First thing I do in the morning is check the sky. In New Mexico, it is almost always sharply clear and strikingly blue. Next, I go to the newspapers. The view is not so good here. In the headlines, I quickly see New Mexico’s underbelly — so soon after taking in the sky. Today, on …
Good evening. It was shaping up to be a gloomy, Turbo Tax kind of a day until I read the last paragraph of the New York Times obituary for the writer Ivan Doig. A Doig quote sparkled at me like a shiny stone on a worn path — lasting brilliance in a notice of death. …
Few things look sillier to me in newspaper retirement than breathless newspaper speculation about who will win the major party presidential nominations in 2016. I used to do it myself, of course. It’s standard fare for politics writers and editors. And speculation is one of the easiest forms of journalism. But, these days, I tend …
Sister Hope had a little time off. Husband and son went to visit relatives. Got someone to feed the horses. Took a little car-camping trip to where she grew up; took pictures of lunar eclipse from White Sulphur Springs and spring weather at Martinsdale Reservoir; all on way to see Angus cattle on former neighbor’s …
So far, retirement means: Unlimited time to read but also dozing off at the drop of a hat. Confused dog with disrupted sleep schedule. New colleagues: Health care workers, insurers and Social Security staff. Possibly excessive attention to meal times and nutritional values. Fortunately, I am still alert enough to also keep my eyes on …
After wrestling with life-and-death questions involving bacon, the Good Friday pilgrimage to Chimayo and the opening of the Trinity atomic bomb test site, I chose Cheerios for breakfast and felt righteous until my worst blood sugar crash since Larry Calloway and I encountered space aliens deep in the Weminuche Wilderness. Today, I started the day …
While pondering this morning whether to cook bacon for breakfast, my mind was diverted to coinciding events in New Mexico: the Good Friday pilgrimage to Chimayo; the Trinity Site opening at White Sands; the full moon coming. Is New Mexico unusual? All I’m sure of is that the skies seem clearer here. You know how …
Trees started leafing out at my elevation in Placitas a couple of days ago, including this desert olive on the east side of the house. Nothing like their green in the morning light — it’s very soft, or the receiving leaves are — and I can’t quite get it on my little point and shoot. …
Felt new trail lay ahead this morning. First round of cancer treatment ended Wednesday. Follow-ups to come, but didn’t have to drive early to Albuquerque for the first time in a couple of months for radiation or chemo. Retirement from the Journal announced Tuesday, and didn’t have to head there either. Hope, in the hat, …
My sister brought along a book about the poet Richard Hugo, which led to reading trails about his teacher and an essay about his “Degrees of Gray in Philipsburg.” Here is a link to this penetrating poem about a decaying Montana mining town. It begins: “You might come here Sunday on a whim. Say your life …
dream ranch 