Aunt Renna Beth died last night. She was the last living child of Renna and Dick Bellah. Was fitting for her to go after the others. For though neither male nor oldest, she was the leader of her siblings. Certainly, she was toughest, a word Dad used to describe his older sister’s athletic exploits in […]
Train whistles. I suppose to most people they’re a warning. To me, they’re a calling. That is, ever since I was a boy, the sound of a train whistle has beckoned me. But it’s stronger than that. Think of Odysseus who had his men tie him to the ship’s mast so he wouldn’t follow the […]
Been looking for a new pump to power my waterfall. You see, about 10 years ago, I decided that, since I couldn’t live in Colorado, I’d bring Colorado to live here—in the backyard. So I got three rather large rocks (each weighed over a ton) and positioned them over a pond to get just the […]
Roy would have chuckled at the thought. Roy who was born in a dugout on the Palo Duro, who as a child didn’t have electricity or running water in his home, who rode a horse because it was the only means of transportation available. The very idea: Four grown men traveling horseback in rugged mountain […]
Maybe I shouldn’t have identified myself as an English teacher. I’m referring to our guides on the Pecos trip. First, they tell me my horse is the one they put six-year-olds on. Then, I’m told I can’t adjust the stirrups or tighten the cinch myself. Finally, I’m asked to stand on a stump to mount. […]
Averaging over 11,000 feet high and running for over 60 miles, the Skyline Trail is the longest in the Pecos Wilderness. We rode the 10-mile north section from Truchas Peaks (one of which I climbed) to Cebolla Park. To the east we could see the abrupt drop to the plains of eastern New Mexico. To […]
This Thursday, when I join my buddies for a four-day horseback ride in New Mexico’s Pecos Wilderness, I will wear his hat. It seems only fitting. For Roy knew horses the way I know books; he handled them every day. They were both his work and his pleasure. You see Roy was born in 1904, […]
This white-haired lady is still turning heads. I’m talking about Charlotte, the former Homecoming Queen who said yes to me 43 years ago. So today was her birthday, and we ate at a fancy Mexican food place where she engaged the male, middle-aged, waiter in typical, warm, West Texas chit chat. He replied in an […]
Thirty minutes late, but my last student arrived yesterday. He’s a recent immigrant to the U. S., and I’m pretty sure he has trouble finding a ride each morning. Another student, a young lady, came 15 minutes late. “Forgot to set my alarm,” she told me. But she got up. She came. And that encourages […]
We’re calling it City Slickers III. You remember the 1991 movie with Billy Crystal where he and two of his pals went on a New Mexico cattle drive. Well, we’re not trailing cattle so there won’t be any stampedes, nor any drunk cowboys shooting wildly into the air (I can’t guarantee that one), but this […]