Hello friends, Its a snow-covered morning at our new home in Taos and I feel inclined to do something Ive never done before in my life; write a Christmas letter. Friends and relatives whove done this for many years--you know who you are--this is to your credit or fault, because Ive read those letters and felt lazy and guilty for never responding in kind. Plus we have quite a year to report on. On the weekend of Feb. 1 Lewis and I drove out to our newly bought fixer-upper on the mesa facing Taos Mtn. It was cold and dark when I got here alone (L drove the camper out the next day) and the key copies didnt work on the doors, and the heat didnt work and my blowup bed blew out, but otherwise it was a great thrill from the first week. House problems continued, as we came to realize that we couldnt live in 1/2 the room wed had before and 1 bathroom, so we remodelled. Now we have a sunroom and a big LR with picture windows facing Taos Mtn, a woodstove, and thank god, a 2nd bathroom. We also have a remodelled garage with 20 chemistry classroom cabinets Lewis found from the local Habitat for Humanity reconfigured as my fiber arts workshop. ive found great fiber friends and galleries and even made a little money. It was a thrill getting my work at the Ghost Ranch show last spring positively reviewed in the Rio Grande Sun, and being one of the vendors at the Taos Wool Festival in October, not just one of the tourists. We started following the events and announcements columns in the Taos News immediately, cuz when we have visited in the past, we filled up days and nights with gallery openings and live music perfs, but the main thing we have found and done in this LONG visit is a wonderful Jung discussion group with an analyst, Anne Robinson, who studied in Zurich, and has been a wonderful grounding influence on us both at this time of transition, both in terms of moving and prepping for our final stage of living. Thank goodness for Anne and the group because the political news has been so depressing. Lewis has also had time and the urge to focus on his literary lew blog and has readers from India, Australia, Russia, and, most exotic of all, Oklahoma. Theres alot of literary activity here, and hes been busy taking workshops and making contacts. We have the coolest friends, tho we miss our wonderful friends in Fayetteville. Fortunately, many have visited and promised to come again. I never could get anybody but family to come from Seattle to visit Fayetteville, so its a surprise to have about a dozen come in our first half year and more on the way. We were supposed to return to Fville ourselves for a felting workshop and dental work last June, but we just didnt want to leave. Its weird when your main vacation spot becomes your home ground. We havent been anywhere all year, other than picnicking and skiing (my big return to a childhood thrill), but we do have reservations at the Grand Canyon after New Years. I hope the roads will be passable. Two of our visitors--five counting their dogs--were my sister Polly and her husband Charlie. on their way back to Texas from Bellingham, WA, where they have bought a house and are moving THIS month--partly on our example, they say. Yes, you can go home again, but you dont have to. So the Detels girls are saying goodbye to the Deep South for good. We had to go there to get the two best men in the world and meet other wonderful people, but ultimately the universe has other plans. (And our old house sold in March- YEAH!--so there really is no need to go back.) Polly already has good friends in Bellingham, including a retired drama teacher who directed her in community theater in Seattle a lifetime ago. And its a wonderful place; were thrilled for them and eager to visit. The last bit of news I will report involves the second love of my life--music. (Fiber comes in a close third, and of course, Lewis is first.) I was lucky to get a job as pianist for the Taos Community Chorus in my first week here and that has led to many friends and connections, musical and otherwise. Recently I have found myself a wonderful string quartet (Im viola) which is playing with the Chorus in this seasons concerts and with the community Messiah sing along. I cant wait. I also have a wonderful 4-hand piano partner in Martha Grossman, the pianist here for the Unitarian and other services. Folkwise, I play fiddle with the ContraDance band every month and viola with a Latin folk music group at the Taos Retirement Village every week. And, strangely enough, Im now an official chanteuse/lounge lizard at a few local venues, having won runnerup twice at music contests last summer. Ive had the lounge lizard dream since college, and I now sing Body and Soul an octave lower than I did then and accompany myself, but otherwise I feel like Im 20 again. If I actually was, I could get more gigs, but Im getting time to work on my act and get the full repertoire down so I can handle requests readily. I owe it all or most to my wonderful jazz piano teacher in Fville, Claudia Burson, who not only showed me the jazz piano ropes, but also how to back myself, which almost nobody knows how to do. What a feeling of power, with my voice mike, my drum machine, my piano, and 2000 songs! Ive taken to calling friends on their birthdays, to sing the smarmiest Marilyn-Monroe-style birthday greeting I can work up with my props. Look out for that morning birthday phone call . . . So what a surprising and exciting year we have had. Looking forward to Christmas concerts and putting up a tree for a change, a little one at least. Ill miss my Unitarian church job over the holidays especially--heres a shout out to my past friends at BCU and UFF--but I am doing a guest gig at Taos UU on Dec. 21, so thatll be fun. Happy Holidays, everyone and have a stimulating 2015! Love, Claire Claire Detels P.O. Box 1816 El Prado, NM 87529
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 01:17:21 +0000
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