jesse_the_k | Final ABQ Log 9

9 Friday

Low-key hygge pleasures

Accompanied MyGuy & Bella to the huge dog park next to the VA hospital. Even in its last days¹, I’m impressed by my powerchair’s capacity to climb grassy hills, traverse wood chips, gravel, and sand.
Swam at Highland Pool.
AMAZING lunch at VIBRANCE², a vegan/vegetarian gluten-free restaurant. The food was beautifully presented, delicious, and completely novel. Service was A+ as well. They’re only open three days/week–I’d stopped by on my first Sunday for the buffet. I chickened (ha!) out because it was $30, but I regret it now because the chance to taste these inventive foods was worth it.
I’d planned on attending the monthly meeting of the local SF group which runs Bubonicon, but I knew I’d be asleep after the first hour and bailed.

10 Saturday

Scoped out the suburbs–drove around Rio Rancho. Saw a few McMansions in the distance, but mainly more single-level, adobe or adobe-appearing houses. Intermittent empty lots had never been developed, or had been cleared. Didn’t perceive clear economic lines in residential areas.
Back to Thomason Stone Supply because I couldn’t resist the call of the turquoise strand I’d lusted over. They recommended a unique shop called:
A Few of My Favorite Beads³, a tiny, two-story shed which shares the backyard of the owner’s house with a flock of beautiful chickens (and an eclectic rust-&-tarp collection). Open three days a week, with an excellent selection of JN seeds and CZ two-holes. Antique 28" ramp at front door leads to stunningly crowded building.
After lunch & a nap
The three of us take a long walk on The Bosque. Still beautiful, still calm, lovely resource enjoyed by families, kids, teens, adults and old fogies like us, from every ethnic/racial group.
That fabulous salad meal again

11 Sunday

Organized, packed, planned for our Monday departure
Watched S1E10 of The Crown. The Guardian’s extensive coverage informs me that S2 (available now) is “the one with all the shagging,” and that Matthew Goode’s performance as Lord Snowdon deserves a “best actor as a sixties English shit” award. Looking forward.

Inside the Little Plastic Castle