Okay, last time I talked about how we ended up planning a trip to Marfa...which is a lovely (albeit tiny) community located in Far West Texas, or the Trans-Pecos region of this fair state. Which is another, and somewhat politer way of saying that it is in the left or middle nostril of absolutely nowhere. I mean, we’re talking the Land Where God Left His Bicycle.
No offense meant to Marfa. Just trying to set the stage.
But, how on earth...you may be asking...would a latte-swilling, PBS-watching, New York Review of Books-reading pair of libtard urbanites like Martha and me end up in such a place? That’s a very good question, but to answer it I’m going to have to explain two things. First, family politics, and second, Big Time Art.
We’ll do the politics this time. And I’ll get to the Art next time.
So, here’s the thing: As you know, we have a son. His name is David and he is married to Emily. They have two wonderful children, Hazel (who’s just going into kindergarten) and her little brother, Miles (who is turning three this year).
They are, in fact, why Martha and I live in Texas. We thought we were going to be in New England or maybe New Mexico for the rest of our lives. But, David got his undergraduate degree at the School Of The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. While he was there, he met another Art School Student, one Miss Emily. One thing led to another...
And it so happened that Emily was from Texas.
So, some years later, we moved for the reason that anyone our age moves anywhere...i.e., to be near the Grandkids.
About the photos: Two today. First, and here’s a spoiler alert, this is a shot of some of Donald Judd’s work in Marfa. We saw a great deal more of it while we were there.
Second, and nothing to do with the story, I just like the snap, a photo of Martha finishing off a chocolate croissant in one of our local cafes. (She may kill me for posting this. But it’s the risk I’ll have to take. 😀)
Now, Emily’s parents (obviously) live in Texas. And, as happens in even the happiest of families (and we do get along well with Emily’s folks), there is always that ticklish question: which set of grandparents get the kids at Christmas and other major holidays?
We thought it would be our turn. We thought that for Christmas of 2023, we’d get ‘em. And we were making plans accordingly. We had even thought about asking them if they’d like to join us in a quick trip to New Mexico for a Santa Fe Christmas, something we’d been talking about for years.
But...then....we were meeting them for a dinner at one point in the Fall. David turned to me with a curious kind of unhappy smile on his handsome face. He said, suddenly, and reluctantly, and not quite with gritted teeth (but close enough), “We were wondering if you and Mom might like to join us in Marfa for a few days after New Year’s.”
Uh-oh.
We knew what was coming after that. I delicately asked, “So you’ve already made plans for Christmas?” He would, hesitantly admit, “Dallas...”
Ouch...we’d lost out in the big Santa Claus Shuffle. In the game of Musical Xmases, we’d come in chairless. Or, to carry the analogy further, in the contest of Pin The Tail On The Reindeer, we’d gotten the...uh, never mind. Maybe that’s a metaphor too far.
But, seriously, they were going to spend Christmas with Emily’s parents. For us, there’d be no reading the grandchildren “The Night Before Christmas” at bedtime. No watching them coming down from the guest bedroom to see the Christmas Tree. No Christmas mid-day turkey with them afterwards.
Phooey.
Still...there was some good news. They did want to spend time with us after New Years...several days, in fact. The greater part of a week. And we figured we’d take what we could get. So, silver lining and all that.
And, besides...
We were flattered. Marfa is very special to David and Emily. As David told me later, “It’s to us sort of what Amherst is to you and Mom.” That is, a place of very special memories. Amherst is where Martha and I met, and where we decided (to the vast surprise and shock of our friends) that we were in love and would marry.
And for David and Emily to share their version of Amherst with us...that is, Marfa...well, we couldn’t help but be moved by that level of trust.
So, we pulled up our socks, and made the best of it. We had a nice Christmas with just ourselves. And then, prepared for our adventure in Marfa.
Which brings us, finally, to Art. And to why Marfa is special to David and Emily.
And that’s coming next time.
Copyright©2024 Michael Jay Tucker
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