Sidetracked Charley

While the rest of the world is upgrading to more and more sophisticated cell phones I have downgraded to a burner phone. And have even debated doing that at all. I got it originally for road trouble but on my roads I have no signal in any place where I might have a mechanical problem. It gets used mostly to find my shopping partners in large box stores. I once used it for long distance. But I had signal problems. Turns out 55% of users do have signal problems and I am willing to bet the majority of them live in Utah or New Mexico. And that isn't easy to do because there are whole sections of both states which do not have cell towers. The service at my house has improved except when doing cell phone to cell phone. A whole group of people have decided in the effort to economize to cut themselves off from a land line. Yes, I went the other way when my land line company added DSL. But I had to get unlimited long distance because it does not matter if the person whose cell you a...

There is something about November which is without distinction. If it were not for Thanksgiving we would all forget it as we do February. I get so tired of things in November. Maybe it is some primal desire to crawl into my prepared cave and sleep away the winter. And yet because of December one has to stay conscious through November. At least barely. And the cycle of submissions for exhibits in the art world requires some attention to details I would rather just forget. But I know I will regret it come January. And a whole number of things have been going on which have required my attention. The tenant is not moving out at the rate promised. My sister has moved to Texas, and that has not gone as planned. My friend next door went frantic in her speed to get to Florida. Frankly, I am finding myself happy she is gone. And guilty I feel that way. December looks busy with a whole list of odd jobs for pay. And with the driveway (hopefully any day) free of all cars but mine I can ope...

Wintery Mix I really do not hate winter. I was a ski instructor for more winters than I am willing to admit to this morning. And I have lived in Colorado and New Mexico where winter provides much of the local income. But there are certain winter conditions I am not fond of. The older I get the more picky I get about snow. And since the record winter of 2006 I would just as soon the snow line be 250 feet above my house. I am not fond of the new favorite term on weather sites: Wintery Mix. It seems to encompass the absolute worst of winter - sleet, hail, freezing rain which it tops off with blowing snow. I hate the term blowing snow. Frankly, I think it is a cop out. What they mean is blizzard but they do not want to panic us because blizzard brings back the PTSD from the winter of 2006. I have a friend who suffered a crisis during that three day storm that delivered six feet of snow which didn't melt until May. I believe it finally just wore out from being blown around into ne...

It is 4:09 a.m and I have been up for two hours. For the record I do not do the fall back part of daylight savings (is there a daylight bank were it is stored?) at all well. In fact I am not sure if we are just entering daylight savings or exiting it. But I digress. This blog is supposedly about thinking out of the box when I should be sleeping. At least the clock said I should be sleeping. But I am not sure I believe any of the clocks. Friends of mine on the ethernet know I am much upset about the current tenant, who thankfully is moving out not a day too soon. I have, rather automatically, put a for rent notice on Craig's List. But in my gut and soul I really do not want another tenant. The last three have been from hell. And the last two have cost me money. With the current soon-to-be-gone tenant I have not been able to have my studio open. There has been no place to park with his sometimes six (yes, 6 large) vehicles and three trailers. People have not been able to see my...

Goodbye October The last two days of October were punctuated with snow. The snow on the 30th was beautiful. Wet and heavy it clung to the trees and soaked the land as it quickly melted into the dry ground. The next day's snow was not nearly as beautiful and it came with a wind which closed you into the house. Halloween snows were once to be counted on here in the high country. Trick or Treating door to door went without protest to community parties, haunted houses, and going to businesses for treats. I live on one of those quiet little back roads with only two juveniles so it has never been an issue at my house. I think I got one party of ghouls after I first moved in and still had the two huge German Shepherds. On this first day of November I am told by a British friend I must say white rabbit for luck. Living alone that means typing white rabbit. And posting white rabbits. White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland The above image certainly seems appropriate. And it goes...

And then the leaves were gone The lone tree on the hill was glorious last year but this year it seemed to suffer from the drought. By itself on the hill you could see so clearly that its leaves were smaller and its foliage less dense. The monsoon rains came in September in earnest and while they were nice in the amount they were late. Late for almost everything important like trees and deer. First year I saw fawns with spots in October. Almost as if the does had waited and rushed to reproduce when it will be too late for their offspring to survive the winter. Maybe even the fall. It has been a rough fall. Temperatures have been lower than usual and the golden trees few and sometimes far between. Like the lone tree on the hill few reached peak color before dropping all their leaves. Summer came late and left early. Fall just could not seem to make up its mind. Grove of gold I was surprised last week to find this grove of aspen in glorious color. They had stayed greenish fo...

Along the Rio Grande The aspens because of the drought have not been colorful this year like last. So in a last ditch effort to capture some gold in them thar hills my photography buddy and I set off for the river edges in the area. First was Embudo canyon along the Rio Grande and then on to the Rio Chama near Abiquiu.  We got lucky but not without getting out of the car and hiking remote paths to get unique perspectives. Unfortunately after about two hours of doing that and taking some 80 pictures my card in the camera failed. So I cannot show you those pictures. They are forever the "fish that got away" sort of thing. And they included to fly fishermen on the Rio Grande. A fly fisherman told me once that it was not the gentle and passive sport it appears to be. Wading through rushing water and standing on slippery river rocks and casting in an exact rhythm does involve lots of fine tuned muscle movements and balance. So does photography. Reflections in the Rio Gr...