Yesterday the Chiricahua Gallery in Rodeo, New Mexico, opened its holiday show. We’ve come to the 25th year––the silver anniversary––of our art guild’s founding. We’ve been around for a quarter of the time that Arizona has been a state! The gallery is a not-for-profit cooperative … Continue readingCelebrating the Silver
Ordinarily, if Alan and I chase something it has feathers. This morning we rose early and headed up to the Interstate to watch the Union Pacific’s historic steam locomotive No. 844 chug from New Mexico into Arizona. At least “chug” was what I expected, but … Continue readingSteamin’ Along
Overall, the news about the Horseshoe Two Fire is positive. Threat to the Portal area of the Chiricahua Mountains has lessened to the point that residents were allowed to return home this morning. We have all been unloading and unpacking! Wind has subsided greatly, aiding … Continue readingPortaleños Come Home
Alan, our friend Jim Shiflett, and I have journeyed to southeastern New Mexico near the Texas border to find Lesser Prairie Chickens on their lekking grounds. After checking the lek in daylight, we retreat about a mile and camp on BLM land. The prairie chickens … Continue readingRites of Spring: Lesser Prairie Chicken
OK. Say you’re a young female House Sparrow, living at the wind-blown edge of Lordsburg, Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Tumbleweed country… the sort of gritty, lonesome place evoked by a distant train whistle at night. And you’re confronted with a problem: specifically, you need a … Continue readingCreative Problem Solving in Passer domesticus
Frosty morning at Bernardo (Photo by Narca) Bernardo Wildlife Management Area, north of Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, is attracting huge numbers of Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese and Ross’s Geese this winter. Their corn crop is ample, and many thousands of cranes and geese … Continue readingPure Magic