Stormy Relief

So sad---the day after Christmas, the first white one in Atlanta since the 1880's; the East Coast getting hammered by a blizzard; wonder if the kid will be able to leave on time Tuesday for his flight to NYC.  Ahhh, winter.......

In southern New Mexico, we've missed the storms coming off the Pacific-- drenching LA, dumping snow by the foot in the Sierra Nevada, traversing the country and turning colder in order to cause blizzards all along the East Coast.  So for those of you caught up in any of this weather, here's a little relief---





This video was posted a week ago.  Don't know when it was filmed but the weather at the Market on Christmas Eve (special Friday edition since Christmas was on Saturday) was just as nice as what is portrayed in the video.  And yes, the cacti at the mud shack came from the nursery shown in the film clip.

Now, Readers of the Pirate Dogs, do you get why we moved here???  Think about it while you are shoveling..............

Christmas Eve 2010

It gets so cold in New England.  Makes it rough to enjoy outdoor caroling or tree lighting ceremonies.  Now here in Southern New Mexico, it's a real holiday season but one can walk around the old plaza in Mesilla and enjoy the luminarias and other decoration with a minimum of bundling up.  And it's so beautiful.  There are luminarias all along the brick roads that border the plaza in La Mesilla and on some of the alleyways.  These were particularly intriguing.....

luminarias in the alleyway

because they led to this...............

Our Lady of Guadalupe icon

and after viewing the icon, as we head out of town, the beautiful Basilica of San Albino.....

The only thing that would make the season better is spending time and seeing these places with the friends and family we love, most of whom are so far away.  But maybe, someday..............

MERRY CHRISTMAS

HOHOHO!!!

We Pirate Dogs have ben spending a lot of time in the CPS Nargle lately.  Usually that means a new post and here it is.

Since our parents got season tickets to Aggie men's basketball, we get nargleized a lot.  There were five games in the last two weeks!!!!  Lots of time in the interstellar canine pirate star ship..........

Our dad became social security eligible on his birthday this week.  Guess that means we'll continue getting bone turks even though he's retired......

We noticed that the lame duck Congress got some things passed---repeal of DADT, extension of the tax cuts, a new nuclear arms reduction treaty.......Maybe the solution to its ineffectiveness is that the members of Congress should get locked in a crate for three weeks a year.  That should be the only time they get compensated for as well.  The rest of the time they can pander to their bases on their own dime.....Bet that would help solve the country's issues---it certainly works for us Pirate Dogs.

And lastly, a fond remembrance---------

The Ghost of Christmas Past

Though he be gone,the lost midshipman is not forgotten.  Long live Bertequila.

And to all of you in virtual reality land,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Randomness a Month In

A month of being retired.  No routine yet but random things.

Had the first golf lesson.  Hadn't played in 23 years. Spent about 45 minutes with a nine iron and swing techniques.  Lie, lead, loft, length---attributes of any club.  Hit about 6 balls with a driver.  2 went dead straight over 200 yards.  That average in baseball would be worth several million a year......

"Mother Goose Cancelled Due to Construction."  Sign at the library.  Imagine the possibilities.

If you get a chance, read Angelology by Danielle Trussoni and Adam and Eve by Sara Jeter Naslund.  Both interesting concepts.

Congress is back and it is the same oxymoron it has been the last couple of years.  Nothing new. (Definition from American Heritage Dictionary [online ed.] "The act of coming together or meeting."  emphasis added)


Last absurdity: "Maybe we should not rule out the possibility of zombie otters." 
( http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/opinion/02collins.html?_r=1&hp )

Of Turkey and Hamhocks

So this year the dad is doing the turkey.  Hope it all comes out okay.  There's this 20 pound fowl defrosting in the 'fridge. The shelves are collapsing from the food and liquid refreshments jammed onto them.  It looks like the preparations to survive a 5,000 year famine.
Leftovers down here on the floor have been a little sparse.  Monday at least there was spaghetti----fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic---we prefer plain spaghetti strands ourselves.  Tuesday the mom went to the dentist late and didn't make the  promised stuffed jalapenos---they ate green chile cheeseburgers from the place up the road---at least we got a couple of french fries.  Wednesday night were the stuffed jalapenos.  Even the dad found them hot so there's no way we Pirate Dogs were gonna touch them.  So now we are all trained and have fasted in preparation for the feast day.

