Merry Christmas!

Well another Christmas is almost over and Thomas and I had a great holiday. Last night we spent the evening with our friend Bruce at his parent's home with his brothers and their families. It was a really great and relaxing time. And there was some good food. We brought some crawfish etouffee and they had homemade tamales and pork with red chile. Today we relaxed at home by ourselves and did some reading and watched the Disney Christmas parade. This evening we had dinner with Thomas' aunt and one of his cousins. Again it was a very relaxing time. So there was no wild partying but we still had a great holiday. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday as well.

Merry Christmas to all!

A Pardon Finally comes

Back on June 23 of this year I posted a birthday note for Alan Turing. Alan was convicted of homosexuality in 1952 and in order to avoid prison he was chemically castrated. On June 7, 1954 Alan committed suicide by eating a cyanide laced apple (although this theory has been questioned) - he was only 41. Finally Queen Elizabeth II has pardoned Alan of this conviction. It is good to see things changing and the acceptance of a group of people who have no control over their sexuality. I am happy for Alan and I hope he is now truly at peace. Thank you England for showing humanity.

#17

Today New Mexico became the 17th state to legalize same sex marriage.

For years now things have been changing slowly - some states chose hatred and approved constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage while other states chose to value human rights and allow gay marriage. New Mexico was pretty much in limbo. We didn't have the legal right to marry but a good thing was that we didn't have any bans on it either. But every year we tried to get gay marriage legalized in the legislature but it was either tabled or defeated. Now the New Mexico Supreme Court has finally done the right thing - they made a unanimous decision and declared that New Mexico is constitutionally required to allow same sex marriage. Here are a few links about this historic announcement.

Griego v. Oliver New Mexico Supreme Court Decision
Griego v. Oliver ACLU Announcement
New Mexico Supreme Court Rules Same-Sex Marriage Legal
New Mexico Supreme Court: Same-Sex Marriage Legal
New Mexico Supreme Court Rules Same-Sex Couples Can Marry in New Mexico

New Mexico now joins the following states in recognizing gay marriage . . .
Massachusetts
California
Connecticut
Iowa
Vermont
New Hampshire
New York
Washington
Maine
Maryland
Rhode Island
Delaware
Minnesota
New Jersey
Hawaii
Illinois
and
Washington, D.C.

Since Thomas and I were legally married in Massachusetts back in 2004 we now are considered legally married in New Mexico and for all federal rights afforded opposite sex couples. But I think we will go ahead and get married in New Mexico so we have a marriage license in our home state. I am really happy that things are changing and we now need to get marriage equality in all 50 states if this is truly the UNITED States of America.

Dinner and a Walk in Madrid

Every year at Christmas time Thomas and I usually take an evening and go down to Madrid to see the Christmas lights and do some shopping and try to have dinner. So we made plans and did that tonight. We left home around 4:30pm and made our way to Madrid. We decided to have dinner first and then do our walking and shopping. I did a little internet search before leaving the house to see where we might get some dinner. I found a place called The Hollar Restaurant. Here is a description from their website . . .

"the hollar specializes in the fusing of southern cuisine with only the freshest local ingredients. the result is comfort food done right!"

We had a great meal and a nice relaxing time, the place is wonderful and I hope to make it there again soon. After eating and visiting Thomas and I headed out to walk around town and do a little shopping. I took a few pictures and we went into about nine shops. I bought a couple of things and really enjoyed the relaxing meal and stroll around the town. It was a really nice time and a great way to spend a cold winter evening.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

This morning I woke up and looked at my list of things to do and decided I really didn't feel like doing anything on the list. I decided I wanted to take a drive up the mountain to the ski basin and take a walk. So I got dressed (with long johns) and took off on my drive. Once I was parked I took off walking around the area and enjoyed the beautiful snow and the peacefulness of the area. I took lots of pictures and just thought about how wonderful it was up here away from all the hustle and bustle of the holidays. One of the things I loved about walking around out here was the pureness of the snow. It was clean, white and void of any marks - so beautiful. I stayed as long as I could tolerate the cold - about an hour and a half. It was just what I needed to get rejuvenated to get back to reality.

An Icon for Freedom is Gone

Nelson Mandela

July 18, 1918 - December 5, 2013

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”  

― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom