Over the weekend the group and I took a trip up north to El Cajon del Maipo. At the last minute our wee family grew with 5 (count 'em, five) new chilean friends. Plus two very loved perros. Activities on the agenda included: horseback riding; a trip to thermal waters on a day much too cold for bathing suits; and a hike to a river nestled closely between two mounds of Andes foothills in a place where ogres must live. We munched on grapes fresh from our backyard, sipped neighborhood wine, and basked in the last taste of sunny weather for a while. Now, getting back to the grindstone seems all that much easier.

a & l with negro