We can (easily) fit three (3) 60-gal rain barrels in the van! (Many more if we didn’t have a bed and other stuff in there…) Our friends Bob and Kim are moving, and gifted us a bunch of barrels they couldn’t take with them. We almost bought these last week, so the timing was perfect!
Last weekend, we made a quick run out to our friends’ place in Alpine, AZ. I had never been into the southwestern part of New Mexico, and wow was I amazed with how much of it there is, and how mountainous! Alpine is just over the border into Arizona, at about 8,000 feet, and full of big ponderosa pines. We had a great time.
We camped in a (free!) BLM campground adjacent to the El Malpais national monument on the way back, and hung out for the sunset sky show, enhanced by multiple lightning storms to either side of us.
The Bobber passed peacefully last week, at the ripe old age of nearly 18 human years. We’ve been missing her dreadfully. She had a good long run, and was very much enjoying her best kitty life here in Santa Fe. She had developed some health problems, and was quite deaf, but still enjoying her days. Softest cat in the universe! RIP The Bobber, 2005 - 2023.
We drove over to Bandelier yesterday to climb up onto the plateau above the visitor center and head into a less-visited zone. Gorgeous hike, and now we know what the terrain looks like for planning future backpacking trips :)
I am so happy to announce that as of today, May 10th, 2023, I have officially started transmasculine HRT (hormone replacement therapy, also called "testosterone" or just "T"). The specifics of HRT are perhaps a bit too involved for a public announcement post, but essentially it will allow me to go through a second, male puberty. On HRT, I will experience changes including a lower voice, more body/facial hair, and a more traditionally "masculine" body fat distribution, which will help me feel more comfortable in my body and while existing socially. This has been a long time coming — I started my transition nearly 5 years ago (!), and have spent the last few months in endless phone calls with doctors and health insurance companies. This has not been been a hasty decision — anything but, in fact — and while I've had my fair share of anxiety and frustration along the way, now that I've reached the figurative "end of the tunnel" I am simply overjoyed. I truly hope you can share in this excitement with me!
I won't lie — it's a scary time to be a transgender person in the U.S. right now, certainly more so than it was when I started my transition in 2018. I am very fortunate to be living in a place where I am relatively safe, and I am so grateful to my family & friends for all the support given to me over the years, but I can't help but fear for my fellow trans people. I would encourage anyone reading this to look into organizations fighting for trans rights (the ACLU and Transgender Law Center are good places to start) and to reach out to any trans people you know who may be in need of support right now. The odds against us are not insurmountable, but we need every ally we can get.
We got back from our trip last week to find that the crabapple tree had positively exploded with blooms in our absence. It looked like this when we first saw the house a year ago.
