NOMAD DREAMING

There are a myriad things I love about living in this enchanted desert. Monsoon mornings are one of them. Days are once again sultry, sweaty and buzzy with bugs. Clouds form, big and puffy rumbling with thundery promise. Though some nearby places have been devasted by roiling floods, in this little piece of northern Chihauhauan desert those heavy clouds seldom deliver more than a spatter of raindrops. Sometimes one sees charcoal smudges of virga - when the sky releases rain b

…Looks like freedom, but it feels like death It's something in between, I guess It's closing time (closing time, closing time, closing time)… Route 66, the Mother Road, draws a semi diagonal across the United States linking Chicago in the east to Los Angeles in the west. Along with the unUnited States enduring a sweltering, stormy, sun burned and somewhat battered and weary 250th birthday, Route 66 claims to celebrate its centennial this year. Since I live in one of the state

It’s summer solstice with a vengeance where I am: hot hot hot and cloudless at dawn. I was not on the water to greet the solstice sunrise this year. An unfortunate back injury has me off the water and forbidden to bend, lift or twist - all requirements to maneuver ungainly kayaks or canoes onto a vehicle - for a few weeks. If I’m coming across as grumpy, no paddling is why. And then all the other stupid stuff too. Summer with its extreme heat and bugs makes me cruel. I kill m

It’s been a hard week for the Garden of Earthly Delights and the shala. First a farmers market neighbour who is also a neophyte beekeeper in a nearby village came to remove the compost bin bees. Fortunately the bees were very gentle, since mid afternoon on a warm day (think mid 90s F/34C) wasn’t the ideal time or conditions. This was young beekeeper’s first time removing a swarm. He wanted to see what he was doing. There were some beautiful combs and lots of honey, he said. I