Got to hand it to the dad for perseverance.  Imagine trying to make apple-sausage-cornbread stuffing in our kitchen.  First there was the Klingon Kat Griselda up on the counters wanting to sample everything.  Then the Pirate Dogs following every move ready to pounce on anything that dropped towards the floor.  And of course the minpinhuahua and the schnausehuahua can get underfoot like a trapper's snares, sending a person sprawling.  Of course, that's their mission---the captain would like nothing better than to see all that sausage fall to the floor--------MMMMMMMMMM!!!!  Too bad it didn't happen..........
But not for lack of trying.  Since the ltttle dogs couldn't get stuff to fall, the captain ordered the minpinhuahua to hamhock the sharprador---the two of them whirling through the kitchen made it impossible to move.  Still wondering why right after that we were exiled into the cold in the front yard----it's only in the 60s here, very chilly for southwestern dogs.......

Well, today the turkey gets cooked and there will be left-overs and treats for all!!!!!!  So

  HAPPY

THANKSGIVING

to you and yours.  Remember, the Pirate Dogs love you all (except for the Klingon Kats).  And Friday won't be black on the floor in the mud shack .......

3 Weeks In

Sunday will mark the three week anniversary of retirement.  Absolutely no guilt.  Made a quick trip to Clovis to sign off on inventory and meet with my replacement; now there's no left overs from work---the time is totally mine.  Except for the incessant demands of los perros piraticus for attention and bone turks.  The occasional rescue of my Wicked Good Slippers from the jaws of Pablo Frijoles.  Refereeing the battle between the chihuahuas for space on my lap or under the blankey.  Still getting up around 6:00AM---of course that's sort of offset by staying in my robe until around 9:00........

Haven't gotten through the re-mastered Star Trek original series blu-rays yet.  Also haven't mastered the PS3 Move games.......But I have been catching up on my reading.  I'm current with the Economist (weekly) and The Atlantic (monthly).  That will please the friend of mine I give them to when I'm done---he won't be deluged again with 3-4 issues at a time of either.......I've read about five books and have four on the bedside table---from history to politics to science to Angelology.

I started this post at around 7:00AM this morning.  It's now a little after 3:00PM.  The Pirates and I just came in from the patio where I had a cold beer and they got treats and we all watched the sunlight turn the mountains from huge rock pillars to one-dimensional drawings that you'd see as the back-drop in a Gene Autry film.  The harvester across the road just dumped a huge container of cotton into the back of a trailer.  Looks like the cotton harvest is about done---maybe those shirts and shorts I have back-ordered at L L Bean will get made and shipped soon......Like I said, absolutely no guilt.........

Of Mice and Sisters

So last Monday a field mouse invaded Dee and Melina's abode in Sacramento.  Dee went to soccer after screeching, panicking, calling the exterminator, and tasking the whippets and cats to deal with the furry grey invader...........yeah, right.  Cousin Mysty-fied was her usual self:

Thanks for all the help, Mysty!!!!  I don't recall ever seeing that dog in other than a prone position....The Lummox wasn't even around!!!!!!!!  Probably hiding in the bed.......Sight hounds indeed.  All they did was look at the scampering rodent---at least that's a good use of their singular talent........

So Sister Melina caught the beastie, outperforming two Whippets, a Sassy cat, traps, and exterminators.  She even got bit in the performance of her heroic duty!!!!!!!  (I won't comment on the "hello kitty" band-aid, I mean, really)........So Sister Melina, you are hereby awarded the Order of Anton Chico and inducted into the crew of the fearless Pirate Dogs.  Print out this ferocious picture and hang it on your 'fridge:  

And remember, the next time there is an emergency, call on a Chihuahua for results and let the Whippets take their nap.  Remember, a little "Weetz-itude" goes a long way!!!!!!!!

First

For all human endeavors there must be a first step.  This is true for retirement also.  The first day of the well-earned leisure part of life.

I found myself unburdened by tasks I may not have completed or decisions not made for the first time in over 40 years.  My conscience is as clear as fine crystal.  It occurred to me that my whole working life was like being in a diamond mine---a shaft or tunnel where you picked shiny bits of matter from the earth.  You only got to keep part of the haul; most of the profit went to your employer.  Then comes retirement and you wake up that morning still in the mine, but the tunnel has given way to a gigantic cavern-- the roof sparkling like the night sky over the desert;  the walls studded with the bright matter that is so precious.  Now all those diamonds are yours to keep and do with as you will----new experiences, opportunities to expand your mind, no-one to answer to for your choices.......

Except remember the dog's vet appointment at 8:30..............

