January 6, 2010

Yesterday's trip to town for laundry turned out to be a bit of a bust. There are two laundromats in town, unlike grocery stores and banks, of which there are only one each. But both were jam-packed. Guess Tuesday is laundry day on the res. Had to go to the bank for quarters to feed the machines, as the grocery store clerk wouldn't give me any change. By the time I'd finished the grocery shopping, a recon of the two laundries and the change run, it was time to head home because we have only one key to the house. Guess I'll try again today.

Saw a curiosity though. One of the first things we learned, as I wrote yesterday, was that liquor is illegal here. But there was a sign on one of the laundries that public intoxication was forbidden on the premises. Hmmm. Turning that mystery over in my mind, I decided to do a little research on the size of this reservation. Maybe there's a nearby town to bootleg from? But no! This is the largest reservation in the US, and actually encompasses the Hopi Nation. Over 27,000 sguare miles of Navajo nation surround us. We are constantly reminding ourselves that we are guests in this land, which is actually an independent nation, with its own laws and governing body, even a president.

Speaking of curiosities, we seem to have pixies in the house. I have been mystified by not finding the very last box I packed, with my favorite tea mug in it among other things. This morning, I find that my 1/3 cup measure is missing. Now, I know I used it yesterday, and where in the heck would it go in a house this size? Normally I would look for something like this in the last canister I used it in, but it wasn't there, either. So I'm sure mischievous fairies are taking my things. Fortunately, I have another 1/3 cup measure, but I'm really mourning my tea mug. It was a gift from Budd after I broke my last one with kitties on it. He's always going way out of his way to find special things for me like that, the sweetie. I really hate it when I lose or break one of them.

Now that we have our DSL, we also have phone service through the magical MagicJack. So I decided to call and see what we could do about TV. Turns out that Direct TV will move you free just as they advertise--once. Six weeks from now, when we need to move again, it will be a $200 charge. And every time we move thereafter. Might be worth it if we could get Jazz games, but nooooo--we're in Phoenix Suns territory. NBA package so we can get any game we want is another $187. Just how much are we willing to spend for Jazz games? We haven't decided yet. There's nothing else on TV that we really can't do without. But the evenings get pretty long when the sun goes down at 5:30 and you have to ration your reading. Did I mention there's no library or movie theater? I brought 18 used books I bought from the Riverton library, but I've gone through two of them already. Had to leave in storage the heavy hardbound library of self-improvement books that I read over and over. Maybe I'll learn to enjoy reading on the computer screen. Wait--maybe I'll write a book! Oh, hey, that's what I'm doing, huh?

One last observation, the house isn't quite as small as I thought. I was counting the squares in the linoleum to measure, 3 per foot. As it turns out, 3 actually is 13.5 inches. So the house is really a magnificent 588 square feet. For some perspective, though we rattled around in it a bit, our previous home was 3600 sf. Now a third of that will seem like a mansion--silver linings everywhere, yes?

Time to do something constructive with this day. Maybe I'll take some pictures today. P.S., it's a beautiful, sunny 32 degrees right now, headed for 43. Things are looking better for winter warmth in Arizona!