“No fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors.The ideological clowns are out, the patriotic cowboys are in, with testosterone testing on top.”

– Pete “the meat” Hegseth. Well, Mr. Hegseth aside, we had our times…Saturday a week ago

segued into a chance to see Leonard Peltier zooming in from North Dakota for a benefit

in Albuquerque, the next day going over to La Veta for a poetry reading in the park by Mary’s sister Linda Backiel which was really a lovely time and chance to see a few old friends as well…

home that night to the beginning of several days’ Weather which,

following a last visit to Desireé in Gardner, we sat out at home celebrating

Linda’s birthday on the 28th with stuffed squash blossoms and prosciutto from Gag’s wrapped around an excellent Milberger Farms’ cantaloupe as a lowrider ’50 Chev from Luz looked on…

it took the rest of the evening to finish off the cava, most happily…

Next day, the beginnings of torrential rains predicted, we went early to Walsenburg on a last

trip to the dump, Safeway and then, the oncoming deluge proving wildly exaggerated, to the lumber yard for that last piece of fence, duly finishing a job abandoned back in July, all before

lunch. Tuesday night the rains did finally arrive, gently persistent all Wednesday unto

a colorful dinner of beets ‘n’ burrata with smoked salmon from North West…