Mid-term Election Thoughts

All right--I admit it.  The party of Thomas Jefferson blew it.  In 2008, it looked like it would transform the nation.   Money filled their coffers;  voters of all ages and races turned out in unbelievable numbers with unbridled exuberance.  The new president would be post-partisan and post-racial.  A filibuster-proof majority was sent to the Senate.  And now, November 1,2010, twenty-four hours before the mid-terms, all that feeling is gone.  The Democratic domination in 2008 has resulted in a wave of lethargy and the sense of unfulfilled expectations.
What caused this? The answers would fill a book and this is just a blog post.  But the short list would include the partisan leadership in both houses of congress on both sides.  There wasn't REAL leadership.  Just business same as ever and post-partisanship be damned.  The R's just said "NO" ; the D's never pushed the president's agenda.
So it's time to vote again.  In my state, the choices are pathetic.  No policy differences between the candidates for Congress.  If you didn't mark "D" or "R" beside their names you couldn't tell which was which.  For governor there are two women (we'll get our first female governor): one is tarred with allegations of her own corruption, the other tarred with the corruption in the present administration that caused our present governor to turn down a cabinet post.  Nice choice there.......
Normally, I might not even to bother to vote in this kind of an election.  But I am going to, and I am voting to support what I voted for in 2008----CHANGE.  Not Tea Party or Glen Beck B.S. but the change we need.  The change Obama promised.  Let's look at the record:

End of Partisanship----didn't happen, not because the president flubbed it but because the Republicans ignored the gestures and Reid and Pelosi did not push his agenda nor did they make the kind of attempts at reaching across the aisle that the president did.
Health Care Reform---again, Congress dropped the ball and gutted what could have been one of the defining pieces of legislation in the 21st Century.  There's much good in it and it deserves to be revisited and improved.  Repeal is moving backwards.  And a reminder to those sign holders--if the government took its hands off of "your" Medicare, there wouldn't be any Medicare--it's a government program, you fools!!!
WAR--"huh, good Gawd y'all, what is it good for?"(Edwin Starr) Obama has fulfilled his promise to wind down Bush's war of choice in Iraq.  He has escalated the effort in Afghanistan; unfortunately, because of the mis-begotten Iraq conflict, it's too late to destroy Al-Qaeda's structure, which has moved to Pakistan and Yemen.  But he has promised an end there as well in 2011.  Guantanamo needs to be closed but I think congress may need to be involved there to craft legislation to legally detain or try the terrorist suspects outside the present legal strictures.  Seems with terrorism the right to presumed innocence and illegal seizure, among others, are not applicable.
The Economy----Obama's policies probably helped avoid a repeat of the Great Depression.  Unfortunately, they did not go far enough to stimulate rapid growth and alleviate the painful job losses that ALWAYS follow financial melt-downs.  Read any economic history and you will understand this fact.  What the nation is going through is nothing new.  And cutting the deficit and taxes will NOT help---these policies are shown to worsen the effects of the crisis and prolong recovery.  Ask Japan--do we want a lost decade of economic stagnation and deflation like they had/are having??

So please go to the polls tomorrow, November 2nd, and vote with intelligence--not with sloganeering or nice catch-phrases dancing in your head.  Barack Obama was elected to provide change.  He thought he had allies in congress but political gamesmanship trumped the post-partisan era Obama attempted to introduce.  Let's use these mid-terms to send people to Washington who will help the president fulfill the dreams we all voted for two years ago.



 

70

A happy would have been 70th birthday to John Lennon.  And for all my family, friends, and others----enjoy:

Beatles In My Life-Video by Joe Guse - Celebrity bloopers here

And They Were Gonna Name Me Fred........

When I arrived at the mud shack from the Mesilla Valley Animal Services shelter, my parents needed a name for me.  Since we'd only been acquainted a few hours (and I spent a lot of that time in the Nargle with the other pirates) they weren't sure what to call me.  They went out to breakfast and solicited suggestions from the wait-staff---Chile Pepper, Gabriel......They had an old Frommer's Guide to New Mexico and tried place names---Zuni, Raton, Moriarty.......All pretty yucky.
Then came people they knew.  And they considered Fred for quite awhile.  One of their friends here is named Fred.  They also considered naming me after Frederich Nietzsche, the philosopher.  Something called the "existential question", which in New Mexico is "Red or Green?"----as in which chile sauce on your meal..........
But the Red Sox and the cocker spaniel won-----They remembered the magical year and the pitcher Pedro Martinez, current 2nd baseman Dustin "Little Pete" Pedroia, and mom's first pet, a cocker named Pete.  So here I am, christened Pedro Little Pete Martinez Z---newest and smallest of the Pirate Dogs.......

