Dr. John Romo

Today I pressure washed his pool patio in Mansfield and tomorrow I will seal it. I have been working for him for eleven years.

Last Saturday when I was there we got to talking. He said some thing about being from the Southwest. I asked where, and he said Santa Fe. He was raised on a ranch. He has eight other siblings. All successful. Lawyers, doctors and bankers. Mom's eighty-eight. Dad's gone.

I studied his face and asked, “Do you have any Indian blood?" He has "Yes, Navajo blood." They were from Pueblo Islita originally.

I told him we loved the Southwest and started naming some places. El Morro, Phantom Ranch, Canyon de Chelly, Leadville, any place that has hot springs, the Hopi Mesas, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Bandelier, Tent Rocks, Mesa Verde and Shiprock.

His favorite is Acoma.



YCMUSLT
R. Francisco Tocino

Noted (by Charles Gregory): Isleta Pueblo is one of the 19 pueblos of the Pueblo people and is just south of Albuquerque. The Navajo are different. However, there has been a ton of intermarriage, as you might reasonably expect. I'd bet the details of that story (Navajo from Isleta) would be just as fascinating. You have your assignment!

p.s. If you have never visited the Southwest, please do.


Bandelier




Mesa Verde




Monument Valley




Phantom Ranch




Ship Rock




Chaco Canyon

. . . And In Addition I Would Like To Say . . .

Sandy's new room on Garage Mahal is finally complete.



It was our sixth addition to our houses. It was also the last addition to our houses. Coming in WAY over budget. It took from July 2011 to March 2012 to build. At one point, we went away for three weeks and came back to see that nothing had been done while we were gone. Two of our inspections failed. The septic system that we had to put in is large enough to handle all the stuff from Barracks 76, which held two floors of sailors and one of United States Marines at South Weymouth Naval Air Station. That came as a surprise! Then the town made us rip out the plumbing because they said the NINE-YEAR-OLD shower was illegal. The whole building that it is attached to only took three months to complete.



The new room definitely has the best view of any of the others on the property. You are looking west so the sunsets are really great.



That is the Green Harbor River. It flows from Duxbury, under Webster Street near the golf course, and finally cuts through Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary and into the Atlantic Ocean at Green's Harbour. William Green, the first mate on the ship Mayflower, built a fish salting business here in the early 1600s.

We bought this land forty years ago and built the original house the next year. My father and brother helped me clear it with axes. 110 Stagecoach Drive is only one acre of statesman Daniel Webster's original 1200 acres.



Webster loved his property but lived here for only twenty years until his death. Our local streets are named after his life. Grace Lane, for his wife. Fletcher Drive, for his son, killed at 2nd Manassas. Barouche Drive, named after his beautiful coach. Steamboat Drive, after one of his famous court cases. Lapwing Way, named after his boat. Peterson Path is named after his hunting friend, Seth. The origin of he name Black Mount, or Mountain, is lost in history. When you come to visit I will show you Webster’s house and his grave site. British Troops were bivouacked here right before Lexington / Concord in 75.

How do you spell bivouacked, and how do you use it in a sentence?

Can you believe forty years? Kezia was a one year old. Sandy and I discussed the mortgage for two days. Well it was $152 and you had to pay it every month.

Someone suggested that we should have a party here to celebrate next year. Hmmm.

Roberto Francisco Tocino