We’ve walked in various parts of the bosque (riparian woods, primarily cottonwoods) within Albuquerque over the years. A year ago, our walk resulted in one of my favorite photos of the year (coyote with ducks, a prize winner). This year, we watched a Northern Harrier (Marsh Hawk) stand in the river, one foot pinning its prey in the current. And there was a disheveled merlin, a handsome shoveler, a snipe, and a plethora of robins. I’ve added 9 pictures to the album (19 total).
Following 9-11, the road atop the dam that creates Elephant Butte was closed “for security.” Ten years later, the dam was opened for visitors for one day. Many people seized the opportunity to walk across the dam top, as thousands had for decades before.
I’m stunned at the stupidity that keeps this dam closed. Will it take 100 years for us to come to our senses and recover a modicum of the freedom we sacrificed? Is there anyone who seriously believes Elephant Butte is a credible target for terrorists? What would it take to destroy that dam? (Uh-oh, now I’m on a watch list.) So, Texas gets its water a little sooner and maybe Mexico gets some it never will otherwise. It’s never going to happen and keeping tourists out is nonsense.
President Harry S. Truman, in his 1949 State of the Union Address:
We must spare no effort to raise the general level of health in this country. In a nation as rich as ours, it is a shocking fact that tens of millions lack adequate medical care. We are short of doctors, hospitals, nurses. We must remedy these shortages. Moreover, we need–and we must have without further delay–a system of prepaid medical insurance which will enable every American to afford good medical care.
Jeopardy honored New Mexico on our 100th anniversary as a state with the first category. The $1000 Double Jeopardy could only be answered by a New Mexican (I got it). It cost the returning champ the game. A: This treaty transferred the territory that would become New Mexico from Mexico to the United States. (Arizona, too, and part of Colorado, I believe.)
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams
