On the Road Again...

Thursday, April 17, 2008 -

I leave home at 11:30 a.m. for the Richmond airport and arrive 5 1/2 hours later at the Lubbock, Texas airport on American Airlines at 5 p.m. central time. On the escalator to the baggage area, I spot Kate waiting for me. We gather my 1 checked bag and away we go in her red Honda SUV for 3 hours across the desert on the open winding roads through oil fields and brownfields into the vast agricultural region of West Texas and New Mexico, finally arriving at 200 S. Kentucky Avenue in Roswell, New Mexico, Kate and Jim's fabulous estate, at 7:45 p.m. Mountain time (9:45 EST pm.—a 10 hour + trip for me).

Now in my 60's, I have come here to visit my sister Kate and her husband Jim, to continue our healing journey and to reconnect after so many years we have lost since our childhood days. Kate has her Ph.D. in Audiology, runs a clinic in the city as the sole audiologist, and has offered to test my hearing. I suspect some hearing loss - I have had ringing in my ears for years and often miss parts of conversations. I have told her she is the only one I trust to stick anything in my ears! Jim is retired and enjoys his golf game while making new friends. His sparkly blue eyes, quiet smile, premature white hair and reserved demeanor suggest he is friendly but thoughtful and cautious.

Kate has risen early this morning to make an assortment of salads that will accompany sliced ham for Jim whose golf buddies will be joining him for lunch while she and I are en route from Lubbock. At supper we three happily gobble up leftovers. Before turning in for the night, I play a few tunes from memory for Kate and Jim on their Baldwin piano in their sun room.

Kate escorts me to the guest house in back of their historic Mediterranean-style home where I will stay during our visit. She has thought of everything to make it a bed and breakfast retreat -- all the amenities one would find at any Omni Hotel. The guest house is very comfortably furnished. At the foot of the queen size bed is an armoire; along its side, a large walk-in closet whose sliding doors have been artfully carved to create a mountain scene; at the head, a table, lamp and clock on one side and a sofa on the other. A wooden gate separates the bedroom from the kitchen area which contains a refrigerator on one side of the room near the front door and a writing table, chair and lamp. Across the room a mirror hangs above a sink beside which a table holds a microwave, a basket full of Starbucks coffee and creamer, a Mr. Coffee pot and coffee cup. The tile floor feels cool and welcoming to my feet.

I am not long in bed before two of the resident 5 cats—Earl Grey (solid grey) and Cheeto (orange and white) who are both grown male cats -- are meowing at the door to be let in, and of course, I am delighted to do so because I always seem to miss my two male cats whenever I travel and have to leave them behind. Satisfied that they have sniffed out most of the spaces in the guest house, they hop on the bed and curl up at the foot beside each other. Earl Grey has been in a fight and has an open sore which he licks but can’t keep from running onto the white bedspread. I don't notice the evidence of their having been with me until 2:30 a.m. when they meow to be let out. I hope it is okay for me to have let them in.