Welcome to the Nargle

And a new recruit has been added to the crew----Pedro "Little Petey".  After the loss in action of the midshipman Bertequila the crew had to continue on and the search began for reinforcements.  The humans were at the farmer's market on the downtown mall and happened upon a couple of volunteers from the animal rescue league walking about with available dogs in tow.  One chihuahua looked independent and probably not suited to the crew of the Nargle.  (Capt. 'Roid will have no truck with trouble-makers.)  But the young dog seemed very shy and overwhelmed by the cacophony of vendors, music, and humans chattering about this and that, frequently to no good end.  And those spleeny, bulgy eyes that looked out from the crook of the woman's elbow.............the humans were finished.  They proceeded about five steps before capitulating to the inevitable.  And Pedro was conscripted for the crew.............

Pedro

Note the resemblance to the progeny of Anton Chico

Exploring with the Sharprador

Clipatorium

Once I got groomed on the High Plains.  The groomer thought I'd be so cute in ribbons and bows.  Also they left a lot of hair and made me appear more schnauze- then chi-huahua.  See what I mean??

But now we live in the Land of Manana.  I got groomed yesterday and what a difference!!!!!!!!  Now the truth of my lineage from the proud race of Anton Chico is completely discernible!!!!

See----more Chihuahua than Schnauzehuahua.  Miss the top knot a little though..............

Felled in Action

So the brightest and youngest stars find oblivion sooner rather than later.


We Pirate Dogs embarked on a quest.  And our midshipman perished in the action.  Bertequila will be missed and always remembered by his shipmates.

Death be not proud-----you cannot conquer the indomitable spirit of the Pirate Dogs even though you may have claimed the youngest and smallest of them........Requiescat in pace, Bertie.

Avast There!!!!!

      First Mate Leny               

Crow's Nest Weetzie

Midshipman Bertequila

So our niece Isabella is in high school---She's a Wheatland Pirate!!!!

Welcome aboard and we are so happy you joined with the rest of us buccaneers!!!!!

Congratulations and L O L

The Captain

Some Saturday Morning Random

Over the top---------was sent this video of a politician's speech---

The comment was that the sender wasn't paying attention to how over the top some politics had gotten.  My suggestion is to read Gail Collins in the NY Times---this is a link to today's post: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/opinion/11collins.html?hp

I would recommend regular reading of her column because Gail has pretty consistently pointed out many of the absurdities and gaffes in this year's election campaigns.  It's done with some humor and both sides have been the subject of her barbs.

As for the economy,  one word----STIMULUS.  More is needed.  Don't just take the word of Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate in economics.  Read this leader from The Economist magazine dated Sept. 2, 2010:
http://www.economist.com/node/16943653?story_id=16943653

Interest rates are at or near zero.  There's precious little that the central bank can do to get unemployment down and the economy rolling again. Real growth needs directional change from policy---it has to come from the politicians!!!  You know, those people with no cajones because it's an election year-----god forbid we'd do anything constructive that might help THE PEOPLE..............so if you're a Democrat just try to be pandering and ingratiating so you can keep your seat; if you're a Republican just say NO.  And please don't worry---the middle class won't come out to vote because they get the shaft either way.

As John Mellenkamp says---"Ain't that America, land of the free....little pink houses for you and me."  Except we ain't got that guarantee no more thanks to the economic downturn and the lack of intestinal fortitude among our elected representatives.

About November

I've heard that one gets more conservative as one ages. Something about preserving one's own wealth rather than giving it to those more needy or less able to generate wealth. Worse yet---giving it to the government in the form of taxes----horrors and shudders!!!!!!!

Maybe I'm bucking the trend but I find myself becoming more liberal in terms of social issues but still fairly conservative in fiscal matters. But I do believe that the primary function of government to protect its citizens. You'll get no argument from me that there is a lot of waste in the government sector. But the recent remarks from the co-chair of the commission studying the deficit and social security to lessen the government stake are just so wrong-headed I could spit. As I recall, in the second term of the last Republican president there was a similar push to privatize retirement savings and wind down Social Security. Imagine if it had happened-----how much did your 401-K lose in 2007-2009----less than the Dow, then congratulations; more---then how many years did it add before you can retire---or even, can you retire without Social Security???

I have less than 65 days until I retire. I'm working my way through funding options so I can continue to feed the oh-so-dearly-loved Pirate Dogs, with some food also available for the humans in the household. Since I can collect S.S. at 62, this is going to work. The benefits are reduced but it will be do-able and actually fairly comfortable. But if the previous administration had its way, my employer would be stuck with an employee on the verge of burn out for another six or seven years, not to mention my defined benefit, i.e., pension plan, income would suffer. If I retired at 66 or 67, I would lose several years of good commission income and actually be in WORSE financial shape than by retiring early. Sort of the opposite of what the demagogues of anti-government benefits preach.

