When we left New Mexico in 2014 we packed almost all our worldly possessions in a 40 ft. shipping container. It happened to be a green one. Dishes, small specialty appliances, more dishes, cookbooks, those old fashioned CDS that Randy had spent so much time on, the even older rare tapes that he had preserved by putting them on said CDs. We packed away our winter clothes – we were moving to California, after all. We packed it all away and left it in Jason’s care there at Black Mesa.

I didn’t miss my stuff a lot while we were in California. I was on a new adventure, exploring the west coast. Brain training to revive my burned out psyche, wonderful restaurants on every corner and the beautiful blue Pacific across from my front door. Instead of waiting on people, people were waiting on me. I healed and played and enjoyed.

Then about a year ago we moved again. Here to west Tennessee. Here, I began to pine for my beautiful things. I wanted to cook again! I wanted to have dinners, explore my fairly extensive wine collection.
And so it was that I arranged for all that stuff to be packed onto yet another cargo container and shipped to me here in Tennessee.

As planned, it arrived when I was on a trip so that when I got back to Trimble I found the garage filled with all my earthly belongings.

Maybe not all but a lot. I’d arranged for U Pack, a company I highly recommend by the way, to drop off the 28 foot shipping container in Ojo Caliente to be packed (thank you Jason and Margarita!) and not seven days later the container arrived here in little ole Trimble where it was unpacked once again (thank you Mark, Tristan and crew!) and awaited my return.

And so it was that I saw my life reduced to a garage full of boxes. To say it was bittersweet would be an understatement. These boxes represent those 15 wonderful years full of friends, new and old, wonderful meals and celebrations, lots of love and joy. The dishes, the specialty appliances, the stemware, the many cookbooks are all reminders of those special times and the wonderful people who made them possible.These boxes remind me of the gift of inspiration that everyone who came through the doors at Black Mesa gave me. Dinners for 2 to 25, wedding rehearsals, holidays, so many special times. If you, who were there, had half as much fun as I did, wow, it was great wasn’t it?

I can’t wait to dig into these boxes. It may take a while to get through them – sitting down to reminisce with favorite items may slow me down. A three dimensional scrapbook.

I am ready to begin again. Lara’s Secret Suppers are gearing up for the fall but Black Mesa and all its memories will always be with me. Thank you all again for those wonderful years. Hey and come visit here in my new southern home!