California Dreamin'

As I'm driving home from work this morning I'm looking at the temperature gauge and it reads: 25 freezin fricken degrees. To add insult to injury my buddy James from the C-A has deposited in my email these pictures and adds that it was in the 70s. It's on 'below freezing' mornings like today that I REALLY miss So-Cal. I can almost smell the blackened swordfish from Old Tony's on the Redondo Pier....sigh...

What you didn't see...

Slow news week. Cooler weather, my work schedule, pops in hospital so I'm gonna resort to posting 'out-takes' or pictures that didn't make the blog originally. Hopefully the groundhog got it right and spring is on the way.

Last September before I started this blog my friend Jon came out for the Zia Rodeo. It was smaller then the regular PBR or PRCA rodeo which made it very enjoyable. The Ty Murray Invitational is coming up soon so I need to get tix for that.





It was VERY humid that summer and the 'desert' was amazingly green. This lead into the biggest snow storm on record in December. Not sure what the year ahead holds..guess I should get a copy of the Farmer's Almanac.



The church spires of Old Town.



Later that day we had visited Tinkertown [see previous post]. The day was cloudy and it was sprinkling. Alot of Tinkertown is open to the elements. There was this prevading dampness throughout the compound, poor light for photographs, but you could smell the wood and just 'feel' the age of the place. It was a very neat day.


I don't have a flash on my camera, it was the first model of this brand and like a dope I just assumed there was one. Inside this 'land-dock' is a sail boat used to sail around the world by this fella whose name escapes me now. His boat no rests around seven thousand feet above sea-level here at Tinkertown. This hand carved face rests at teh front of the boat.


When I went to Tent Rocks recently, I did take some color pictures but did not post them. I was in an Ansel Adams kinda mood so I only posted the black and white. The day I went was overcast and I had also gone late in the day so I was not able to go all the way back into the canyon or to the plateau. I've got plans in the works to return to Land of the Giants.












Larger version of a picture I posted of a duck in flight at the zoo.


A very cold winter's night...it was about 15 degrees when I took this. Another storm is due tomorrow brining cold temps...rain ...snow...etc etc etc. Yak at ya later.

Veteran's Day is Everyday

Today was one of those mello hazy kinda days, in part because I'm working the graveyard shift and time gets kinda fuzzy.

I stopped by the VA to visit my dad who has been in hospital for about two weeks now. He's doing ok, just some heart issues.Afterwards I thought I would swing by the New Mexico Veteran's Memorial. It's large and spacious with great views but in some ways it seemed to be missing something. It's not even a year old yet so that could be part of it. Construction crews are still on the grounds.

There are no big statues, a few plaques, an amphitheatre and large field for presentations, but all in all it was just a big park. Still there are reminders all around of the price many have paid for our right to whine about the price of gas, eat junk food, watch junk tv, complain about our politicians, speak our minds and live the way we want to live. My dad knows this first hand as a veteran of three wars [WW2, Korea and two tours of 'nam]. The price he paid was being exposed to Agent Orange and having it destroy his kidneys. I celebrate Veteran's Day everyday for him and my newphew and cousin who are serving in the Navy and my friend Rudy in the Air Force and every other person that served to protect our country. THANK YOU TROOPS!

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The Land that Time Forgot

Pack your bags and put on a good pair of hiking boots, we're headed to the...

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Tomorrow I start several weeks of graveyards [not as bad as it sounds, it just throws off your sense of time and space]. I decided to take my first New Mexico adventure of 2007...and what a great one it was.

Sixty minutes north of Albuquerque [I-25 north exit 22 west to Pena Blanca and Lake of the Cochiti] you will find the the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks, which were formed by gigantic volcanic eruptions hundreds of thousands of years ago...before cable and MTV even. There are two main hiking trails which are not bad at all, 1.3 and 1.7 miles long. And man....the scenery is AWESOME. Enjoy.

www.nm.blm.gov/recreation/albuquerque/images/kasha_katuwe/index.htm

My Flyin' Saucer

So I'm reading the webpage for my hometown [Winslow, AZ] newspaper and the headline reads:

Large UFO spotted near Winslow

Northern Arizona Navajos watch a strange ship fly around for over an hour.




Artistic rendering by Sean Dover of what he claimed to have saw flying above Leupp, Ariz. on his way back home from school in Flagstaff, AZ.

I Google 'UFO WINSLOW' and apparently the area is a hotbed for UFO sightings [can you say White Mountains, mid 70s, Travis Walton, FIRE IN THE SKY]. ...who knew.

I bring this up because I read an article recently where the city of Roswell, NM is planning on buiilding a $25 million [with an m] UFO museum to replace the current kitschy one. UFOs are BIG business down there. It wasn't until I moved to California back in the 20th century that I first heard about The Roswell Incident.

Way back in 1947 a UFO allegedly crashed there and aliens were found, taken, and hidden by the government [no waaaay]. There is even a radio broadcast available on the net [I downloaded it from Limewire]. Since then more and more people have gone to the annual Roswell UFO Festival [50,000 are expected this year for the 60th anniversary.].


With Spaceport America being built in southern New Mexico I'm sure the event will only continue to grow in size.

My brother and I are currently hoping to attend the events this summer on July 4th. should be fun. I'll keep ya posted.




My flyin' saucer
where can you be
Since that sad night
that you sailed away from me
My flyin' saucer
I pray this night

You will sail back before the day gets bright


My flyin' saucer
fly back for home
You will get lost
in the universe alone
My flyin' saucer
end all my fears
Sail back tonight love and kiss away my tears

My flyin' saucer
I pray this night
You will sail back before the day gets bright.

-- Woody Guthry/Billy Bragg
Mermaid Avenue 1&2


www.winslowaznews.com [to read the UFO article]

www.roswellufofestival.com [further info on the festival]

www.spaceportamerica.com