Lots of pre-mid-term chatter about Obama the Muslim Socialist. One comment---listen with your ears, process the information with your brains, and give the sitting president the support he deserves. I hated the bail-outs but 1) they were enacted by the Republicans and 2) they worked because of the policies and decisions of Barack Obama. Don't take the word of a blogger and Pirate Dog lover. Follow this link to The Economist editorial leader from the 8/21-8/27/2010 edition. Read it, think about it, and you'll realize it's true. Right now the no-brainers have the floor and the screeching is deafening. Please don't let it deprive you of your right to a choice come November as it has deprived Alaska of its incumbent senator or KY of a real chance for change. I don't hear policies or solutions coming from the talk-show hosts or the opposition leaders---just noise and obstruction.

November is the first referendum we have on the decisions we made in 2008. Were it not for politics as usual in Congress and the "Just Say NO" clique, we might even have unemployment down to a sustainable level and a real recovery in progress. Don't blow the November mid-terms. Let's give our leaders the chance to finish cleaning up the Bushian nightmare. Don't give your vote to those who would make us relive it.

Guns and Children

Once again certain of our fellow citizens want it both ways.

As discussed previously in this blog, people who support the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution interpret it as meaning that the right to own a firearm, even an automatic weapon, cannot be regulated by the government.

Now some of these same supporters of the Constitution are attacking the 14th Amendment, which is a lot less open to interpretation than the 2nd: "1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." (source:U S Constitution).

Pretty clear, I'd say---if you are born here, you become a citizen. There are a few exceptions about diplomats and other foreign peoples but pretty much this is universally applicable. Now Senator Graham of SC says this opens the door to illegals rushing in, having a kid, and staying for the good of the family. He wants to amend the Constitution again to correct this "mistake." The father of AZ SB1070--"show your papers"--is also fired up about this issue.

So when this is all over and the smoke has cleared, will the two amendments be combined to make the killing of immigrant babies legal if it's done with a firearm?? It's unfortunate that the immigrant community doesn't have the money or the clout in D.C. of the National Rifle Association........And equally unfortunate that state and federal officials, our representatives, seem to think they are above the law and can pick and choose which elements of the Constitution to respect and enforce.........

Lack of Money

Lots of buzz about the deficit. There's a good editorial in today's N Y Times about it. And there's an advertisement to sign a petition to renew the Bush tax cuts. Former senator turned actor Fred Thompson invites you to sign on to one of the very policies that resulted in the recession from which we might only be now emerging . Fred, stick to your acting!!!!

I think I'd put more faith in the opinion of the NY Times or the reigning nobel-laureate in economics, Paul Krugman, than in some washed up former senator and actor whose 2008 presidential campaign was a farce marked by mumbling and ineptitude...........

Life Without TV

Now Leny is a sweet dog who truly loves her dad. But if she never comes back to Clovis again it's okay with her. Why???? Dad got rid of cable.

Now, we have two households, the mud shashashack (you won't get that reference if you don't do Frank Zappa) and the house in Clovis. Now the shack has the HD T V and all the accoutrements. In Clovis there's a 13" Sharp I won in a sales contest. Got the picture??? No HD, bummer screen size----you know the drill. So I cancelled cable and got wireless internet for the MacBook. Google news works; I can watch a limited selection of streamed movies on Netflix; Hulu is a little boring; I've been watching Rookie Blue on ABC.com. What the heck---Summer is pretty much for reruns anyway!!!!! At least I caught the really important World Cup games in L.C. And the picture on the Mac is HD capable-------

So with retirement imminent and costs lowered---T V suffers. And I really don't care what a Pirate Dog thinks----They don't know it yet but there's gonna be lots of winter nights in the Nargle while we go to NMSU basketball games..........

Reaper

It's way past my bedtime as I sit here writing this post. We're having a majestic thunderstorm--pouring down rain, flashes of lightning, and loud rolling thunder. Since I can't get to sleep anyway, I'll pour a glass of the grape and do this...........

A special friend of one of the kids lost their father recently. This event has shaken up some personalities I thought were pretty stable and had the proverbial "it" together. Others in this group are watching disease and age perform its, to their minds, malicious work.

Now I've made light of death in this blog and been serious about loss as well . But the loss of a parent---------maybe we don't think of it often enough. My mother succumbed to lung cancer the summer after my senior year in high school, about two weeks before I left for college. Her illness put a definite chill in what should have been a triumphal year. My father died in the mid-90s. My maternal aunts were still alive so I was insulated from death being close in my future---so I believe one might think---those "old" people are in the front line, I'm ok on the bench behind them.

