MaineCourse

Home For Christmas

Adam Kibbe

Our family gets together but infrequently. Come high school age, the children of families such as ours were sent to school in the United States from our expatriate home in Venezuela, gone from the nucleus for many months at a time. With college, that gap widened to years, and as if by habit, we now do well to see each other every two or three years. Absurd by the live-near-or-with-mom-and-dad-until-they-die New England standards, but perfectly normal for those of us to whom those last two adjectives can’t readily be applied.

My parents now live in the foothills of the Sandia mountains, which form the eastern border of Albuquerque, where I was born 43+ years ago. Not at this house. Nor even one that we can say exists anymore. We left “The States” when I was three months old, and after 20 years or so in Venezuela with my father in the employ of U.S. Steel, my parents returned to the last stateside city in which they’d lived, and they’ve yet to leave again. This is their second -- and likely last -- house there, a sprawling old faux-adobe house once owned by Berke Breathed (he of Bloom County fame -- Opus was often drawn in what is now my father’s computer loft). From the entry side, one gazes immediately up at the mountains which give Albuquerque what grandeur it has.



Ivan met his “supernumerary” great-grandparents this Christmas, and they he, and for the first time. The Boston Bunch -- me, Tricia, Luke, Amy & Ivan -- all caught a mid-morning flight out of Logan and were having supper that evening in the Southwest with Jack & Betty (Mark stayed home with his girlfriend, Michelle, and with other plans, and less in debt than he’d’ve been had he come -- but he chauffeured, godbless him).

We traded generous presents, stayed up “late” (given the two-hour time difference) talking, especially around the dining table, and had many a memorable (good and bad) meal out. We visited the fabulous Albuquerque Aquarium, spent a night in a charming B&B in Santa Fe called The Four Kachinas, did a fiendish jigsaw puzzle in tag team shifts, and propped up the New Mexico economy with all manner of art purchases in both towns. And we took turns herding the two-year-old whirlwind that is Ivan. It was a visit rich in all kinds of ways, from the interwoven families and generations, and the spice of green and red chiles, to the pack of four coyotes that loped through the yard on their way up into the mountains one morning, much to Ivan’s (and our) delight. Hard to say when next we’ll meet again, and what challenges age and distance will add to the mix, but I feel more in touch with my roots and with all of my family for the experience.

Should you wish a few more images of our trip, click here. And Happy New Year to you all!!!



New Year’s eve, after many from-scratch margaritas, but before our sumptuous feast.

View larger image

Great pictures of Albuquerque, Adam! I've been to ABQ many times, visiting friends, and climbing in the spires of the Sandias, but have never been to the Aquarium. I particularly like the shot of the mountains. Last time I was in abq was this past October, during the balloonfest, and it seems to me I saw the area where your parents live.

Happy new year to all!

Posted by rakkity.

Damn, rakkity beat me to the comment section. And from home, with a dial-up too.

Did I know about Berke?

I like Ivan’s choice of reading material. Perhaps he’ll help us with the next Kibbe addition? We spent New Year’s Eve at Drew and Barbara Laughland’s in Arlington. They added a two story, back-side bump-out, with a deck off the master bedroom, and a spiral (black) stair to a roof top deck, where Drew, with telescope, views the heavens. Given its elevation in Arlington, we even watched fireworks in Boston at midnight.

I bet your parent’s neighbors think that their house is well lit. And without a tour of Tall Pines, I would have too. I wonder if Chris knows about The PInes.

And Ivan inside the pumpkin? You’ve got to explain. Methinks a better title, The Pumpkin’s Revenge, except Ivan escaped.

And one more thing, what are those spiky things? And how come your parents didn't invite rakkity in for a spot of tea?

And one last thing. Where are rakkity's pics of the balloon fest?

Posted by trumped.

The Great Pumpkin is in the Children's Fantasy Garden of the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens, right beside the Aquarium -- oxymorons the lot of them -- and a special fare gets you into both. You enter beside a two-story dragon and then through an anthill tunnel blown up to human size. It's a little austere overall -- I'd say the pumpkin's the coolest thing there, though kid-sized ants and bees were pretty astonishing, too.

My parents are in the northeast heights, east of Tramway, and north of Paseo del Norte. I know you'd be welcome, Ed -- let me know if you go back. A short drive gets one to the start of the La Luz Trail up to the Crest of the Sandias. They have a footrace up that trail every year -- for those of us way out of shape anyway, and unacclimated to the 6,000 going to over 10,000 foot elevation, it's almost insurmountable to just walk. But beautiful. Except for the veritable forest of communication gear to which Michael refers (as photographed on mild telephoto from my parents' driveway).

And where ARE rakkity's balloon pix?

Posted by adam.

Terrific pictures. We saw a spiral staircase in a church in Santa Fe that was similar. I love Ivan in the pumpkin and all the others, too.
Thanks to the sender.

Posted by Helen.

Ahhhh, Tall Pines. The ultimate in Sudbury ostentatiousness. Adam, your pics are gorgeous. My son particularly liked the shark ("whoa!") picture. Thanks for sharing.

Posted by chris.

Ah yes, the balloon pix. Unfortunately, they are on the camera of my friend Dan, who has just moved to Albuquerque. Now Dan would be worth a tale or two, about his bees (60 hives worth, which by now, I think, he has transported to his Rio Grande home), and about his climbing falls, bicycle accidents, unicycle exploits, beer and wine making traditions, and motorcycle accidents--but I digress. Dan took all the pictures and showed me all 200+ in the ABQ airport, but I'll have to ask him to email us a good selection. He's a computer wizard now working for the Air Force, so, unless some of the pix contain classified info that I'm unaware of, he'd have no trouble sending them to me. Unfortunately I haven't heard from him since early December, but I'll keep trying. (I think the bees are keeping him busy.)

Posted by rakkity.

Nice update on your holiday whereabouts, Adam! And good pics -- I liked Bauble, and that view from your parents house was reminiscent of Silicon Valley at night.

Question: where are the "last two adjectives" that 'do not apply'?

Posted by Dan.

Loretto Miracle Stair! I had completely forgotten. Jesus comes as a mysterious carpenter and makes the spiral staircase. Right? Beautiful photos, writing and family love. Thank you.

Posted by Ginger.

More like Saint Joseph according to this: http://www.csicop.org/si/9811/i-files.html , but thanks for again expanding our minds.

Dan...how about adverb and adjective?

Posted by Michael.

Michael, shrewd reader that he is, caught me in my fallacy, though I doubt it's what baffled Dan. The adjectives to which I referred are actually adverbs as used, but would be adjectives if describing people -- "perfectly normal". The word "last" should have been sufficient if you just wandered backwards through the sentence, but I goofed.

And nobody really knows who built Loretto's "miraculous" spiral stair. The legend is this stanger showed up in response to a 9-day novena, with nothing more than a carpenter's square, a saw and a hammer, and only the perfection of his joinery allows it to stand at all - it's completely self-supporting. I must say, it IS beautiful and immaculately built.

Posted by el obscuro.

The pain of viewing great picts over an analog connecton. I think 2004 is the year to go high speed. I loved the picts of family, home and country side. Post more!

Posted by slo poke.

Posted by Michael at January 2, 2004 09:39 PM