I sent an email and batch of digital images to some friends a few days ago. As I typed the message I thought of the actions that characterize living someplace, and I wrote, “odd, isn't it, when looking through pics you say, ‘I knew I'd wonder why I took that one.’ Here you go, though, a few shots from the first week of my Santa Fe adventure. I'm settling in. I guess trips to the laundromat, grocery store, pharmacy, ACE, Lowe's, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, garden nursery, finding a church, opening a checking account, securing a library card and senior citizen card, and putting out the trash for the first time constitute making an effort to live somewhere.” Let me add to that list the first time you injure yourself.
I’m a southerner, and in the south we eat okra. I was a little surprised when I found okra…only one vendor on two different days…at the Santa Fe farmer’s market, $3 for a small plastic basket with no more than 20 pods of okra. Today I made my second batch of okra gumbo since claiming my apartment on Galisteo Street. As I was slicing a red onion with one of my new knives, I got too close to my left thumb. “Oh, shit!”, and I realized immediately that I had brought no first aid supplies with me, only a few band-aids and generic camphor oil.
The sight of blood, especially my own, nauseates me. It makes me weak. Sometimes I have to lie down when I have blood drawn, mostly when the phlebotomist needs more than one vial. Nothing else to do, though, but to head to the bathroom, hold the wounded thumb under running cool water, dry it, and then try to secure two band-aids tightly enough to stop the flow of blood. I panicked a little bit, especially when I realized that I had no one around to help me. “What if it needs stitches,” raced through my mind. “I can’t go to the emergency room.” I was reminded of the sorry state of my private insurance …catastrophic, major medical…that still costs me almost $500 a month.
The wound is secured, the onions, garlic and fresh tomatoes sautéed, the okra sliced, all bubbling together, seasoned with ground sea salt and pepper, and a large touch of dried red chile from nearby Espanola. I shared my recipe the other day at the farmer’s market with the grower from nearby Velarde from whom I bought tomatoes. As I named the ingredients, a woman listened intently, and then identified herself as being from Austin, Texas. They eat okra gumbo there too.
So here I am, 700 miles from home, living my bliss, sort of, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a 40-year-old dream come true. Sure, I’ve made a few friends here, including my next door neighbors, who of course are at work. I know that any of the people who have extended warm handshakes to me would be happy to render aid. I need to take care of this on my own, though. I also need to get some bigger band-aids.
This is Where I Hang My Hat These Days
R. Harold Hollis, August 20, 2007 (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
I’m a southerner, and in the south we eat okra. I was a little surprised when I found okra…only one vendor on two different days…at the Santa Fe farmer’s market, $3 for a small plastic basket with no more than 20 pods of okra. Today I made my second batch of okra gumbo since claiming my apartment on Galisteo Street. As I was slicing a red onion with one of my new knives, I got too close to my left thumb. “Oh, shit!”, and I realized immediately that I had brought no first aid supplies with me, only a few band-aids and generic camphor oil.
The sight of blood, especially my own, nauseates me. It makes me weak. Sometimes I have to lie down when I have blood drawn, mostly when the phlebotomist needs more than one vial. Nothing else to do, though, but to head to the bathroom, hold the wounded thumb under running cool water, dry it, and then try to secure two band-aids tightly enough to stop the flow of blood. I panicked a little bit, especially when I realized that I had no one around to help me. “What if it needs stitches,” raced through my mind. “I can’t go to the emergency room.” I was reminded of the sorry state of my private insurance …catastrophic, major medical…that still costs me almost $500 a month.
The wound is secured, the onions, garlic and fresh tomatoes sautéed, the okra sliced, all bubbling together, seasoned with ground sea salt and pepper, and a large touch of dried red chile from nearby Espanola. I shared my recipe the other day at the farmer’s market with the grower from nearby Velarde from whom I bought tomatoes. As I named the ingredients, a woman listened intently, and then identified herself as being from Austin, Texas. They eat okra gumbo there too.
So here I am, 700 miles from home, living my bliss, sort of, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a 40-year-old dream come true. Sure, I’ve made a few friends here, including my next door neighbors, who of course are at work. I know that any of the people who have extended warm handshakes to me would be happy to render aid. I need to take care of this on my own, though. I also need to get some bigger band-aids.
This is Where I Hang My Hat These Days
R. Harold Hollis, August 20, 2007 (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
3 comments:
okay, glad to know you are settlin in in sante fe, sorry about the injury.
sent you an email recently which was returned to me....told reid well i have run another fella off and this one wasnt a husband,hehe.
so hope you are enjoying this adventure and glad to know you are still around, i am gonna try to resend the email...and not take the return so personally.
maybe thats why i run fellas off.
love,
fran
I love, love, love that old truck! And I do hope your wound is healing quite nicely. Sometimes those type of wounds seem to take forever to heal.
Even though I have family from New Mexico, I don't believe I've ever been to Santa Fe. I'll enjoy hearing/seeing more about it!
Oh my Harold, you are way too far from home... I wish you well in Santa Fe and on your injury healing quickly. I think I love Texas too much to leave, but I love reading about new adventures, especially yours. I guess I won't be running into you at our grocery stores or antiques shops, ha ha, anytime soon. Keep us posted of your great stories and how you are doing there!
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