Last November the last of my mother's sisters died. Now my generation--my brother, two first cousins, me----we're the oldest generation, the front line if you will. Actually, just to highlight the absurdity, one of my first cousins has a daughter two months older than me even though I'm a generation ahead of her. And all things being equal, shouldn't the ole Reaper take the oldest generation first, in the natural order of things-----excepting man-made unnatural ends caused by cigarettes, car crashes, war, and those other human calamities that so rob us of our "best and brightest"............

So a parent's death puts one closer to that first line of humanity's defense against the irresistible power of the Grim Reaper. As long as that buffer generation is there, death is a long way off, not to be feared or even much contemplated. But it's still there, lurking, moving forward in the queue of thoughts our conscious mind ponders.

I'm reminded of the Star Trek movies, numbers two and three, when Captain James Tiberius Kirk (all my kids know his middle name) experiences the death of his best friend, Spock, and his son, David. Kirk always "cheated death", never "faced it like this." So like the attitude of the generation with parents or aunts and uncles preceding them. Don't need to confront the concept until you are the front line generation, when there are no more planted rows between you and the ultimate harvest.

I don't know if this post provides any comfort for the loss experienced. I guess one could always turn to Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper." I'm sure some might seek solace in the Bible. Some might believe in re-incarnation (a Yankee fan finding Nirvana coming back as a Red Sox fan---sorry,fp). But I think the important lesson is that while you have life, enjoy it and live it. Celebrate the dead, the body is gone but the spirit joins eternity and will always BE.

Requiem for the Dark Lord

So strange----Monday night, for no apparent reason, I put in the dvd player "Episode VI" of George Lucas's masterpiece Star Wars, more commonly known as "Return of the Jedi." This is the episode in which Luke Skywalker becomes a Jedi knight and defeats the emperor while besting Darth Vader in a duel of light sabers and rescuing the dormant Anakin Skywalker, Luke and Leia's father, from the evil Dark Lord that he had become (Vader).

Given the time difference between the East Coast and New Mexico, my viewing was possibly in conjunction with the death of the creator of the "Evil Empire"--George Steinbrenner died sometime Monday evening of a heart attack at 80 years old. Possibly while I was watching Luke remove the mask from Vader so his father could view him "with [his] own eyes." Such are the currents and eddies of the space-time continuum in which we humans exist...........

So what????

Well, I'll tell you what----I'm a baby boomer, coming of age in the '50s and '60s. I grew up in southern Connecticut, not far from New York City. I was a serious Yankee fan my entire youth. I so applauded Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series adding to the glory of "the Mick"'s triple-crown season. And I so cried when Bill Mazeroski, 2nd baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates (yes, Virginia, they really used to get to the World Series) had that walk-off home run in Game 7 in 1960. Barely cleared the fence as I recall. He was a lifetime .260 hitter, hitting .273 in the 1960 season. And he beat my Yankees!!!! And I loathed Roger Maris for getting that 61st home run. We all wanted Mickey Mantle to be THE ONE to break Babe Ruth's record. Maris was from the Kansas City A's, which weren't much better than a farm team for the Yankees back then.

Then Steinbrenner bought the Yankees. Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, A-Rod. Money and mediocrity. Jeter's number 2 may one day hang near Mickey's 7, Yogi's 8, Roger's 9. He's the only one of the crop Georgie bought who might deserve that honor. My allegiance shifted to the Red Sox and I've never looked back. How fitting that the owner of the Evil Empire in the Bronx may have met his end as I watched Darth meet his.

Rumor has it Darth's middle initial was "G" for "George."

Biking at Stahmann's

The Pirate Dogs invited a lot of their family and friends to go on a bike ride at Stahmann's Pecan farm Saturday July 3. Even though they didn't make it (too hard to pedal with dog legs), their parents did. So here are some pictures:

The invite said we'd bike through the orchard but it was really 5K down the highway and back. First the State Police shut down the southbound lane of N M Highway 28.

Some groups were decorated and ready to go:

One kid had a cool bike seat up in front of her dad:

Our dad was ready to roll:

This kid had a great bike----Tonka!!!!!

All we can say is "Tonka Trucking!!!!!"

So away the bikers go, down Highway 28 past the Stahmann Pecan Store and Gift Shop.

There were around 150 bikes that did the ride. This is an idea how it looked:

And though it was just before noon on a hot Saturday and we didn't go into the actual orchards, the ride was mostly on road like this:

Serious tree roof, baby!!!!

Hope next year they let us ride in the orchards on those dirt roads they use for machinery and along the irrigation ditches.

But definitely a ride worth taking. Joining us next year????

