Ez in the Land of Enchantment

Young Ez and his entourage have moved the operation south and west. We write you now from sunny and snowy New Mexico.

For anyone out there still under the impression that the desert is hot and dry, let me disabuse you. We've already had multiple cars sliding off icy roads, and there's a foot of snow on the ground. It is shockingly beautiful here, and the fresh air and mountain views are nourishing our urban souls.

All I can say about the trip out here was that it could have been much, much worse. When we booked our tickets, it seemed like a great idea to save a few bucks by getting a flight with 2 connections: Chicago to Minneapolis to Denver to Albuquerque, followed by an hour car ride to Santa Fe. This did not seem so bright by Thursday morning. However, Ezra behaved pretty darned well, relatively speaking. He slept about 2/3 of the time, only yelped a few times and was generally a pretty tolerant traveler. Also, we missed the weather catastrophe that hit Chicago by just a few hours.

Here in Santa Fe we've been showing Ezra the ropes ... we went on our first real hike on Sunday. Ashley's folks live in the foothills right at the base of some incredible mountain trails. We strapped Ezra to our back, wrapped him up like that little kid in "A Christmas Story," and set out for the summit. Well, we didn't exactly make it to the top, or even close, but it was most satisfying nonetheless. After a brief nap, Ez was alert and smiley. He seemed to enjoy the vistas and the occasional snowflake alighting on his face. We were really gratified to share our love of the outdoors with the little guy.

Back on the ranch, Ez also enjoyed his first Hannukah observance. In the Jewish tradition, he then received some crappy presents (used book and a couple of used pairs of pants ... get used to it, kid).

We will soon have to buy a few more toys, I suspect: the Gross dog Winnie doesn't quite understand the boundary between "baby toy" and "doggie toy." We've had a few disembowelments already. Luckily, the actual baby has escaped injury thus far.

Ez has been having a great time with his grandparents, and his Auntie Katy -- who seems to speak Ezra's language. One word from her and the kid breaks out into belly laughs. He also met another compatriot: young Rohan, who is just about 2 months. He's the son of a friend of mine (Gabe) from college, who lives in an amazing house out here that he designed himself on the back of bar napkins.

Then last night, after dinner with some friends Ash has known since 4th grade, it dumped 6-8 inches of snow here. Much of today has consisted of shoveling and finagling cars. This afternoon, if we can escape, Grandma will babysit and mom and dad will get away to this Japanese-style spa place and soak in an outdoor tub for a while.

More adventures sure to follow!

Much love,
Gabe, Ash and Ez