An Afternoon of Nothing

I've been on the go nonstop since I arrived in Santa Fe, and while I feel as if I might be wasting time by not keeping up the pace, I intend to spend the rest of today in my casita reading (and maybe writing) by the fire with my porch blinds open
. I have a bit of a sore throat; it may just be from the dryness, or I might be coming down with something. Either way, it's bitterly cold outside with gusty winds and I'd rather stay in. The snow has stopped for the moment but is supposed to start up again. My body has had to do some serious adjusting to this weather and altitude!

This morning I drove downtown to take some pictures of the big church at the edge of The Plaza. After I did that, I thought I'd take an in-town drive to look around at the snow. One minute I was on Guadalupe Street; the next I was on a snow-covered highway with no idea of how to get back to town. It was scary. I finally turned around, and as I headed back into town I saw police gathered around a truck that had slid off the road, down an embankment. The second I got back to familiar territory, I pulled over and sat a while to collect my wits. I'm pretending to be a big grown-up girl, but sometimes traveling alone -- particularly under hazardous road conditions in a car I'm not used to -- is overwhelming. Fortunately, I've had only a few brief, fleeting moments of feeling that way.

Of course, eventually I ended up again at The Plaza Cafe, this time for a lunch of New Mexican fish and chips. I don't think the fish and chips themselves had any distinctly New Mexican flair (although they certainly were delicious), but the malt vinegar had some kind of chilis and the cole slaw had habeneros. I need to chill out on the coffee and dessert in the evening. Last night I couldn't go to sleep until after midnight, no doubt because I had three cups of coffee with my baklava (of which I still have half left in the fridge). I'm going to have to eat nothing but fruits and vegetables when I get home after all this eating I've been doing on my trip.

With a few leftovers in the mini-fridge and plenty of firewood, I have all I need. I've packed up most of my things, more out of a desire to see how many boxes I would have to ship home than because I needed to do it now. Tomorrow I will buy ristras to take home and ship my boxes; on Tuesday I'll drive to Albuquerque long before my flight departs so I can take in some sights there too. I'll be busy when I get back home, so it's good to get in a nice day of nothing.