Kathleen's Blog

It’s the first driveway on the right, after Mile Marker 24.  It’s 10 remote miles after you lose all cell reception. It’s up a windy, beautiful, mountain road in New Mexico outside of Santa Fe. It’s at 9,000 feet where the air is thinner, the sky is a bit bluer and the grass is a tiny bit greener. It’s perched up on the hillside, over looking a huge, grassy meadow.  It’s so close to a river that you can sit on the porch and listen and watch the water flow down the valley. It is the perfect place to hang hummingbird feeders and watch the birds fuss trying to get to the sugar-water.  It’s heaven for two Golden Retrievers who exhaust themselves playing in the meadow and jumping in the river, free from leashes and fences.   It’s quiet and the people are friendly. It’s rustic and charming, full of memories and sweat from generations of Jay’s family. It’s not a fancy cabin, but it is a very special place, lovingly tended to by special people.

This past week, an arsonist was running lose in the Valley and setting fire to cabins. Our friends and neighbors were staying up all night, listening and patrolling, making sure everyone and everything was safe. But no one could catch him.  And then, he found our cabin.

All in all, we were lucky. Apparently, he wasn’t in a fire-setting-mood and just broke in looking for food and valuables.  The only damage was from his uninvited entry into our home.

And although our friends had already secured the house with plywood, Jay drove up to the Cabin to finish up repairs and to stand watch.

Thankfully, the arsonist was captured on Thursday night and the whole Valley breathed a sigh of relief.  And slept. Finally.

Life was quiet again at Mile Marker 24.

Love, me