We knew once we graduated, we would leave Lubbock. There was no doubt in our minds. That involved going on at least one job hunting trip.
Zan and Carolyn were job hunting also, and had gone to Shiprock, New Mexico, to see about teaching on an Indian Reservation. They were impressed with it.
So Bill and I set off on a trip to check it out, among other places. We were driviing the Porsche, of course. The road through the Reservation followed a creek, with lots of twists and turns. More than once, as we rounded a curve, we came upon vehicles parked in the middle of the road, with the drivers having a “pow wow.” We weren’t use to people not pulling off the road to have a chat.
Bill said there was no way he would take the Porsche there to live. From that day to this, we have called it Shipwreck. When people correct us, we tell them we’ve been there and we know what we are talking about.
We continued our journey to the Four Corners area where New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona meet. While in Cortez, Colorado, we toured Mesa Verde National Park. It was an amazing place to see.
We toured one of the cliff dwellings, which involved climbing up a very tall ladder, with a drop off of several hundred feet. I had never had a fear of heights until that day. About half way up the ladder, I froze. I couldn’t move. Two little boys in back of me were poking me to go on. I was finally able to get to the top, but suffered the effects for many years.
I have learned to deal with my fear as the years passed, but I’m still not comfortable being off the ground. When at Mesa Verde with JP and Natalia several years ago, I was able to climb the ladders without having a panic attack. I must report, though, that things are safer now. The climbing is still up ladders, but not over a huge drop-off.
On our job hunting trip, we saw many beautiful places, but none as beautiful as we remembered the San Isabel/Rye, Colorado area. So after applying and getting jobs with the Pueblo County School District, we began making plans to move. I was hired to teach second grade at the elementary school in Rye and Bill was to teach Social Studies and photography at County High School east of Pueblo.
Our friend, Ann Smith, had given us a puppy. Her parents raised Wire Fox Terriers and she wanted us to have a puppy because we had done so much for her while she was in college. We named him Mister. He was adorable, walking on his tip toes.
We put our house on the market, thinking we would have time to do the necessary cleaning out and packing. No so! The house sold very quickly and we were forced to move into an apartment, using the second bedroom to store our “stuff” until it was time to actually move out of the area.
Mister, being from a championship line, needed to have his ears taped a certain way when he started teething. Ann showed us how to tape them. In the apartment complex were several snooty dog owners who looked down on our pup. When we explained that the ears were taped for show purposes later on, he was allowed to play with the their dogs. Of course, we had no intentions of showing him. He was just Mister. But it was fun seeing the change in attitudes!
It was tough, with last minute exams, etc. for Bill and me finishing Graduate School. I was also hired as a teaching assistant for an art ed class in the Art Department at Texas Tech. But we really enjoyed the carefree life of apartment living. With most of the packing already done, we had lots of time to swim in the pool and cook out with other residents.
We chose not to go through all of the graduation hoopla, but to get out of town. At the time, some singer had recorded a song saying that the best view of Lubbock, Texas, was in the rearview mirror. It became our theme song!
Neither one of us remember much about the actual move, but I’m sure my mother went along to help, with her car packed to the brim. She did that for us on several occasions. Maybe that’s who we learned it from!
No comments:
Post a Comment