The Old Santa Fe Wool Show

Several inquiries about how the Santa Fe Wool Show went for Elaine prompted me to tell the rest of the story. This might get a little lengthy so you might want to get your favorite beverage and use the restroom now. I know that was in poor taste but Elaine is not here to reel me in.

First and maybe foremost, the show was a financial success for Elaine. After the last show in Salida, Santa Fe gives me hope. OK, now let's tell the real story.

If you didn't read last week you might want to go back and read it. For those of you that don't want or can't go back, I will share that Elaine and I had a near-death experience. I'm not sure that the incident was near death for Elaine, but she could have been injured. If you could have seen the death stare Elaine was giving me, not to mention the volume of the (construction language) she used, you would agree I was inches from death.

It took a minute but we got over the mishap. We were able to put Elaine's playlist on the car's stereo system. (For those of you under forty, insert audio system for stereo system. For those of you older than forty just keep reading.) Something about listening to ballads from Jerry Jeff and Leon Russell tends to calm a person down. Incidentally, both of them are dead. We were able to fast-forward through Louis Armstrong which made the trip extra nice. But we were not yet to Santa Fe yet.

About thirty minutes out of Santa Fe, I started getting a bad feeling. I can't describe it physically, but something was seriously wrong. I said to Elaine, "I don't remember packing my meds!" That'll give you a bad feeling, and now I shared it with Elaine.

If you have read these stories before you might remember in the past, I have forgotten to pack suitable sleeping attire, which caused me to answer embarrassing questions about the choice of, and availability of my underwear. Moving on!

In a normal situation, I would try to make this Elaine's fault, but she and I both remember her sending me upstairs to pack everything I needed in her open suitcase and bring it downstairs. (I have no luggage of my own, if you disregard black trash bags. The ones with red handles work best.) I remembered bringing the suitcase down, but I wasn't sure what was in it.

Elaine: We will be in Santa Fe in plenty of time to call your doctor and pharmacy.

Me: If that doesn't work, I can help set up tomorrow, head home and be back sometime Saturday. (8 hrs each way)

Elaine: That's the absolute last resort.

Once in Santa Fe, I pulled the SUV death wagon into the driveway of the Air BnB. (We will talk more about that in a minute.) Elaine was received by our roommates while I ran for her suitcase." I threw the suitcase on the hood of the death wagon and opened it. There on top of Elaine's clothes was a zip-lock bag of various colored pills. Crisis averted. I don't know why these things bother Elaine. If I follow her instructions explicitly things usually work out.

Elaine has friends (I don't) that attend wool festivals. Santa Fe was no exception. This group of friends asked Elaine if we had any interest in splitting the cost of an Air Bnb rental. I'm for saving money whenever I can, so I listened to the proposal.. Elaine and I would have our own bedroom and bathroom. The photos of the house looked really nice. Can you really trust photos on the internet? Elaine has a cousin that can doctor any photo to look like anything he wants. With a GREAT reservation, I agreed to split the cost. Elaine? She was getting to spend the weekend with her friends. Her only drawback was my being entertained.

Elaine and her friends planned on bringing their spinning wheels, which they did, and planned to spin yarn every night in the rental. It was a great plan. But like all great plans, it didn't work. In the booth at the wool show, Elaine decided to put on an impromptu spinning demonstration. the demonstration was a little too successful. A customer was watching Elaine.

Customer: Will you sell that wheel?

Elaine: This is my personal wheel. It is old chipped and well-used. I am a dealer, I can get you a brand-new wheel.

Customer: Can I buy that wheel?

Elaine: Let me show you the chips in the wheel.

Customer: I want this wheel.

Elaine: Let me send you a new wheel'

Customer: I want to take this wheel home today. Will you come back to Santa Fe next spring and give me lessons?

Just like that the evening spinning club lost a member. Elaine's spinning wheel was gone. According to Elaine, the world will never be the same. She loved that wheel. I love that we got full price

I need to stop typing for a minute to get Elaine coffee and take my meds. I'll be right back.

Sorry about that. This Bnb was in a pretty nice area in Santa Fe. From the road, you would not know it because it was hidden behind a tall adobe-style fence with automatic gate openers. Once inside the gate, this house went on forever. I'm guessing eight to ten thousand square feet. With my meds in hand, I started to think this might work. The meds story is not over.

Anyway, we called the pharmacy at home. They told me to go to the same pharmacy in Santa Fe. No problem, crisis averted.

With space in Elaine's suitcase at a premium, I sat down before I left and counted out 5 days of each of my pills and put them in a zip-lock bag, except as it turns out one pill. Don't you just love zip-locks, spending an hour or so trying to get the side lined up and squeezing them together? Man, how great do you feel when you get them closed?

Turns out we didn't rent this house. We rented the guest house in the backyard. It was spacious and extremely well done in a southwest style. We were told we couldn't use the pool house, but I didn't want to swim with the group I was with anyway.

I'm in Santa Fe. It's getting late. Do you know what's in Santa Fe? Chili, both green and red! Our roommates had been to a grocery store. They suggested we eat in the rental. Salami, cheese, crackers, and veggies, but no chili. Elaine was with her friends and said what a lovely idea. Me? I set the GPS in the death wagon and went for a sandwich and chips.

At the festival, Elaine was enjoying comparably brisk sales. I entertain myself by watching people. Should I find myself hugely entertained I will photograph people. Two things intrigued me while watching people. The first was women's shoes and the second was men's butt cracks. Hey, if a guy has the courage to walk around with crack showing, I have the courage to look at it.

Fortunately for everyone, I chose to photograph women's shoes.

I did get chili. Red and green! Life is good. They tried that salami thing one more night, but GPS, the death wagon, and I outsmarted them. Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich, ymmm!

While we were in Santa Fe, you guys were buying yarn online, thanks! It never ceases to amaze me when people say they read this crap. Thanks, Jane.

Our crazy lives!

Monner

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