Sidetracked Charley

Open spaces Trinidad, Colorado is just 23 miles north of Raton, New Mexico where I go it seems entirely too often. But it seems I do not pop over Raton Pass and the state line very often. I have before because there is a super Walmart. And there used to be a rather fantastic Chinese restaurant under the overpass by the train tracks. It could still be there. If you are from a rural area like Black Lake Trinidad seems a whirl wind of railroad tracks and on and off ramps. I have come a long way since my days of commuting 25 miles across downtown Kansas City. I was delivering paintings for the Splash Exhibit at the Trinidad Area Arts Council (TAAC) on the suggestion of an artist who has shared wall space with me at the Old Pass Gallery in Raton. I had printed out a Google Map but never had time to consult it because I had just started breathing after going over Raton Pass when I was at exit 13A and B or Main Street. Trinidad has a lot of those cute midwest street names like Main and...

Choices, choices, choices When I began this particular blog, Sidetracked Charley, I had come to something of a crossroads in my life - face it, a damn switching yard - and it seemed like an apt title with lots of possibilities. Okay, maybe just a bit too many possibilities. And I began looking for a photo to use as a banner for the blog and Googled Images of sidetracks. Now I am wondering if I should have named the blog derailed. It has been a rough month with really few choices. It has been rather like the bear in those old arcade games where when shot its only option is to turn around and head the other way. Then of course it is shot again and must again pivot. It keeps moving but does not seem to get anywhere. Seems to always stay in the frame to be shot again. There have been the new tires, and the water pump, the blood test on Mardi. Coming up is the semi-annual business insurance premium, various professional organizational renewals. The progress I had hoped to make in Apri...

Gray Days of Gratitude I don't always keep track of the exact day when something big hits the news but in rather quick sequence there was the pipeline oil spill in Arkansas (or was it Alabama) and the bombing at the Boston Marathon, and the fertilizer plant explosion near Waco, Texas. All while I was bitching and moaning about winter not going away where I live in the mountains of New Mexico. Oh, and trying to find a reduced protein food for my sick dog. Sometimes I think I want to move. Then I look at a map of all the oil pipelines in the country and see that nobody has built one over my mountain or through my valley. Or it dawns on me there is no statement to be made by placing a pressure cooker bomb within a 100 miles of where I live. Sure I would have to drive clear to Santa Fe (110 miles) to be able to look at the back of every single dry dog food brand Petsmart carries but in that distance there are also no fertilizer mixing plants. Yes, it is 2/3rds through April and...

Casting a shadow There was about this past week a sense of gloom. I can blame it on the weather which was less than inspiring. And there was the second flat tire in as many weeks. Or that as fast as the money comes in it goes out. Or my senior fur kid's diagnosis with liver failure. Or on a far more trivial but more irritating level that the "A" on my key board wants to be iffy. It was not Mercury in Retrograde. That has passed and a new round of cosmic torture is not scheduled until June. And it couldn't be spring fever because spring here seemed to want to stay hidden behind threats of snow. There just seemed to be something off about the last week to 10 days. And I was not the only one to suffer from this general malaise. When I first heard of cosmic consciousness I almost immediately accepted it probably based on several experiences in my youth. The women of my family always seemed to have an inside track on events. I dreamed of the tornado that killed ...

Magique and Mardi I posted a picture in my 365 day challenge this week of Magique. The Fanpages on Facebook keep a count of the people that have viewed a photo and it was by and far the week favorite. No wonder people post pictures of cats on Facebook all the time. I have had one of those weeks where positive attention for posting pictures of adorable pets seems like a good thing. And because of Mardi Gras diagnosis with liver problems I was in the mood to look up pictures of her and Magique, and store them in my Pet folder. The one below shows them both newly groomed and in show dog stance. Best of Show I have been doing research of proper diet to support Mardi's health as well as ordering the milk thistle and vitamin e the vet recommended. So I probably was not in the mood for one of the few TED talks shows I didn't like. The speaker denounced supplements and vitamins and worthless and advocated GMO products because it would solve the world hunger problem. Maybe...

