the first half of the holiday was spent in New Mexico with my folks. nothing particularly unusual or different (well other than finding out that one of my mother's favorite movies is Dirty Dancing and watching it with her
). all in all it was kind of depressing. dealing with the very real facts of my parents aging and their acceptance and denial of various aspects of such.
the next part was EXTREMELY interesting!!! my FIL bought a ranch in Sonora a few years ago and then promptly became very sick and spent the better part of a year in hopsital and then recuperating in Kansas City (Which damn near killed him all over again). he finally returned to Mexico this early fall to continue with his project. he is living in a gorgeous rental in a pretty little town called Alamo. the ranch, which dates from an original landgrant in the 1500s is just shy of 10,000 acres. the original Hacienda, parts of which have just crumbled away dates from the early 1700s. he is restoring what he can and then building from new what cannot be restored and also expanding a great deal. there is actually a great deal of year round water on the property to include a lake of approximately an acre in size that is both spring and aquifer fed and full even in the dry season. the plan is to run a cattle business on it as well as lease part of the property for hunting. I've been asked to help him out with the running of the ranch as (being the daughter of a New Mexico Cowboy turned lawyer) I am the only one in the family even remotely familiar with the ranching business. I haven't a clue as to why he decided to embark on a venture such as this at this stage in his life, but it is keeping him active and happy and that is what matters. of course, there is the small matter of throwing me yet a new unique curve in my life! I do believe I have been under the Chinese curse; "May you live in interesting times!" as I certainly have!
it took us 30 hours of travel to return as I flat out refused to drive back to TUcson with him. he is a menace to himself and others and damn near killed us a few times on the trip down there, to include almost running a federale check point, the result of which would have been shoot first, ask questions later. the driving issue
must be addressed before he does kill someone, and I already stated that I would require my own vehicle when I am there.
so it looks like I will be spending my life traveling back and forth from Mexico for the forseeable future! I took a bunch of pictures and will get them posted gradually