What a difference a Couple of Days Make

The last Friday in June found me making the 300 mile trek from Clovis to Las Cruces. It being so close to the summer solstice, the sun was still in the sky well into the trip. As I descended the 3500 feet from Apache Summit down through the Mescalero Apache reservation, I could still detect the orb's red glow like a fire over the mountains on the west side of the Tularosa Basin. If you aren't familiar with the geography of this region, the Tularosa Basin is about 50 miles wide bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains, dominated by 12,000+ft Sierra Blanca, and on the west by the San Andres and Organ ranges. The western mountains look like the shield wall in Frank Herbert's Dune. And that's a very pertinent analogy because those western mountains separate the shoot 'em up boys from the shoot 'em downers.

There's nothing like a good rain in the desert. Scents come alive. The very earth seems to change and welcome the moisture. The gypsum dunes that are White Sands seem to repel the droplets. But still they fall. It was just a surreal sight---the full moon rising but its body blocked by the thunderheads, its beams piercing through to light up the sky below the clouds. A flash of light, the rumble of thunder, rain so heavy the wipers could barely keep the windscreen clear. And THAT sign--"Welcome to the White Sands Missile Range"---and the first highway sign after what we supposed was a lightening strike marked the entrance to HELSTF (High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility). As the ipod commenced one of Jimi Hendrix's most way-out songs 1983 ("Hooray I awake from yesterday/Alive that the war is here to stay/So my love Katherina and me/Decide to take a last walk through the doors to the sea/Not to die but to be reborn/Away from this land all tattered and torn/forever....."), HELSTF was upon us---lights in the darkness, some activities unknown and unknowable in the New Mexico desert------was that really lightening? Was that storm really from Mother Nature? Land of Enchantment?

Sunday afternoon, sun bright, temps approaching 100F near the White Sands National Monument. All was quiet passing through the missile range. Steve Winwood's classic Mr. Fantasy filled the vehicle's speakers. No sign of any storm, natural or otherwise, just the desert and the gypsum dunes awaiting the next wanderer.............

Beyond Putrid

So what do "The Nature Conservancy", "Conservation International", and "The Environmental Defense Fund" all have in common besides being NGOs (non-governmental organizations) perceived to be on the "green" side of the environment debates?? Each has taken money and, in some cases, included on their board, BP. And we thought politics had an exclusive when it came to strange bedfellows?????

While their motives originally may have been "pure" with the intent to assist BP in moving "Beyond Petroleum", now we must question their commitments and rhetoric after THE SPILL. Again, as the hippies and yippies of the '60s became the selfish baby boomers of the '80s and '90s and the middle Amerikans of that time became the neo-cons who have wrecked our country's reputation and economy, these NGOs have lost some measure of credibility in the necessary struggle to contain the damage industrialized man has done to his only home. Further proof that left to its own devices, man can and will exhibit his worst tendencies.

Memorial Day 2010

Been quite the week leading up to this Memorial Day.

First we learned that the companies who plunder the oceans in search of petroleum are clueless if there's an accident or leak a mile under the sea. According to the latest estimates, the Deepwater Horizon is sending oil into the Gulf of Mexico at the rate of an Exxon Valdez spill every four days. It's been 21 years since that "accident" and the damage is still injuring habitats. This spill is far worse. Imagine the repercussions from this tragedy---it might be generations before the damage is remediated.

Then there's the indomitable Craig Venter. In 2001, he led the team that first sequenced the human genome. In 2010, he and his associates have made a "synthetic cell"---the first man-made, self replicating organism. The ethics questions are only beginning-----the possibilities and repercussions could be momentous.

Finally, there is today's holiday---Memorial Day. The big story is that Barack Obama will break with tradition and NOT lay a wreath in the Arlington National cemetery but rather delegate this to the vice-president. Obama will attend a Memorial Day observance in Springfield Illinois, his home state. Does it matter how the president celebrates this day? And is it really a day to celebrate? This holiday, which marks the start of summer for most Americans, is intended for us to take pause and remember those people who have fallen in war. Perhaps a better celebration of the day would be a discussion about how useless and fraudulent some of those wars were. Perhaps a better use of a national leader's time would be to devise a strategy to remove the spectre of war rather than laying wreaths on the graves of the departed. So enjoy your hot dogs and barbecues and beaches this start of the summer holiday. But also resolve to seek peace in our time---the best Memorial Day will come when we no longer need to dig graves for those who have fallen in battle.

Memorial Day Weekend

Sitting on the west patio at the mud shack. Memorial Day week-end. Mid-afternoon Sunday. It's over 90 but the Chinese elms screen the sun and there's this nice little breeze. If the humidity is 10% that's high. The brisket is smoking, just about done--plenty for everyone, come on over....There are pirate dogs lazing in the shade on the patios. The pecan orchard is all leafed out and Picacho Peak is framed in green. It's been so long since I've had 3 days here---lately it's been rush over on Friday night and leave Sunday afternoon. Five more months and I can retire, probably will finish the year. Then I can enjoy this place and all that the area has to offer without guilt and without thinking I ever have to leave it again.

