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| Image: D.L. Mavrikakis |
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| Image: D.L. Mavrikakis |
Monica And The City With The Impossible Name
Nubs and I decided we should do something. A plan was formulated the week prior. I confided in her my desire to do something that for me, would be extreme. I felt I needed to push myself and travel well outside of dusty Northwest Albuquerque. After deliberation we decided on the historic Western town of Santa Fe (or; La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís)
This would not be my first trip to this high desert city of "holy faith". In fact this would be my second time, having once taken an anxiety filled excursion there with my Mother a couple of years back. It was difficult and I never felt truly relaxed, although being a history nerd I was quite fascinated with it.
This, however, was an entirely different type of trip. It was twofold. A trip to share a day with someone I hold dear, as well as a therapeutic one, to push myself and my comfort zone. I had no idea that this would lead to a much bigger breakthrough mere days later.
Nubs (Monica) is precious to me and I have come to adore her. For more than a year now we have slowly become rather close. We've gone through periods where we talk substantially less, but pick back up again after a short time. I have found myself wanting to help her in any way I can. I have seen her excited about new adventures in her life, and also during times of extreme frustration with aspects of her life. We are not as close as we were (she's a busy lady) but, then again, we only recently began to talk and do things once more.
As her friend, as someone who wants to support and help her in any way I can, and as a person who has become dear to me, she has began to have affects on me. My mood on occasion can be closely associated with hers. Two recent examples: when I heard someone had been condescending to her, and disrespected her a great deal, I became furious (for days) and protective. When she had been extremely ill, I worried constantly and all I wanted was to make sure she was OK. Thankfully, her family was there for her.
I get like this for a multitude of reasons. One of the more important ones possibly could be due to how she has been able to calm me down in moments of great anxiety, near panic even. She has had the misfortune to have seen me a few times in such a state. Yet each time she quickly tames the frightened beast within me. She soothes him, tells him to leave, and he obeys. I do not know how she does this. It is remarkable to me, the power she has. I am thankful for those times she has been there for me. So, I in turn, want to repay her kindness and for her magical ability to make me feel safe. It is only fair. But more importantly, I want to do it.
Being that we had recently began to talk and do things again as I earlier stated, we felt it would be a great idea to spend the day together, pushing my boundaries, to dance dangerously close with my bane, that Balrog of fear contained within me.
After a seemingly never ending sleepless night, I met with her Monday morning at the providers of mother's milk, of ambrosia, that place of the Gods known as Starbucks. It was not to be our only stop at one of these places that day!
We got into my trusty maroon steed, Zoe, and off we went!
Starting in Rio Rancho we drove to Bernalillo, then hopped onto Interstate 25. I had turned off the soothing sounds of Motorhead and we passed the time gabbing away about many things. The surprising thing about this part of the trip was that, well, I felt fine! I was enjoying the company too much and felt distracted. "Perhaps", I thought, "this is the reason my anxiety hadn't risen yet? That must be it."
As we neared Santa Fe there was suddenly construction on the highway! We were all corralled into one lane for several miles. I felt my anxiety climb a little and thought "here it comes" and I mentioned I was uncomfortable to Nubs. But why wasn't I panicking yet? "It must be her calming effect she has on me", I thought. We passed said construction, or trap, as I would have normally considered it to be, without any real trouble on my part. Curious...
A few minutes later we were off the highway and entering Santa Fe. Again, without serious incident. Curiouser and curiouser.
Santa Fe
"In fact, it (Santa Fe) had been colonized 25 years (sic) before the colonials set foot at Plymouth Rock."~US History.com
The history of this city brings a giddiness to me.
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| Image: D.L. Mavrikakis |
I promised Nubs I wouldn't get too nerdy that day when it came to facts or history of the city. That I wouldn't become Ted Mosby when he describes architecture, or Ross Geller discussing, well, anything. However...I make no such promise here! Actually I will keep it to a minimum here too. Why? Because I plan on writing a whole lot on the subject in the future (more on that to come)
Santa Fe lies 60 to 70 miles North of Albuquerque, depending on your starting point. It is the oldest capitol in the United States, having been been founded by the Spanish in 1610. It is also home to the Palace Of The Governors, the oldest continuously inhabited public building in the U.S.
Billy the Kid lived here briefly as a boy and was also held there before his trial in Mesilla, New Mexico. Madame La Tules, Milton Yarberry, Kit Carson, Lew Wallace and many others walked the streets of this little desert mountain town. Not to mention that George R. R. Martin lives here...at this moment...as I type this!
Parking just outside of the four hundred year old Plaza we immediately discovered Sock Magic, A tiny little shop dedicated to, well, socks! My love of the human hoof coverings is well known. Which means I was a tad bit excited once entering. Einstein, aliens, tacos, pizza, native art, pot leaves, bandannas and couple hundred more designs of said socks surrounded us (including T-Rex socks!). The one disappointing thing? Not enough men's socks but a plethora of knee highs. I can't wait to return to that place of magic and purchases a few pair!
Next on the agenda? Food. Constantly keeping an eye on anxiety (whether only potential or not), driving all the way, high elevation, and over stimulation in a sock store certainly makes one famished. We found a little place called The Burrito Co.. Very tasty, very filling. Very brief. We wanted to wander so we looked things up on the interwebs while we ate and then took off.
The Plaza amazes me with its small streets and the Palace of the Governors. The mixture of Spanish, Native, and Old West eras echoing through the Plaza is brilliant. Modern museums, shops, restaurants, and even a Starbucks all encased by centuries past architecture not only in style but in actuality. You don't even have to close your eyes to imagine yourself transported back to the eighteenth or nineteenth century. You can see it, staring right back at you. It is a thing of beauty.
