Home Again!

Almost two weeks in New Mexico and we didn’t want to come home!  But alas, our great adventure has come to an end.  We explored the distant past and the future.  We visited the New Mexico state capitol, ancient ruins, a Space museum, and climbed mountains to play in the snow and enjoy a spectacular view of the city of Santa Fe from high above.  We lived, we played, we learned, we grew as a family.  Now it’s back to routine.  Sort’of.

Our routine is not going to be the same as before.  Next week we begin another new adventure: home school.  The reasons we’ve decided to school our kids at home are legion.  I’ll give a rundown on them some time later.  Mostly it’s about a school that can’t be trusted to provide a quality education, peer pressure and an environment where kids learn all the worst habits from friends whose families have lower standards than we have, a paranoid security system that works against families and distrusts parents, and a good-ol’-boy cronyism that supercedes proper treatment of children.  These words sound unkind.  They’re not meant to be.  They are simply how things are.  We choose not to participate.  It’s been a long time coming.

One thing I didn’t accomplish was a visit to the Richardson headquarters.  The office was tucked away in a nondescript office building and a bit difficult to find.  We tried to find it on Friday after we got there but my wife was anxious to go shopping so we gave up the search.  I found it Christmas Eve but, of course, there was nobody there.  I called on Thursday after Christmas and they said they didn’t have anything there and I could buy stickers and such from the website.  Not much use in going by.  So much for that idea.

Something we did run across was a group called Food Not Bombs.  There was a young woman from Vancouver handing out vegetarian food on the plaza in Taos for the organization.  The temp was around freezing and there was half a foot of snow on the ground but she was braving the weather under the roof of a gazebo to make a statement for peace.  Very admirable.  Check out the new link for them I’ve posted.

Northern New Mexico is a great place.  Not only is the weather better and the scenery totally magnificent but the political and social climate is very liberal.  Santa Fe has long been a haven for artists and free thinkers.  Taos, too, has a large population of peace minded activists.  An ecclectic bohemian like myself fits in very well there.

Our new family motto is “Next Year in New Mexico.”  Some day we hope to live there.  It won’t be any time soon.    Between now and then our lives are dedicated to learning and doing for others while we dream of mountain vistas and wide open skies.

Until next time… God Bless!