Opacity, Or My Lack Thereof

Word of the Post
Today's word is: tarradiddle
/terra'did"uhl/ noun
Pretentious nonsense, falsehood, fib.
I was intending to write a post before this, so much so that my promise became a tarradiddle.
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When last we saw our heroine, she was winging her way home in the dark of the night.

We arrived home pretty late. Mom and Dad were already asleep. Mom said that sometimes the noises of the house make it sound like there is a person walking in the kitchen. We had warned her that we would be coming home very late, and she did hear us, but she had no trouble going back to sleep.

Staying up late is pretty normal for me, but you have to realize that my body never did adjust to the local timezone. Getting to Mom's house at midnight meant that my body thought it was one in the morning. Ouch. But, I spent the whole vacation waking up at 8 in OK, 7 in NM. On Wednesday, I woke up later; I think it was almost 8. (9 in OK!)

While we were in CO, mom had told me that a close family friend had passed away on Sunday, and the funeral would be on Wednesday. I decided that I would go to the funeral. I know it doesn't sound so fun for a vacation, but it wasn't so bad. I got to be there, without an extra trip. I got to see friends that I would not have seen otherwise. (Even one from Colorado!)

Since DH didn't know this man, or much of his family, he was not comfortable going with me. He drove around the city, window shopping and exploring my hometown. I had the extra key, and I had the parents with me, so he couldn't get back into the house. We brought DH a plate from the potluck lunch after the funeral, and we called him once we got back. I went with Dad and Mom, helped drive and sat with Mom (she in her wheelchair) in the back of the sanctuary, while Dad led the singing at the funeral. Dad does this a lot. He is willing, and able, and it seems to be his service for the church. It is sad to think of all the funerals that have happened over the past 22 years they have lived in Farmington.

We spent the rest of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning with Mom and Dad. Thursday night, we went to dinner with Mom and Dad, my Bro, and his girlfriend. Apparently, my transparency is renowned. Bro said he wasn't sure who was whiter, me or girlfriend. We sat together at dinner, and compared whiteness of arms. I am still not sure there was a clear leader.

Mom wanted family pictures. We agreed to take them on Thursday night, after dinner. Bro works very early in the morning, so he was fading and wanted to get this over with quickly. Girlfriend agreed to take the pictures with my camera. Mom and Dad copied the pictures onto their computer, and Dad printed a few copies, just to prove that he could. This one is Dad, Bro, Mom and Me.

See? My paleness is reflective. Bro works outside some, but he has always been able to tan, where I burn, peel and stay white. I joke that he could walk outside, and come back into the house two shades darker. I am older, but I think Mom and Dad reserved the height and color for Bro.

I am sure I will get yelled at for this one hitting the blogosphere, but I have to share. Bro and girlfriend wanted a picture together, and girlfriend jokingly said something about the "foot pop", and so we had to have a picture of it.

We had to have matching pictures. I hadn't noticed it before today, but it looks like DH is strangling me. How funny! He would never. And... do you know how hard it is to hold this pose? I was waiting for DH or Bro to fall over into the next room, through that curtain.

To make up for the previous picture, I have to show you the posed and really good picture. This is Bro and Girlfriend. I like her. She is quick-witted, funny, and she really cares for Bro. She is thoughtful about Mom, and reminds Bro that he needs to visit sometimes. He is happy to have her around, and that means more to me than she probably knows.

On Friday, we left later than I wanted to, but we were planning only to go to Albuquerque, so it wasn't so bad. I took DH down to Gallup first. I used to live there, before Farmington. Get your Kicks. Yep, that Gallup. In order to get there, we had to drive past Shiprock, NM. The actual Rock is the core of a dormant volcano. This is as close as we got.

The highway from Shiprock to Gallup used to be 666. I had a friend who couldn't go with me to youth rallies in Gallup, because her Mom was superstitious. Gallup once had the unique intersection of Rt. 66 and Hwy. 666. You know, maybe there was something to that superstition. (I am joking here, but it is funny to think about.) The Highway number has been changed since then.

I used to live in this house. If memory serves, it used to look nicer.

The big window there on the front left (the side facing the tree) was the picture window in the living room. The window to the right of the door was my bedroom. Bro and I were pretty young, and had to share the room. That is the window he threw a hammer through. That poor falling stop sign was a bus stop for our neighborhood for a semester. Our porch got destroyed by jumping children, and the school system moved the stop almost half a mile away, past a bar. We didn't have a fence. The new owners built an expansion on the back of the house, and put up the fence. I remember the house being white, with green trim. There was a long staircase up to the back of the house, which is fully enclosed now.

I have a lot of memories from that house. My BFF and I used to walk around the house three times in one direction, planting clues for ourselves, and then we would walk three times in the other direction and find the clues to solve our mystery. She was reading the Nancy Drew books, and got me addicted too. I remember the dark shag carpet, the dark panels on the wall in the living room, and the mirrored bookshelf in the kitchen. I miss most that bookshelf, and the huge bathtub with feet.

Every time we watch The Princess Bride, I get ill when it comes to the part where Billy Crystal (as Miracle Max) talks about a good "M.L.T". He goes on to describe a Mutton Lettuce and Tomato sandwich. When we lived in the house pictured above, I used to ride my bike to the local store to check our mailbox. There was a post office in the back of the store. I had to walk past the meat lockers, and the whole store was permeated with the smell of raw mutton. I tried to give DH that delicate experience the last time we were in the area, but the store was closed. This time, they were open.

Inside, it looks very much the same, but the meat lockers have been moved. The meat counter has its own alcove now. The store smells like a store, not like a slaughterhouse as I remember it. The only freezers or coolers in the walkway now belong to the ice cream, right by the registers. I showed DH our old mailbox, and bought some roasted salted pine nuts in the pawn shop in the very back of the store. I bought a couple of bracelets for Jelly Bean. I don't know that she will like to wear them, because she has so much fun with stretchy bracelets, and these are pretty sturdy silver.

We drove into town, and caught a few views of the things I remembered, as well as a little coincidence.

A few years ago, we saw this sign. I couldn't get a picture back then, and I was really hoping it was still there. Chelle is the way I spell my name when I am nicknaming myself, and think that Chelf will be a bit... childish or strange. There are only two people who actually call me Chelle in person. That is special and odd at the same time. Auntie Chelf is still the preferred title.

I once thought about starting a Bed and Breakfast with a friend. Look how nice the name shows on the storefront! We then went along the road parallel to the train tracks that run through town. I took quite a few more pictures, but they weren't really that good. Schlitz distribution center (yep, Beer), Butler's Office Supplies (used to be in downtown in a cramped little building, now in what was once a huge grocery store), El Rancho Hotel (was cool in the 50's, but has lost its grandeur in recent times), and stores that only exist in memory.... Big Cheese Pizza!

I don't want to frustrate anyone, but I am going to play the game show host, and say our tale will continue.... after these messages.