Spring Snow by J. Binford-Bell I wasted another day on the computer yesterday watching NetFlix stream videos and playing Spider Solitaire. A friend, who does not live here, suggested it could be Spring Fever. No, I told her, it is snow mold. I learned about snow mold when I was on the golf course maintenance staff. I mowed fairways and greens. I love big machines. But I digress. We were discussing snow mold. Snow mold is something which grows on greens under the snow in the winter. It can kill off a green. Every fall when the course was preparing for closure various methods to prevent it were tried including covering the greens with canvas, spraying with newest anti-fungal preparations, paying someone to shovel off the greens periodically through the winter, etc. Or there is just replacing the green come spring. Long winters were of course the worst on grass roots. And even if the roots were not destroyed by the mold it just took a long time for the green to recover. ...

Microburst garden shed  Yesterday morning I had a perfect idea for a return to my usual That-was-the-week-that-was Monday blog. Then came the NOAA warning about a winter storm. Give me a break. It is April. The winds of Sunday made it clear I did not have the poly tunnel laced down correctly so I dashed out as soon as dawn, and before the winds came up to remedy that. And apply duct tape. Poly Tunnel before duct tape The winter storm watch had also upset my neighbor. She wanted her doggie doors replaced before the storm was scheduled and so I was off to do that repair. More to be done at my house but money is always good. I had all my quiche prep done for the order placed for them. I figured I could assemble and bake at lunch so off I went to replace very badly installed dog doors. No wonder they leaked wind and self-destructed under use in record time. And she paid a licensed and bonded handyman to do them. Dog door one down and I came back to my house...

Ducks on the pond The ice has melted off the ponds and streams and the ducks and geese have returned. As a photographer I am thrilled. I love reflections in the still water of a mountain body of water. Hanging gardens My dogs, both of a retriever subset, have yet to meet a body of water they did not like even if it is just a shade over freezing. I was going to wash the dog rug in the back seat of my car but think I will wait just a bit. I delude myself into thinking they will get tired of this. Magique in her element As fond as they are of wading in water both shun swimming in it and do not chase waterfowl. Which is a major relief for the geese and ducks and for their photographer owner. Following her across the pond A pond of their own I had not intended to do a photo blog today but Facebooboo does not want to load photos and I had just taken a wonderful number in two days time. Had to share them somewhere. Oriental water feature Just click on the...

Lower Tunnel Modifications Last year was my first year with the poly-tunnel gardening system. It is suppose to extend your growing season by two weeks on either side of your normal season. Last year, however, when I began the gardening experiment 224 for the high county I started with just the low tunnel on the first of May. Mid May I built the high tunnel so I could expand my plantings. And by June I was experimenting with plants late frosts had always prevented me from enjoying. One of our latest frosts I can remember was June 21st. It decimated the carefully tended squash plants I had nurtured in my studio until the date of the previous late frost (June 8) had pasted. The double tunnels foiled the late frosts. And in July in protected the garden, which was lush and productive, from inch sized hail. But by the time fall frosts came it was clear my low tunnel was too low for the thriving Swiss Chard, Kale, and several of my herbs. So my goal for this season was to raise the inn...

April 3, 2012 April showers bring May flowers, the old saying goes. Obviously that did not originate in the mountain west. My memory of last April was snow and more snow so I went tripping back to my photo files. It began to snow on April 2nd and did not clear until after April 4th. And it was not one of those cute little spring snows that dropped an inch or two and then melted off. April 3rd, 2012 So this morning when I looked at the NOAA weather report and saw snowflakes from tomorrow through Thursday it felt like deju vu all over again. The bad news is I have taken off my snow tires, washed my down coat so it can be put in the winter closet and have begun to prepare the raised beds so I can put the tunnel up after planting some cool weather seeds. Even put in some onion sets yesterday. And all day I moved the hose around to water bushes and trees. Did you know more trees die in April due to lack of moisture than are killed off due to winter freezes? Easter, March 31...