Theater of the Absurd

Enough already!!!! Arizona SB1070 is the law in that state. It's pathetic, racist, and divisive. Just look at some of the reactions to it. Boston is part of the boycott---like, why??? The only thing they got from AZ that's significant is Dustin Pedroia (Arizona State) and that's debatable because he went to college there but grew up in Woodland CA. LA wants to boycott and AZ is threatening them with cutting off the power los angelenos get from AZ. And in Texas, people from the more conservative north want to boycott the capitol Austin for joining the AZ boycott.

This is ridiculous, perhaps even more ridiculous than the misbegotten law that spawned these absurdities. But it's also a wake-up call. Immigration reform at the federal level needs to become a priority. I realize our representatives are so overworked----how many of you get a week off for the 4th of July as well as the entire month of August???? That's a six week period when the denizens of DC could debate and solve the immigration problem---except they haven't got the guts. McCain (R-AZ) once supported reform back in the Bush days. And for all his failures, W was right, oops, should say, correct on this issue. Our economy has taken a big enough hit from the bankers. Imagine if we deported every illegal---who'd pick Obama's arugula, clean the houses of the wealthy, pluck them chickens for Perdue and Colonel Sanders???

And lest we forget---if you aren't a "Native American" (descended from one of those intrepid souls who crossed the Bering land bridge thousands of years ago), YOU ARE FROM IMMIGRANT STOCK. So please stop flooding my inbox with those forwards about Mexicans and "Ay-rabs" and all the other racist clap-trap that's out there. America was built by English people fleeing religious persecution, Irish and Italians seeking better opportunities, and all those other ethnicities seeking freedom and a chance for a better life. These are facts, I'm not just waving "the" flag here. Let's take away summer vacation in WAWA DC and get our representatives to put an end to this national disgrace before any more states follow the lead of the sun-addled.

News Items

Watching those little snippets that scroll across the bottom of the tv screen on news channels. Every so often a few beg for more information.

Item----study shows that women with younger partners are more prone to heart disease. Does this mean that ABC's CougarTown will soon join Law and Order on the cancellation list???

Item----Army proposing recall of 44,000 helmets for failing to meet specifications. How long have men been at war, using head gear, and we still can't make them right??

Item---BP hopes latest efforts might stop oil leak in Gulf of Mexico. Should we expand drilling offshore when the best we can get for containment of a spill that's dumping the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez tragedy every week into the water from those responsible is HOPE??????

Times like these make being a pirate dog preferable to being a human.......

Le Pauvre Barack

Have you noticed that whenever President Obama tries to do something to promote bi-partisanship it blows up in his face??

He changed the emphasis from the Iraq war to the war in Afghanistan, correcting the error of W in fighting Islamic extremism. The left howled about his continuance of hostilities in the Middle East; the right complained he wasn't trying to "win."

He attempted to let the representatives and senators we elected reform health care and got such a hash of it that he had to personally force the question. Result---partial reform of the health insurance industry and not a hell of a lot else.

Finally, he caved to the "drill, baby, drill" proponents and allowed off-shore drilling. Be thankful you are not a fish in the Gulf of Mexico or the Mississippi Delta!!! Total catastrophe, makes the Exxon Valdiz spill look like a kindergarten play.

Maybe someday soon, the idealist and post-racial president will understand his true power, pursue his agenda of change, and we will all be better off---------------

For What It's Worth

This post is about that Arizona law again. Here are a few links commenting on the new anti-brown people law. Yes, they are not from Fox News or some right wing website but they are well written and thought out so I'd recommend them to you:

Arizona Burning from The Nation An editorial appearing in today's edition

Desert Derangement Syndrome from the New York Times Another opinion

Civil Rights Lessons from China from The Atlantic's James Fallows who spent the last couple of years reporting from the PRC.

I like Arizona. I tease my wife that when I retire I will lose my teeth, grow my hair long. sport a scruffy beard, and get a job as one of the gunfighters who prowl the streets of Tombstone. I really want to ride a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and camp on the less commercialized "North Rim." Sounds like a helluva good idea for our 30th wedding anniversary.

But the powers that be in the G C state have ended these dreams----no way will I bring my chihuahuas without papers to such a locale!!!

Stephen Stills had it right all those years ago:

"Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down."

For What It's Worth Buffalo Springfield

Even with 10% plus unemployment, I don't see a lot of "Americans" lining up for those agricultural jobs in the fields...............