This morning’s wildfire smoke started me thinking about our last big snow. It was December 2006 and it was a big one for the upper Middle Rio Grande valley. A record-setting 11.3 inches landed on the airport in Albuquerque. We got close to a couple of feet up here in Placitas. That is my late …
The weather technicians say it is the start of the monsoon, but I still balk at the New Mexico use of the term. It works when I’m reading Joseph Conrad, but it seems out of place as I gaze at the Pajarito Plateau. Against the grain of my newspaper training, reluctantly using two words instead …
Thank you, friends of Cooper and John. Your notes and kindnesses meant a lot to me after Cooper’s passing on June 11. It lifted my spirits to be reminded that so many of you were Cooper fans, too. I have been short on words since his death. The trails are clear, but I still pause. …
Cooper died Saturday after a short but devastating bout with aspiration pneumonia. He was maybe 13. He was a very good guy. Cooper and another of his best friends, Sara, watching me read. Taking a break on the trail, with Sara and Lori. Birthday boys, 2013, the year I got him central air. We celebrated …
It’s tougher than you might think, being retired and trying to find a second wind as some kind of creative writer — an ambition I call, after 41 years as a newspaper reporter and editor, “Making It All Up.” For one thing, it seems to require discipline, which is a bit of shock to …
It was another tough day at the office for Cooper, with John moving room to room with his books and computers and that much younger short-haired pointer Sara visiting all afternoon. I caught my usually watchful dreamranch pal resting his eyes after an early dinner tonight. Previously on dreamranch: The no-so-bookish club.
Hard to get any reading done when you are under friendly but constant scrutiny. Cooper is delighted to have Sara for company today, but the three of us are having trouble getting on the same page. I guess I will fall back on the little dog wisdom I have: When in doubt, go for a …
Cooper, Sara and some of Lori. Back on the trail after a rainy day. And, yes, retirement is good.
The Lori Fan Club listens up.
Far be it from me to make light of climate change and global warming, but they were a convenient excuse for a work stoppage today at dreamranch. I am building a new viewing platform — aka picnic table –for Cooper and offer photographic evidence at left that progress is being made. So, there, you Cooper …
dream ranch 