My first stop was the McDonald's parking lot to catch up with Heather Nordquist who had evidently been distracted from her running Facebook argument with my daughter (Bernie v. the DNC Flavor of the Month) by the pandemic.
"Hey!" she informed me jubilantly. "I've got a GREAT idea! My Mom made a whole bunch of gowns
Heather had seen my most recent Facebook post about mask-making and had managed to engage the entire population of northern Santa Fe County in the effort.
As it turns out, Heather's mother, Stella Vigil Shelburn, is a hairdresser. Twenty years ago, she decided to go into business making plastic gowns for hairdressers, so she sewed 800 of them. Then she decided she didn't like marketing. They remained neatly packed away in boxes in her shed for several decades.
(Okay, the gowns were neatly packed. The boxes, not so much.)
Now she was eager to turn them over for use by medical personnel in need.
We emptied out the shed of boxes and packed them in my Ford Ranger, feeling pleased with ourselves. "What about the rest of them?" asked Stella's husband, Jack Shelburn.
"What rest?" Asked Stella.
"The shed at the bottom. There's a whole bunch of boxes in it."
There was only one obstacle. An old tractor was blocking the shed and its battery had died. Jack, a crusty farmer with blue leather boots immediately got to work starting the tractor. He attached a battery charger and then Stella pulled up her van and they attached that too. After an hour or so, the tractor was put to use moving boxes out to the road where the Rio Arriba Volunteer Fire Department could pick them up. Jack, who is partially blind, drove the tractor.
"Hey cut that out and let me drive!" screamed Heather above the roar of the tractor. It belched black smoke out of an ancient smokestack.
"What?" Jack shouted back. "I can't hear you!"
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT?" screamed Heather.
"BECAUSE I WANT TO!" screamed Jack. Then they shouted cusses at one another in Spanish and English.
All the arguing made us hungry. Heather brought out a lovely smoked brisket and we all dug in sitting six feet away from one another. “I’ll give you a care package for Chloe,” Heather offered. It was a peace offering. Heather had publicly accused my daughter of eating Tide Pods because of her passionate support for Bernie Sanders.
“Well to be fair,” my son had retorted. “Who can resist Tide Pods? They come in so many attractive colors and a wide variety of scrumptious flavors!”
“Chloe loves brisket,” I assured Heather.
The boxes finally made their way to the front of the house along with several huge spools of binding tape. Stella pulled out an air compressor to dust them off.
Right about that time, County EMS Director and Fire Marshall Alfredo Montoya pulled up in a big blue truck with a team of three volunteer fire fighters. They managed to pack the boxes into the back of their truck.
Stella hosed each of them off with the air compressor.
When we got back to the Agua Sana Fire Department, we repacked the gowns into new boxes.
I am happy to report that they are washable and can be re-used as long as nobody decides to smoke a cigarette. The material is not flame resistant. We have made sure the recipients are aware of this limitation. Happily, we have enough to give out to all three Rio Arriba Federally Qualified Health Clinics plus La Familia in Santa Fe.
Alfredo disbursed the gowns today. The clinic directors are extremely grateful for Stella’s loving donation.