All Good Things, letter 5: Extraordinary Things
All Good Things is a collection of letters I wrote to my dear friend Caleb Bouchard between Summer 2020 and Spring 2022. It was published as a small chapbook by Analog Revolution Press in 2022. I’ve compiled the letters here, with additional photos, for you. So make yourself a nice cup of tea, and enjoy.
October 24, 2020
Dear Caleb,
Its October 24th and I am in Monticello, NM. I walked 15 miles down dirt Burma Road last night and this morning to make it to the post office during their operating hours of 9-11 am. The wind is raging, I can hear rain smacking the ground all around me, soon it will fade to silence as it turns to snowfall. The forecast predicts a low in the upper 20s tonight with wind gusts intensifying through morning with tomorrow's high scarcely breaking above freezing.
I, however, am sitting on the floor of an adobe house, basking, yes basking, before a fire I built in a wood-burning stove. I'm freshly showered, stretching my neck, drinking an exquisite rum and ginger, reading a book, writing this letter, supremely relaxed, and dining on the finest grape tomatoes I've ever tasted-- each one with a unique flavor-- feeling the scent of chicken roasting in the oven-- sharing stories of adventure and sailing-- after helping Beverly trim the last of this year’s cannabis crop. I’ve never trimmed cannabis before, probably never will again.
I've had a cognac aperitif, a Modelo Negro, a glass of Pinot Grigio, a cup of mint tea, and I fixed Beverly's leaking toilet. The mushroom cream sauce was excellent with the braised potatoes and steamed chard we harvested from the garden this afternoon. In the back stands a waddle and daub shed, with a bear rug where lives Burt from South Carolina. Tomorrow night, Burt will come over to give a private concert for Beverly, me, Carlis, and hopefully Lindsay and Einstein. Beverly has agreed to let me drive her Outback out Burma Rd first thing in he morning to hopefully fin Lindsay and Einstein. I’m sure they’ll be fine in the snow storm. Lindsay is tough as nails and has a proper tent. Still, I doubt her Blue Heeler, Einstein, has much experience or tolerance for the cold white fluffy stuff. I also don’t expect them to be enthusiastic about the 15 mile road walk into town, and of course the post office will be closed tomorrow so they’ll need somewhere to wait out this weather until it melts Monday. It’ll be nice to have some folks together in one place after miles of wandering alone through desert mountain burn areas looking for the safest route up a ridge and down the next. The Grand Enchantment Trail has been full of new and wondrous experiences. It’s great when some of those experiences can be shared.
Extraordinary things happen to those who put themselves in extraordinary circumstances.
All good things,
Ryan
