asked Andy, as we headed for Los Alamos. It's cold here--11 degrees in Albuquerque and 3 degrees below zero in Santa Fe, the coldest morning in four years. I saw a balloon out the motel window as we ate breakfast in the lobby. It drifted high above the tree tops, the red and white canopy outlined against white mountain peaks in the distance. Talk about cold! Riding in a balloon must be nearly unbearable. But I guess that's people and their passions.
Drew was planning to go on a bike ride this morning in Connecticut to add to his 4,200 miles from the past year, and we drove north toward Los Alamos, the town "where discoveries are made," in our extended travels. Passions. They drive people to do crazy things--like writing blogs and taking trips around the United States. What a way to start retirement! And what a way to start a new year!

Santa Fe is not recommended as a retirement town. The 7,000-foot elevation is too hard on the elderly. But today gorgeous blue skies stood out against the white peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Unlike Albuquerque, Santa Fe streets, lined with snow, look like winter, and the narrow highway winds toward snow-capped mountains that rise majestically around Los Alamos.
We crossed the Rio Grande. "It's partially frozen," said Andy.
"That sounds like an oxymoron to me," I said. "The Rio Grande freezing is a contradiction." To me, Rio Grande River makes me think of Mexico, and that equates to desert and heat. Not always so. It's cold here!
Los Alamos is family. Today is reunion--Carol, Kurt, Kari, Erich, neighbors and friends--a big celebration on New Years Day and New Years Day night. Happy New Year!