Sunday in Albuquerque

Last day in Albuquerque with Jean and Paul's family.  Jean has plied us with toys and clothes that her kids have grown out of and ours will love.  I think we are returning the favor by leaving half of the kids' dirty socks here - can't find 'em anywhere (sorry Jean.)

I went running this morning up the arroyo (that's Spanish for 'arroyo') and met Jean and their dog Karma out for a walk.  Karma is a slim, sweet-faced, occasionally exuberant mutt from Alaska.  She came bounding out of the brush in response to our calls, looked me in the eye with that sweet soulful expression, and wham! - took me out at the knees at top speed.  I think I was the "dogma" in that old expression.

Jean landed us some tickets for the tram that goes up to the crestline of the Sandia Mountains, which I can see from our beautiful room atop their house.  She also dressed us all from head to toe in warm clothes for the 15 degree windy weather on top.  The LiamKaiEliza unit spent the ascent with its noses pressed against the glass looking at the canyons and ridges drop away and predicting imminent collision with every nearing rockface and tower. Up top, it used its many eyes to identify fossils, threw snowballs at us with its six arms, and built a couple of snowmen along the nature trail.  We passed the first diminutive snowman on the way back, its bottom pinned by gravity to a rock, its mouth a tiny O, its twiggy arms open to the sky, eyes beseeching the sun to stop all that harrowing shining.

I'm a little concerned about how the surgical separation of Liam and Kai from Eliza will go tomorrow morning. We may end up leaving little bits of them here and taking little bits of her with us.  -Juliet