dream ranch

I don’t know whether it was the coyote ruckus and Cowboy barking or the smell of rain that got me out of bed at 4:30 in the morning but we were out observing. Not a drop fell here north of the Sandias that I could tell but the smell of rain to the south and east was unmistakable. I felt foolish outside in my longjohns but then knew that prying myself out of bed was worth it for that smell alone. While I drank coffee and watched birds later in the morning, my sister in Montana sent me maps of Western drought. Santa Fe National Forest tweeted that because of weather conditions it was putting off a prescribed burn in Pacheco Canyon, below the Santa Fe ski basin, where smoke always sets off alarms.

Santa Fe style

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March 29, 2021

After reading about the latest Santa Fe style controversy — “Santa Fe takes battle over green house to court” — I wanted to revisit an old New Yorker cartoon. It helps me keep my head on straight.

I have to note, though, that hysterical style debates don’t just happen in Santa Fe. I moved to the Placitas middle ground while still newspapering in 1989 — 30 minutes from the Journal plant in Albuquerque and 45 minutes to the Capitol in Santa Fe — and the first local controversy I encountered was whether beige is an earth tone. My initial coyote fence proposal was rejected by the neighborhood architectural control dude, who said it was not an indigenous style.

I love both places — Santa Fe and Placitas — but I almost feel like I’m chickening out now by sending my pink flamingos with Santa Fe friends to the friends’ second home in TorC. I can only hope they still have the old Volvo wagon with flames painted on the sides so the flamingos can migrate south in style.

Meanwhile, you’d think they might have more pressing things to wonder about in the foothills southeast of Santa Fe: Like fire danger and groundwater.

Afternoon senses

March 29, 2021

Cedar waxwings

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March 28, 2021

Morning share

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March 26, 2021

Spring storm

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March 24, 2021

Cedar waxwings and the second day of spring

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March 21, 2021

The sky was full of mares’ tails A robin showed up first. Then the waxwings came for water. You can see the dash of brilliant yellow at the tip of their tails. I couldn’t catch the deep red at the tip of their wings. More later, maybe.

Below you can see that wing-tip red from a migration through Placitas in a previous year.

While I’m at it, here are the Sangre de Cristos from Santa Fe Canyon to Truchas Peaks on March 21, from dry, dry Placitas.

Morning after the wind

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March 15, 2021

Normal hair day.

Many are out for breakfast in Placitas and the Range is reopening in Bernalillo.

A couple of characters show up for a drink.

Some share. Some pig out.

Then the tricksters come straggling home from last night. (A jackalope leaves a prickly pear half chomped).

They’ve passed this way before and one says they’ll be back.

Windy morning visitors

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March 14, 2021

My apologies to the woodpecker: I caught him with crumbs on his beak but he’s still a fine lookin’ fella.

Dear friends and followers

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March 9, 2021

I have revised my blog format, hopefully making it a little easier to use and a little easier on the eyes.

I have eliminated the “Comments” thing, which wasn’t used much anyway. If you want to reach me to comment or complain you can always email me at dreamranchernm@gmail.com or my personal email address. The biggest issue was that I never new whether my friends intended to have their comments be public. Let me know if you think I have made a mistake by eliminating it.

A couple of you have reported problems with viewing my photos but, sorry, I haven’t been able to find an issue on my end. I checked with WordPress support, too. For what it’s worth, my posts are almost always put together on an iMac desktop. My posts in the new format look fine to me on my laptop and iPhone. Although it might be my photographic abilities alone that are in question. See selfie at left.

As a site administrator I try to keep the baling wire and chewing gum to a minimum but I remain a typewriter guy. Typewriters were still in use when I worked at the Santa Fe New Mexican, Santa Fe Reporter (manuals, no less) and at least my first year (1982) at the Albuquerque Journal. When confronted with a computer issue I don’t understand — usually of my own making — my first instinct is still to panic and yell, “Donn, I lost my story.”

So, this is my latest story and I’m sticking to it for the time being. Sincerely, the Dream Ranch team.