Back and bloggier than ever
I took this photo at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. Repeating patterns are very appealing in photographs and the repetition of tens of thousands of tombstones is both sad and intriguing. The sun was a tad too bright out there, which means you’re not going to get very somber photos of such subjects. So, instead, I oversaturated it some and really brought out the colors in contrast with the whiteness of the headstones.
Welcome to the triumphant return of the Sunday Photo!
This was taken our first morning in Santa Fe. I have to give Lisa inspirational credit, as she pointed out the great photo opportunity with the moon in broad daylight. It took a few shots until I found this framing – I had to squat down in the road to get the moon in the right place. There’s minimal post-processing – just contrast and shadow adjustment. Unfortunately I’m doing this post-processing on my notebook, so the colors might not be quite right.
Despite the explosive diarrhea, I still had fun down here in the Southwest. Now we’re packing up everything to head out of the B-N-B since it’s nearly 11. We still have about 8 hours to tool around town and enjoy the sites before we head to the airport. But before that can happen, I have to write a really lame post to cover this second day of November.
I’d love to write more, but I’ve got nothing much to say right now – and those jerk-offs in the airport won’t give us free Wi-Fi. What? I’m expected to pay $8.95 for half an hour on the ‘net? Yeah right. Anywho, see you back on the East Coast, and expect photos to be posted soon. No, seriously, I want to post them soon. Stop laughing, I’m going to go through them quickly… forget it…
Remember that classic SNL skit? Yeah, that was hilarious. Boy do I wish I was going to talk about it. In case you couldn’t guess, this post should be labeled TMI…
Perhaps I should have known this vacation wouldn’t go smoothly with such an auspicious start. Saturday morning, at 7 AM – after multiple u-turns – I found myself standing in half a foot of water that surrounded our car in the off-airport parking lot. Joy! As I commented in the security line, I was the only person happy to take my shoes off for the safety of the nation. Shortly thereafter, my socks found a trash can as strangers watched me try to dry off my shoes in the bathroom. Classy!
Alright, the trip out to Santa Fe went well and so did our first day of activity – more on that when we return. It was Sunday evening that things went South – quite literally. Both The Woman and I felt pretty exhausted after a full trek around the Plaza. A little bit of sunburn and dry lips meant we had been careless in the sun up in these high altitudes. It’s much harder to keep track of when the temperature is a perfect 60+ that never lets you break a sweat. So a nap and lots of fluids were called for with just a mild frustration at how easily this could have been avoided. After an hour or so, The Woman was able to begin bragging that she was feeling better and had obviously begun to beat the dehydration. I was not.
After several trips to the bathroom left me losing fluids faster than I could take them in, The Woman headed out to the store to get me some spinach… I mean electrolytes. But by the time she came back it was obvious that the little bit of Gatorade I could gag down would not be enough. Time for my very first trip to a hospital on vacation! w00t! Heck, this was my first trip to the hospital for myself in over 15 years.
Everybody was very nice at… whatever hospital it was. I almost began to regret wasting their time as I started to feel better. Then, just as they got me all gowned up, I found myself on my knees filling up a bucket with you-know-what. Well, at least we wouldn’t be wasting their time. So, they pumped me full of fluids and anti-nausea medicine until I seemed to be in the clear. It seems that we managed to pick the perfect time to journey down here, as a virus was making the rounds. And, wanting to really indulge myself in the complete Southwestern experience, I signed up for it.
Well, this was supposed to be a vacation to relax and take it easy. Getting violently ill will most definitely force you to do that. I was completely out of commission for two full days – it’s amazing how long you can go without eating and not even feel hungry when sickness is involved. It has been tons easier to deal with thanks to our fantastic hosts here at Casa de la Cuma. At least I’ve been well enough since yesterday evening to begin enjoying things again, and we still have a couple of days to catch any major sites we missed. To make myself feel better about vacation disasters, I even watched Open Water. I think I’ll stick with good ol’ fashioned vomiting and diarrhea for now!
P.S. I won’t admit right now just how true the title is…
Alright, so those aren’t the lyrics, but that song is amazingly versatile.
The month of October certainly had its ups and downs. Yes, I went out to dinner for Mark’s birthday lo those many days ago and had some fun and barbeque. And, of course, we had a blast at Malina’s wedding the following night (congratulations again!). Unfortunately things took a turn for the worse the next day. That’s when a very important hard drive started making clicky-clicky noises.
I don’t really want to talk about it, as the extent of the losses (be they photographic or monetary) are still not known. I’ll give a full update about the situation when I can. In the meantime, with all of the stress of failing computer equipment, audits at work and baby-making… oh yeah, did I mention that? Anywho, with all of the stress these days we’ve decided to take a vacation. And by we, I mean The Woman told me we were going to take one.
So rather then leave you guys in the lurch even longer (I’m sure you’ve all been hitting refresh constantly waiting with baited breath for another post), here’s a little note before we head to the airport for sunny Santa Fe. Hopefully this will let me recharge and get my muse on…