Sidetracked Charley

Life Finds a Way   My sister, the nurse who has worked this pandemic, says no. But this Thursday there was a glimmer of hope. The CDC said those of us who had received both vaccines and made it past the two week max antibody development marker could go without masks. Outdoors or indoors in less than max capacity situations but maybe not maintaining social distancing go barefaced into this brave new world. For me the news hit just as I was getting dressed to meet with other artists to decide if we could actually have an art season. I paused in my search for a mask (one of hundreds I made during this last year) to match my outfit. I did not abandon it but put it in my jacket pocket just in case. You never know. But I had decided to attend this event because I knew everyone who would likely be attending. They were all vaccinated. I had been keeping track on posts in social media. Our numbers are always small so it would not be packed. They would all be respectful of others. And if I a...

Over the top and into the valley Frequent readers of my blog may remember the Revealed Truth on the Road to Raton series. The road to Raton has a huge fire burning. The Ute Park Fire is the first time in my memory a fire was actually named for the place where it began. The Hondo Fire began in Lama, NM. I wanted to call it the Cinco de Mayo Fire because that was the day it began because a person burning their trash in a barrel went to get a beer with his buddies. May is a bad month for fires in New Mexico after a dry winter. The canyon walls   But because of the   Ute Park Fire  US64 is closed between Eagle Nest and Cimarron. And if you want to get to Raton or points east or north of Raton you have to go NM120 through Ocate to Wagon Mound. My first revealed truth about this route is I rather like it. My post office is in Ocate and if you turn south from the center of town you can get to La Cuerva and the raspberry ranch. I visit this area frequently but not to...

Yesterday was tightly scheduled. I was the first to appear at our precinct polling place. And the first to vote. And then it all went wrong. I was prepared to go from there direct to the local Department of Motor Vehicles to renew my driver's license. I did not do this before my birthday because our MVD was not manned. And then it was supposedly staffed but she was in training in Rio Rancho. May was not an easy month with the Trinidad showing, etc. And the wait gave me an opportunity to hear all the horror stories about renewing my license. Seems our state had for a decade been giving just anyone a driver's license. Including but not limited to illegal aliens. They even defended this practice based on the number of workers lacking green cards which were driving illegally unless they allowed them to get a license. And they would know where to find them. Nobody noticed they all had the same residence in Jal, New Mexico. There was a booming tourist trade in a town with n...