Right after camp, Dick and I were able to attend the wedding in Santa Fe of Kathlene Ritch and Scott Noakes. I met Kathlene on the day she was born in downtown Kerrville (where the hospital used to be). Her mother had been my sophomore English teacher and class sponsor the previous school year, and her three older brothers were classmates of mine and Juli’s. In fact Juli was dating Jerry that year, and I was dating Don. We ran with a big group that liked to sing together, go to dances and each other’s churches, and cook up challenging meals in each other’s homes. We have all stayed friends, and we have always kept a special eye out on the life of Kathlene, who, by the way, was a longtime Heart camper and Shawnee chieftain. She never goes anywhere without her seven-year-ring.
We chose to drive to Santa Fe. OK, Dick chose to drive. I envisioned miles and miles of brush land. But I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. It was miles and miles of one ranch, a few cattle, a few more miles, a few horses. Then the next ranch. Miles between fences. I bet their roundups are something to orchestrate. I also enjoyed the constantly changing topography. Our Hill Country yielded to mesas and outcroppings of every color and size. Atop one outcropping we saw a mountain goat so proud and still we first believed him to be a statue.
We enjoyed being able to walk all around Santa Fe. It reminds me a bit of Fredericksburg in the way that there is a central district with lots of shops, galleries, and places that are just generally intriguing, a bit of live music, and the charm of everything looking like it belongs to another place and time.
Memorable, fun time with many old and dear friends.
One more thing… Kathlene is a professional musician. Her first “gig” at age 13 was to play piano for our wedding. Sweet.
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