Today Mrs. Hobbit and I are celebrating a special anniversary: fifty years together. TPTB have allowed us to disrupt the normal Friday pattern to give us a chance to toot our horn.

Our fathers were high school buddies in Los Alamos, NM, in the early 1950’s. They lost contact with each other when they joined the service. In the late-sixties her dad was traveling in New Mexico and thought that he would look up his old high school buddy.

People ask me, “How did you two meet?” My reply has always been, “One day this pink Cadillac pulled into the driveway and this babe gets out.”

Our attraction was instant and mutual (although she admitted that she thought my brother was “kind of cute”). Her dad once told me that after she met me none of the other guys interested her. As she lived in California and I lived in New Mexico, our early relationship was via mail.

To my generation, at the time, California was the Golden Land. I had the strong desire to see this magical place and looked forward to seeing my long-range sweetie in person. So, at sixteen years old, without telling my parents, I hopped onto my 250 cc dirt bike and drove to California.

In 2010 I repeated this drive on a modern motorcycle and wrote an article about it.  Glibertarians.com was kind enough to publish it.  The parts are here: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, and Chapter 4.

Several years ago my niece asked, “How do you make a long marriage?” My reply was, “The same way you live to be 100: One day at a time.”  Take the long view.  You might die tomorrow; you might not.  If you die then your troubles are over.  If you live then you have the rest of your life to look forward to.

 

 

The story of our 50th anniversary is unwritten but here is a story that I wrote about our 20th:

So, our twentieth was coming up. I felt that a landmark like that deserved something special, different from the now-routine dinners at a Really Nice Restaurant.

Around this time there was a commercial airing for Isuzu 4x4s. This woman was putting on makeup and jewelry while the voice-over said, “It’s our anniversary tonight and my husband is taking me someplace special.”

At the end of the commercial “someplace special” turned out to be the edge of a canyon at sunset. The couple, in evening wear, was having a candlelight dinner. The Isuzu had brought them there.

I figured that was a good inspiration for our anniversary.

There is a place that I know of about ten miles away, a meadow at the bottom of a canyon next to a small stream. The last few miles are a 4×4 Low crawl over rocks so it is very isolated. The location is typical of our area; a fairly wide flat area at the bottom, enclosed by steep cliffs on either side.

It was early August and the monsoon thunderstorms were over. The days were warm and the nights mild. Nice conditions for a candlelight dinner in someplace special.

My wife’s friend was in on the plan and invited her over for several hours while I set the whole thing up. I grabbed our tent and camping gear and packed an overnight bag with a change of clothes for each of us, then set off for the canyon. On limited time I had to hurry to get there and it was bounce-bounce-bounce across the rock field until I got there. I set up the tent with our sleeping gear and unfolded a camping table.

Finishing that I bounce-bounce-bounced back to the highway and headed into town to buy some steaks, salad, and a bottle of wine, which went into the ice chest. I managed to make it home before she did.

As luck would have it a co-worker was having a party on the mesa above my camping spot on the afternoon of my dinner. I told the wife, “Put on a nice dress because I’m taking you to a nice place.” She changed into a stunning black dress and you could hear the eyeballs click from the guys at the party as she walked past.

When we got to the 4×4 part she started to have her doubts; “This isn’t the way we came in.” I kept reassuring her. “It’s a nice place”. There was a hotel in an occupied ghost town further down the canyon and she thought that it might be there.

When we got to the campsite she was, at first, dismayed; “I wore a black dress to a picnic?” But once she saw that I had pre-planned everything she realized that this was a going to be a special night.

I changed into a collared shirt and tie (as much of “dressed up” as I get) to make the evening more formal.  I then cooked the steaks and warmed some pre-baked potatoes to go with our salads. We had our candlelight dinner in the wilderness, even though the evening breeze kept blowing out the candles.

An amendment to our story (2022):   I’ve reserved a room at the Marriott and a dinner at Ruth’s Christ for our big night tonight. When she called on her way home I told her that I have a nice surprise planned.  She asked, “Are you taking me camping?”
I love this lady.