Wandering those small streets with Nubs, in the warm Spring Sun, was quite relaxing. I felt fine but kept expecting to have at least a minor panic attack. Yet still to my surprise, nothing.
We entered a few places looking at stones, rings, gems, necklaces and such. Artistic creativity is not lacking in any way in this city. Literally "a half-mile stretch of Santa Fe's Canyon Road has over 100 galleries, boutiques and restaurants" ~Newsmax, "making it the world's densest concentration of art galleries," according to the Four Seasons website
To our misfortune many places were closed that Monday. Most unfortunately The Palace of the Governors was one of these. A shop we wanted to get into terribly so was also closed. I do not recall the name, but it was full of fossils. We only had a teasing glimpse of what wonders may be inside according to the view we spied at their door and only window. We could see the stairs inside leading down to a treasure we would not gaze upon that day; left to merely speculate as to what we were missing out on.
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| Image: D.L. Mavrikakis |
We made a quick stop to Mama's Minerals, oohing and ahhing at the little wonders they had, We picked out a little stone for Nubs and a wooden Budha head for me. Of course the system was down and we couldn't actually purchase them. As most famously said by Arnold Schwarzenegger... (paraphrased) "We'll be back".
We returned to Zoe in the nick of time! Just moments to spare before our rented spot on the street had run out of its allotted quarters, giving full authority to the meter maids, to begin to bully us.
Creepy Crawlies, Pens, and....Her
Why, you may ask, would anyone go to the mall while in such a place as Santa Fe? Simple...
The Harrell House of Natural Oddities! We found this place online when shoving burritos down our gullets earlier in the day.
After some confusing directions, logical deductions, and a long quest for a parking spot, we arrived. Yes. At the Mall. Walking in we...Hey! A Starbucks!.... Leaving the coffee conglomerate we checked the interior map. While not as cool as a map of say Middle Earth, or the Westeros, it served its function by informing us as to where our destination lies.
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| Image: D.L. Mavrikakis |
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| Image: D.L. Mavrikakis |
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| Image: D.L. Mavrikakis |
This Bug Museum was awesome. While I take issue with those arachnids otherwise known as spiders, plotting to kill every last human, I actually find scorpions quite fascinating. They don't bother me at all and I could stare for hours.
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| Image: D.L. Mavrikakis |
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| Nubs taking pictures of big ol' bugs (Image: D.L. Mavrikakis) |
She got to hold many creepy crawlies. I touched many of them too but didn't hold any. However, I made sure my precious fingers came nowhere near the tarantulas she held. I will admit there was one that was kind of cute and I liked. Of course I was 83% sure it was casting some sort of spell on me so I would drop my guard and he could devour me. Well, 53% sure...
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| Nubs holding the one tarantula I didn't hate (Image: D.L. Mavrikakis) |
After pretending to be wild explorers seeking out exotic and dangerous life forms we decided we'd drive back and see if we could finally buy our trinkets at Mama's. On our way out we looked at some excellent yet highly expensive fountain pens, as well as the paper shop. But, it was the gun shop, The Outdoorsman of Santa Fe where it happened. Where I saw...her. She was beautiful. She rivaled my companion, but its a different kind of beauty. Her: A Ruger New Model Blackhawk, but an odd caliber. A 30 carbine. Me: An idiot.
Now, I am no gun fanatic. I find them clumsy, loud, and that it can give one a false sense of security. Having said that, I find a certain elegance when it comes to old west style revolvers. (I find the same elegance in the M1 Grand or the M1903 Springfield, the ones in use during WWII) I have been thinking of acquiring one for many months now. One main reason is for the added protection (beyond my usual knife) when I take this trip to write my book. At times I will be in the desert, in the middle of nowhere and you never know who or what you may run into. Also, because I will possibly be spending some time in the mountains outside Silver City. Where, from what I hear, are some rather large mountain cats that love to stalk their prey (even on occasion that of the human variety). This, would be another appropriate time to have a gun.
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| Not the actual gun but one exactly like it (image from gunauction.com) |
She was priced at an unbelievably low amount. About $150-$200 less than I've been seeing. She would not last at that price. I checked my account and was more than substantially short. Even for the $100 layaway. Could she possibly be there in two weeks when I can (sort of) afford the down payment for layaway? Unlikely but I'm going to have to chance it. We looked at some other guns and Nubs liked a few herself. I'm sure she wanted one too. Not today, I guess.
We returned to Mama's and were able to buy our stuff, then decided to head back to Albuquerque, get something to eat, and then head toward our respective homes.
We accidentally took the wrong road but it also headed to where we eventually needed to be. Bad news? It was rush hour and there were traffic drums for miles. It was exceedingly slow and I was sure this is where I would begin to panic. The anxiety I ended up with was the strange version. It's the anxiety about getting anxiety! For those not in the know...those both suck but are two drastically different kinds of anxiety. Yes, they run parallel to one another and at some point can tragically merge. However this did not happen with mine. Once again I was attributing all this to Nubs' ability to calm me. It has been a proven remedy in the past. So, it is easy to reach the same conclusion now.
We spent the time back talking of many things but we kept going back to the guns. This would be in the forefront of my mind for a couple of days. I couldn't get rid of it. So much so that I ended up a few days later borrowing some money from a friend so I could go get her.
Dinner was cancelled due to an important phone call to Nubs. It was the first time I have seen her furious. So naturally I got pretty pissed off too. It didn't ruin our day but it put a big damper on the end of such a wonderful day, my best day in what seemed to be ages. However, it mattered not, because Nubs and I were going back up that Thursday!
Or, so I thought...
To be continued soon in The Santa Fe Endeavors: Clarice, Part 2
Thank you for your time.
David
