I had a meeting with a client yesterday and was presented with the usual dilemma of what to wear.  Fortunately, the business end of it was solid and secure, but switching from my usual private “barn clothes”, that are OH so comfortable, is always a challenge, especially since I usually work from the comforts of my home or out in the field, literally. It was so much easier as a public education “official” —...

  In the late afternoon summer days of August when the sunflowers pop their heads out of the draws and ditches, and the fields gleam yellow with wild buttercups, I can feel my Nicky and see with my heart the joy he felt when he would run leaping through the fields. Some say that dogs are made of the same “stuff”, “ether”, “energy” as angels, and no other dog in my life exemplified it so much as my Nicky. Always happy, loving...

  I put a lot of time and effort into trying to grow beautiful Old Garden roses.  Last year’s drought was a real challenge and fortunately most of the bushes rallied back this year with a little extra nourishing. But a little less spectacular are these little wildflowers, or “weeds” that grow along my driveway and all over the fields every August.  Even in the scarcity of water last year, they were here, and...

Each fall and winter when the cottonwood trees turn brilliant gold and the marshes and grasses take on orange and russet hues, visitors and hoards of photographers armed with massive lenses descend on Bosque del Apache to witness and document the riotous arrival of the Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes who spend the winter in this precious wildlife refuge. The Festival of the Cranes is held annually in November and there is a steady stream of...

I fell in love with Bosque del Apache in the middle of a bleak and windy winter.  Despite living in New Mexico for thirty years, I had never taken the time to visit there until this year.  The joy and the happiness of the birds who winter there is magical, and the hues of gold, sienna, amber and rust just warm the soul. It’s a place to rest, to reminisce and to cherish your kinship with Nature. I will go back . . . many, many more...

    One of the most moving stories from my childhood was “The Little Match Girl” ,  a  nameless little girl who was trying to sell goods and matches while walking the cold streets on a snowy winter evening.  I think of this little tale often when I see the lights in the windows of a house on a dark, cold night.  How comforting they are.  I know that soon I’ll be inside my own home where it is bright and...