New Car! 24/60

Some new things are bigger than others. This is pretty big! It’s my new car, a dark blue, 2017, Toyota Camry Hybrid.  I think I’m going to call her Olivia.

Here I am at the dealership. I think this was in the first hour and I hadn’t wilted yet. Is every car buying experience a slow and kind of exhuasting ordeal? I don’t buy cars very often, but this seemed to take forever.

One slowdown was that the title for my old Camry, Winslow, was in my maiden name but my license is in my married name. Still, four hours seems excessive.

My first selfie in the car.

I was slow to start driving. I had my younger sister secretly teach me how to drive when I think I was 21. Re-teach I guess, because I had taken driver’s training in high school and barely passed. I needed more practise. Our cars at home were a little funky, I recall having to pump the gas on one while stopped, with the other foot firmly planted on the brake, or it would die at every stop sign. And driving with my dad was nerve wracking.  I’m sure it was for him too…but he was not a very good passenger.

I wish I had pictures of my previous cars. My first one I bought for $50,  drove for 10 years, and sold for $100. It was a turquoise blue, 1963, Plymouth Valiant station wagon with pushbutton transmission. I regret never naming that car.

After that I drove a red Ford Escort. I don’t recall the model year. I  named her Sydney after Sydney Biddle Barrows, who was nicknamed the Mayflower Madam, and owned an escort service.

The car before Winslow, my kind of solid but boring silver-grey Camry, was Carlos. Oh, Carlos! He had sexy tinted windows and a moon roof.  He was white, like a flash of bright teeth in a seductive smile, and I liked to say I was going for a drive with Carlos.

Tragically, Carlos was totalled when we were rear-ended at a stoplight, pushed into a pickup truck, ran up the side of the double wheels, and flipped over. I was almost unscathed which is why I chose another Camry 16 years ago,and now for my latest car.

Olivia comes from olive, and the olive branch is a symbol of peace. Maybe that is what I like: the idea of calm, peacefulness and safety. I hope to drive her for many years. We have miles to go.

Thanks for stopping by.

Palpitations 23/60

I like to think that I take reasonable precautions with my health. I wear a seatbelt. I wear sunscreen. I wear a mask.

Friday morning, just after waking up, I noticed my heart was pounding. I was just sitting up in bed but it was as if I’d jogged up two flights of stairs. Interesting. It kind of ebbed and flowed. I read some Facebook. A few times I coughed a little from the feeling of my heart, like it jumped a bit.

I had the day off. Rem and I were planning on a drive up the Sonoma coast, and after a few hot days I was looking forward to it. I got up and mentioned my palpable heart beat. We ate breakfast. I finally decided, after over an hour and a half, to call the Advice Nurse at Kaiser.

Though it seemed strange, I didnt otherwise feel unwell. I just didn’t want to ignore something that could be serious. My Grandpa Cooper died at the age of 62, after a massive heart attack.

As I expected, they wanted to check me out. My sister Sarah dropped me off at the Emergency Department. No visitors in these Covid times. Before 9.00 a.m. I was hooked up to a heart monitor, had been given an EKG, and had blood drawn for tests.

That is a thumbs up I sent Rem.

It was a quiet morning. I texted Rem and my mom. I played Two Word and colored some pictures on Happy Color. I read about heart attacks in women and how the symptoms are often more subtle than men’s. My rascally heart was calm and quiet, much like when you take your car to the garage because of a funny noise.

Eventually a doctor came in and told me all my test results were normal. She validated my decision to call and check things out. She said palpitations can be a symptom of a thyroid problem or kidney disease, which they had tested for and I had neither. We had a nice conversation about the shelter in place and the challenges around that. She told me another patient had come in with similar symptoms but that patient was in serious condition. The doctor said in my case it could simply have been that I was dehydrated.

The test results will be be forwarded to my general doctor and I was released to enjoy the rest of my day.

The view from the deck at Cafe Aquatica in Jenner, at the mouth of the Russian River, is much better than my view in the morning. Do I regret my hours spent waiting in the ED in the morning? No. I’m just grateful I could walk out and wait in the sunshine for my sister Kathleen to give me a ride home.

Thanks for the visit.

Peach Galette 22/60

It wasn’t until I took this peach galette out of the oven that I realized it was another new thing.  Too late to get pictures of making the dough or cutting up the fruit.

At the Farmer’s Market the Sunday before Memorial Day, I got some yellow and white peaches and asked for ripe ones. These days I have to point to the items I want instead of picking them out myself by touch and smell.

A few days before that I had seen the Smitten Kitchen recipe for Any-Kind-Of-Fruit Galette. And I remembered she had described the dough as being one that beginners excel at.

It really was pretty straightforward, and the results were delicious, especially with vanilla ice cream.

Thank you for checking out this post.

The Continental Divide 21/60

Rem and I extended our March vacation to New Mexico by a few days, when we decided we were more comfortable driving home rather than flying.

You can stop at roadside attractions, like this one in Arizona.

I missed a good opportunity here.  But I only thought of it now.

I should have poured water onto the ground to see which way it flowed.

These three signs made it a little tricky to tell where exactly the divide was. The first one was probably the official one as the other two were outside souvenir shops.

One shop was closed but it had a pretty view from the parking lot.

We stretched our legs, and at the next shop Rem bought a silver bracelet. He’d been searching for just the right one, looking in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, and little towns in between.

I left a painted rock at the official Continental Divide marker and we got back on the road, flowing towards the Pacific Ocean and home.

Thanks for the visit.

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge 20/60

Rem and I visited the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge near Taos back in March. The day we went, it had snowed in the morning and there were snow flurries on the drive out to the bridge. If you look closely you can see a few specks of white snow in this picture.

I’ve seen so little snow in my life, that it’s always exciting to see it falling.

I’m not sure if this sign means this is the most beautiful Steel Bridge designed by the New Mexico State Highway Commission, and it is a striking sight, but I don’t think I could label it the most beautiful Steel Bridge.  I kind of have a soft spot for the Golden Gate Bridge

It also lays claim to being the 10th highest bridge in the United States per Wikipedia. Walking on it made me a little wobbly kneed. We both kept a firm grip on our phones as we looked down into the gorge. The sidewalks rumbled when trucks drove by.

This was a great place to visit and an easy one for practicing our social distancing skills.

If you are keeping tabs on my 60 New Things Project, I admit I’ve fallen behind on my reporting. But the good news is that I’m still doing new things. I will try and get caught up on the blogging end of it soon. Thanks for stopping by.

Cliff Dwellings 19/60

When Rem and I were talking about our trip to New Mexico (back in March), there may have been mention of the Cliff Dwellings near Taos. But, to be honest, I was really looking forward to this. Also shopping for turquoise and silver jewelry, and some great New Mexican food.

But when venues starting closing in response to the Corona virus, our plans changed day to day.  I’m glad we were able to visit this site, a National Historic Landmark, though I see it closed days after we were there.

Walking the trail towards the steep rock face of the mesa, it was like stepping into the pages of National Geographic magazine.

According to the website, Puye Cliff Dwellings were occupied by the Pueblo from approximately 900 A.D. to the late 1500s. 

As we drove in from the Welcome Center to the cliff dwellings and visitor’s center, I was tickled to see a map pointing out Frijoles Canyon.

The day was beautiful and we were both glad we had made the drive and taken the time to try something that was, for us, quite unique.

Thanks for the visit.