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Carols - it must be Christmas!
Dec. 9th, 2007 11:54 amLast night I headed over to the East mountains, large bowl of home-made chocolate mousse in hand, for a potluck-carol-get-together with friends from country and western nights. It was a 30 minute drive, breaking our standard rule (never go anywhere more than 10 minutes from the house). Such is the luxury of living in a small town instead of a city. Well, I guess Albuquerque DOES have a 700,000 population now (half the population of the state) but it FEELS like a small town, compared to everywhere else I've ever lived.
The party was adult - meaning we were mostly 50's and 60's, with a tiny smattering of 30's. Interesting (for me) was the chance to actually TALK to the people there. Most of them are regulars at the country western dance classes Bill gives on Thursdays, and at which I'm the 'hostess with the mostest', Ginger to Bill's Fred, and the sound engineer. As such, I rarely have time for more than exchanging a couple of pleasantries with each person. One of the sadder parts of our two-plus years of teaching at Sidewinders is that we know so little about most of the regulars - whereas they've all formed close friendships through the lessons, we're too busy to really get to know them, and remain 'outsiders' to some extent. In truth it doesn't bother me a lot, but I think it bothers Bill some - he would prefer that we had a wider circle of true friends in Albuquerque; whereas mostly we have acquaintances.
I enjoyed the singing, though it was really quite brief. I love seeing other people's homes, and TR and Doug have a beautiful space. They are gracious and charming hosts - TR is a bundle of energy, rushing round and seemingly being in every place at once. His partner Doug is more laid back. A realtor would describe their home as 'charming and compact' or 'easy to maintain'. It's small. But that's all the space they need, and it is on 3 acres in a low-density housing area on the East side of the Sandias. They are afforded sweeping views from their living room - the kind of place I'd love to retire to, except that I know that kind of isolation as you age is the LAST thing you really need.
It was a very fun event, though everyone missed Bill - I had lots of "where's Bill?" questions to answer.
We will be entertaining most of the same people plus many more next week at the annual Wilde Bunch Christmas Party - since we have a large house, we're usually asked to host. At least home is well within the 10 minute rule!
The party was adult - meaning we were mostly 50's and 60's, with a tiny smattering of 30's. Interesting (for me) was the chance to actually TALK to the people there. Most of them are regulars at the country western dance classes Bill gives on Thursdays, and at which I'm the 'hostess with the mostest', Ginger to Bill's Fred, and the sound engineer. As such, I rarely have time for more than exchanging a couple of pleasantries with each person. One of the sadder parts of our two-plus years of teaching at Sidewinders is that we know so little about most of the regulars - whereas they've all formed close friendships through the lessons, we're too busy to really get to know them, and remain 'outsiders' to some extent. In truth it doesn't bother me a lot, but I think it bothers Bill some - he would prefer that we had a wider circle of true friends in Albuquerque; whereas mostly we have acquaintances.
I enjoyed the singing, though it was really quite brief. I love seeing other people's homes, and TR and Doug have a beautiful space. They are gracious and charming hosts - TR is a bundle of energy, rushing round and seemingly being in every place at once. His partner Doug is more laid back. A realtor would describe their home as 'charming and compact' or 'easy to maintain'. It's small. But that's all the space they need, and it is on 3 acres in a low-density housing area on the East side of the Sandias. They are afforded sweeping views from their living room - the kind of place I'd love to retire to, except that I know that kind of isolation as you age is the LAST thing you really need.
It was a very fun event, though everyone missed Bill - I had lots of "where's Bill?" questions to answer.
We will be entertaining most of the same people plus many more next week at the annual Wilde Bunch Christmas Party - since we have a large house, we're usually asked to host. At least home is well within the 10 minute rule!
