Back from Break

...both from this Blog (although that was unintentional) and from school. Thanksgiving break, which was already two weeks ago, was wonderful. I spent a whole 10 days at home, baked a LOT, worked a little, enjoyed the snow immensely, and ate enchiladas almost every day...

On my flight home, on the 16th, I was supposed to go through Charlotte, NC, then Phoenix, then an to Burque, a roundabout way if ever there was one. I was waiting at my gate in the Hartford airport at 5:45 am, across from two women discussing handbags, when they paged "passenger Kwin-tana" to the desk. The flight leaving from the next gate was flying directly to Phoenix. "We can get you on this one, and should be able to get you to Albuquerque by 2:30." Well, lovely! I don't know what prompted that unexpected magnanimity, but it was certainly welcome.


Thanksgiving was a quiet and satisfying affair. We had all the normal foodstuffs. I made the mashed potatoes and two pumpkin pies. There was also sweet potato pie and apple pie with whiskey sauce(!). It was a normal Holiday in that it entailed running around to see various and sundry relatives, first this one then the next, then dinner at Nana's, then more relatives... It's more fun that way, really. We still had plenty of time to eat a very good lunch at Nana's, and get into the never-ending conversation about how old her dogs are. I opted out this time, which took great self control.


The day after Thanksgiving it snowed, which was absolutely glorious. It started coming down the night of, and looked very promising from the start. I was snowed in the next morning, and was late for work, which allowed for a bit of frolicking--lovely!


Graham and I made it up to Taos as well. He hadn't been since before he moved here. It was a quiet cloudy day and absolutely freezing. We walked for ten minutes and couldn't feel our faces, only to find the restaurant we were headed for was closed--bugger. We wandered into a shop called Wabi Sabi (of which I am a great fan), where the shop keeper offered us cups of hot tea and cookies, God bless her. It was very good timing on her part.

It was cloudy until about three, until the sun broke through and was glorious. The light in Taos is always something exceptional. It is somehow at once very rich and very fleeting, both strong and tremulous. You know what I mean, if you've been there.

So now I am back at Yale, after missing my shuttle coming back and having to spend the night at the Hartford airport. That was a pisser. Hartford is one of those airports that gets pretty quiet at night, too... Alas! I made it back regardless. I've got quite a bit of work to contend with over the next two weeks, but I am going to Mexico this weekend with my Aztecs seminar, which will be very fun. And entirely subsidized. Lovely!