For briefly escaping worries about pandemic, politics, water and wildfire, I am thankful for: Patrick O’Brian by day and Longmire by night … … birdwatching and walks in between … … the view west when the smoke has cleared … … fall colors … … company at hand … … and thanks to a delivery …
Conversations with friends about the destruction of the Santa Fe Plaza obelisk this week sent me to the Newspapers.com archives of the Santa Fe New Mexican, where I started working the year the word “savage” was chiseled away. I found the original story from Aug. 8, 1974. I found that it was below-the-fold news on …
I had hope for a clearer day when I saw a streak of golden light from bed but was reminded how dry the ground was as I rose. I absorbed various facts as I put water out for the birds, made coffee, fed Cowboy, read the news. It’s still smoky to the west, over the …
Wildfire smoke from Colorado and Wyoming cleared some Sunday morning and more birds stopped by, including this Williamson’s sapsucker, the guy with the red throat and yellow chest. I wonder why he evolved with such colors, why God made him the way he did. I don’t see the questions as mutually exclusive. They come to …
8:07 p.m. May 22, 2020. 8:22 p.m. May 22, 2020.
Not sure whether he’s a kingbird or another kind of flycatcher but he and his kin have been ducking out of the wind for drinks of water. Oops. How did you guys get in here?
I’m trying to be a good New Mexican during the COVID crisis. I am not hoarding ammo or TP. I do not gather with more than one neighbor and another dog. But I draw the line at long hair. I am afraid to check in with my longtime hair cutter in Bernalillo. She’s shut down …
I’ve spent hours the last two days watching for orioles and tanagers and other exotic-looking migrators but it occurs to me tonight that my most reliable friends are the ordinary finches who hang out here year-around. They’ve been flying around in pairs all day today, singing excitedly. The red caps of the males seem redder …
Walking rain, or what the weather wonks call virga, brushed the Sandias last night but left only a few drops of water. I headed out on my evening stroll after watching Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announce the first easing of coronavirus rules. I felt as wary about the coronavirus developments as I am ordinarily about …
Five days now since the first three cases of coronavirus were confirmed in New Mexico, but it seems longer. It’s been several months since the initial outbreak in China and weeks since the pandemic overtook Italy. Spain and France are locking down. Restrictions on movement are tightening in the U.S. Even CNN pundits said Trump …
dream ranch 