Meling

Day 12, March 6, 2001
Rancho Meling

I'm in my wonderfully rustic room, listening to the rain run off the eaves outside my window, the frogs singing, and the crackle of the fire Dad made for me in my little Sears Roebuck stove. The cutout face of the stove reminds me of a jack-o-lantern, with its triangles and orange glow. I'm warm and cozy in my bed, though it is quite cold outside. (We could see snow on nearby peaks today.) An oil lamp is lighting my computer screen. I know, my laptop doesn't really belong in this picture. I mean, the toilet in my bathroom has a wooden lid. You can't get much more rustic than that.

We found out a lot of the recent history of the ranch last night. Much of it is sad, and even tragic. But Duane seems determined to continue the legacy her mother started. She also appears to have the spunk, and the knack for hospitality and storytelling, to do it.

The saddest news for me was about Ted, or Teddy as the family called him. He was Aida's grandson. Duane told us Ted (Sonia's son) was battling alcoholism. He was facing his third DUI and three months in jail after getting into an accident in San Diego. Ted called his mom and said he was coming back here to the ranch to bring supplies. He got here in the middle of the night, unloaded his truck, and shot himself with a shotgun. He was found in the morning. Duane said he was born 100 years too late, and it sounds like he never found himself. But unfortunately, he did find alcohol.

Duane said she had a dream about Ted three days after he died, and he told her to tell his mom, and everyone else, to let him go. And that he was free now. After that, Duane said, she felt relieved and knew he would finally be OK.

This ranch is so rooted in the past, it's hard not to think about spirits lurking about. But if there are any, they are here because they loved this place, and they are certainly friendly ghosts. Life and death feel more tangible here for some reason. It's sort of hard being a vegetarian on a ranch where many of the animals you see will be slaughtered for food. And the dogs and horses are not pampered, though they certainly do not seem to be mistreated. It's just a different way of life. But on balance, these animals have a much better life than the factory-farmed animals people eat every day at home. If I were ever to eat meat again, I would want to know the animals had had a good life. The kind of life they have here.

Last night, Duane also filled us in on the two years the ranch was closed. After her mother died, Duane's sister Sonia closed the ranch. It fell into serious disrepair. Most of the cattle herd was sold off, and a lot of things were stolen from Meling Ranch and the outlying ranches owned by the family. The plumbing backed up, the antenna for the ham radio Aida used to contact the "outside world" was dismantled, and all the animals were down to skin and bones. Duane reopened the ranch last July and is slowly returning it to its former glory. I don't really notice any changes, because it seems exactly the same as it was when I was here last, more than 20 years ago, which is probably the highest compliment I could pay. The old adobe buildings are still charming and quaint, and everywhere you look you see the makings of a great photograph. But I am sure that is due to the hard work Duane and Octavio and Christian and the rest of the crew have put in on the ranch.

The blue-bellied lizards are still doing pushups on the rocks in the sun, and staying just barely out of my grasp. I caught a frog before dinner last night, just like I would do when I was a kid. We rode horses this morning until it started raining lightly, and then spent most of the day hanging out in the dining/living room by the fire while it rained hard outside. Christian and I tried hard to communicate with my limited Spanish and his limited English. I showed him these pages, and other pictures from my Web site. Dad and Jess watched "True Grit" and we all watched "The Shootist," and I gained a new appreciation of John Wayne. The movies are from Aida's own collection. I wonder if she ever met The Duke. She sure was cut from the same mold.

We asked Duane to give us a family history, because it is fairly complicated with its mix of Norwegians, Mexicans and Americans. She promised that she would map it all out and post it on the wall of the dining room. I guess that gives us a good reason to return, aside from the fabulous meals. I hope it doesn't take another 20 years for us to make it back here.