More About New Mexico

I call this one Giant Santa, because...

Let's start with walking. Given my new, more modest walking goal, this month is going reasonably well, at least on average. This is because I started the month really well, walking over 11,000 steps each day for the first five days as I walked a half hour each way to get to and from BART from my hotel while I played in the national bridge tournament in San Francisco. However, that was followed by a lot of driving days to Washington and then back to New Mexico, and I barely walk at all on driving days. In any case, I will put in more steps this month than in any month since July, and Arlo and I have settled into a good pattern when I am home.

One evening in San Francisco, we walked from Market Street to a restaurant in North Beach, a 20-minute walk over a moderate hill. One of my bridge partners is very fit and walked fast, while another really could not walk that quickly. We ended up walking in two groups of two, and I stayed with the fittest person. I did not have any problem going up the hill or keeping up with her, so all my walking the last few years seems to have made a difference.

I have covered over 3,000 miles now, and I am more than halfway across Colorado, with still over 1,800 miles to go to the West Coast. At my current pace, I will reach Utah by the end of April, then get through Utah to Nevada by the end of the year. Right now, I am close to Leadville, Colorado, the highest incorporated city in the US at 10,152 feet.

Today it rained, and it was overcast all day, not so different from Washington. However, that was the first rain we have seen since we got back on the 13th. The plants in our yard do not need a lot of water, so one rain means that I can skip watering them for a week. The weather report says tomorrow starts another week of sunny days.

The balloons continue through the shortest days of the year. There were lots this week, more than ten some days. Jackie theorized that some people want a ballon ride as part of their Christmas holidays.

I keep waiting for the day a balloon lands in the lot behind our house. This one came close, landing briefly at the Savings and Loan on the other side of the lot, about 1/10th of a mile away, before taking off again. Arlo and I walk past that spot a few times a week.

I decided that the Roadrunner should be the state bird of New Mexico, and it turns out someone thought the same thing back in 1949, so it is the state bird. They are comfortable hanging around the neighborhood and are not very afraid of people. The Internet says they eat carrion and little animals like mice and snakes. They can run 20 miles per hour. Contrary to the cartoon, coyotes can actually run much faster, but don't worry. Roadrunners can fly when they want to, and coyotes, just like in the cartoons, cannot.

There are not many Christmas lights in the neighborhood, but inflatable decorations are all over the place. I have no idea why this is, but it is really different from Washington, where lights are more common.

This neighbor apparently went to the Christmas inflatable store and bought one of each item.