My Cozy Nook

Santa Fe is having a burst of unusually cold weather, which doesn't please me. On the other hand, it didn't keep me from spending most of the day out shopping and sight-seeing. Everyone here is so nice! I always talk to strangers, but they don't always talk back (or like to be talked to by some weird lady they don't know). Last night when I didn't have a jacket, the desk clerk at the hotel wanted to give me hers until I found one. I said I couldn't take her coat; she might need it before I got back. But the offer was extraordinarily generous. When I did get to a store and saw a sweater I liked in the window, I tried the door and it was locked. The store had closed a half hour earlier. But the young woman inside came to the door and heard my tale of woe -- being from Florida and freezing in twenty degrees -- and let me in. Again, a very generous act.

This morning, up early as usual, I headed over to the breakfast area, which is in a separate building. The door was locked. I must have looked like a pathetic, frozen street urchin because the man who was setting up breakfast came and let me in. (The temperature at that time was around eleven, with a "real feel" of negative six.) He brought the coffee out and I sat in the lobby area near the fireplace for a long time.

Late this afternoon I came back from all of my running around and the housekeeper was just coming in to clean my room. I decided I would go back out, but I wasn't really sure where. I walked around downtown a little more and bought some spices and sauces from a great shop -- where the clerk told me about some restaurants I might like to try, places where the locals go -- and then decided I felt like coffee and dessert instead of dinner. (It's my vacation, and I can do whatever I want!) I drove around a while, unsure of where to even look for a good place. All of a sudden, a sign appeared: Swiss Bistro and Bakery. I had coffee, chocolate mousse cake, and about an hour of fantastic conversation with the bartender/server.

And now I am back in my casita, having started a fire and moved a chair closer to the fire. I'm going to take a shower and let my hair dry at the hearth. I'm worn out (the time change and the travel have caught up with me this evening) but feeling calm and rustic. A restful evening in is just what I need.