All is Not Well, Though it Bode’s Well

On the day before my favorite day of the year I had to do one of my least favorite things in life. Favorite day? Daylight Savings! Least favorite? Take my ailing dog to the vet to confirm a terminal prognosis. I already knew that he had several inoperable tumors and that everyday is borrowed, precious time. We found this out while traveling out of state and wanted our own vet to be on board for when the time comes. So, off we went to Rincón Blanco Veterinary in Canjilon. Leroy Martinez and his wife, Donna run a salt-of-the-earth, nuts and bolts country veterinarian practice. They remember your name and your pet’s name. They seem to truly care and have compassion for the circumstances that bring you to them. Dr. Martinez told us that they just had to put down their last living dog, a Jack Russell, last month and was particularly kind about the state of our beloved boy, Mooky. I don’t know about you all, but my experience with vets around here has not been easy since Valley Veterinary moved. COVID made the whole thing worse. If we were lucky enough to find one willing to take on new clients, the appointment was weeks out and it was hard to get out of there for under $150.00 and a feeling of inconveniencing the entire staff. 

It’s not like that with Rincón. The Martinezes, who are trying to retire, were hesitant to allow us an appointment last summer, but again, that compassion thing. I’m not sure if I even want to disclose the exam fee. Okay, I will…40 bucks! Also, any meds are reasonably priced. If you need X Rays, you’ll have to go elsewhere. I cannot say enough good things about these folks!

I would love to see the community come together and fund one of the local youth to go to Vet School.  In exchange, they would agree to a ten year contract to keep their practice local and to find a replacement if they want to move elsewhere after the contract is up. Any takers? I imagine that Dr. Martinez is hesitant to retire because he knows that he would be stranding many residents. We are very thankful for them staying in business!
Leaving the vet incredibly sad but with a sense of acceptance and planning to spoil our boy rotten until his final trip to Rincón Blanco, we realized that we were quite hungry. This brought us to Bode’s to grab something from their fresh daily selections of both hot and cold options. I went for a large fresh garden salad with crisp Romaine lettuce and topped with carrots, cabbage, red onion, plump grape tomatoes and some shredded cheddar. I was glad to see that one of the pre-packaged boxes had ranch dressing. I also got a small container of cous-cous salad with bell peppers and green onions. The bland dressing could have been jumped up with a little more fresh lemon juice.  My wife was lucky enough to score a green chile bacon Breakfast Burrito. Surprising because these always seem to go first. This good sized wrap is filled with freshly scrambled eggs, cubed grilled potatoes, melty melty cheese, bits of bacon and, of course, plenty of chile! If you haven’t had this burrito or one of the others such as red chile with sausage, chicharron or carne asada, you are missing out. We zoom up to Bode’s more often than I’m comfortable sharing, in hopes to nab one of these beauties before they are all gone. In the end, lunch for two came in around $16.
It’s always a pleasure to go to Bodes and see our thriving community going about their daily business: pumping gas, buying bird seed or stocking up on goodies for a lazy day at the lake!