Simple Living and Simple Travel

Posts

harissa, André Rieu and two strong friends

April 30, 2023

Still using unused photos from last year. Looking forward to new ones. Hope to get the opportunity in June. I so need to get out of this valley. This is a shot of the Sacramento Mountains, to the east, taken from where I’m staying this winter. One takes rt.82 up to Cloudcroft, elevation 8,676’, then south on 6563 (scenic byway through the Lincoln National Forest) for 34 miles, which takes 45-55 minutes. Elevation drops to 7,100’ at Timberon. Outside of Wells Fargo one day, a young lady came over to my truck as I was lifting the Knee Rover into the bed. Asking if I needed a walking boot for my left foot. I recognized her from the waiting room at NM Bone & Joint. She looked like she went through a lot more than me. She did. On a knee scooter with both lower legs in casts and her left hand looked a bit off. Her ex-boyfriend intentionally drove over her lower legs and left hand with both tires. She had to crawl to her phone to call 911. Filled out a report, but the police did

timberon visit and been here done this

March 30, 2023

Drove up to Timberon one day to collect my mail (since Nov. 1st) and visit with my favorite acquaintances. Plenty of snow in Cloudcroft but as the elevation dropped toward my unincorporated community, the snow disappeared. I generally get back to Timberon with the Nash in early March, but there was no way I could have done that this year. The roads were way too muddy, clay slick. Couldn’t have gotten the Nash within a third of a mile from #3. Good thing I am having surgery down in the valley. Maybe it was just getting back to the mountains or it being so quiet with no-one around (my area has few homes). Not even the birds were back. But while walking around my lot, it felt really good to be there. Will see how it feels when I arrive back with the Nash on June 1. Had the left foot done last week. Same procedures: Hallux valgus correction, pan metatarsal head resection, and hammer toe correction. Same old, same old. Been here, done this, dealt with it, know what to expect. I w

acts of kindness and caramels

February 27, 2023

I ordered a pack of Swiss Safe Emergency Mylar Thermal Blankets & Bonus Gold Foil Space Blanket. Designed for NASA. One for my daypack and one in my pickup (the old boy scout thing). On short hikes, I frequently just take a good size hip pack, one in there. Anyway, one of the 4-star reviews caught my eye. The person wrote there are quite a few homeless people in his area, with temps near freezing with heavy rain in the winter. “It's not unusual to see someone sleeping on a bench, the ground, under some bushes, etc...There is one woman who sleeps on the same bench pretty much every night wrapped in blankets. She's out there in the open, every day, even in the rain. I drove by her one day on my way to work and she literally had frost on her blanket. Frost, on a human being. “These blankets are cheap enough that I buy them to hand out to houseless people who look like they need to keep warm/dry. They are small enough to be carried in a pocket, have many different uses, a

elementary, Tom Swift and last month’s solstice

January 16, 2023

I recently read somewhere that Sherlock Holmes never said, Elementary, my dear Watson. What?! I’ve listened to quite a few Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (my favorite duo, well maybe not Nigel Bruce) episodes on the SiriusXM Classic Radio channel and watched them on youtube. I could have sworn I heard that. So I looked into it. Apparently, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never wrote those exact words for his detective. But Doyle’s character did say ‘elementary’ and ‘my dear Watson’ quite often. It seems the whole phrase started with other authors. Could be wrong. I never had a Taser and can’t see me ever purchasing one. But recently, I came across the story behind the idea. It brought to mind some books I read as a kid. It’s actually a loose acronym of the book, Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle. Jack Cover, the inventor of the modern ECD, named his prototype after the YA sci-fi novel he loved, and the very idea for a less-lethal electric gun was largely inspired by the fictional one descri

let there be light, solstice and dancing in the movies

December 30, 2022

Think we were in the White Mountains of Arizona for this shot of Mesa on his throne. Yes, I know, not pretty. Light therapy lamps are most effective when used at eye level or above. Hence the jury rig with my stool for step-ups. Also meant to be used first thing in the morning while one is sipping a large mug of green tea and a smaller one of coffee. I go through periods of winter blues from time to time. Thankfully, never SAD. Good grief. Anyway, I purchased a Verilux HappyLight, 10,000 lux. Love it. Don’t know if it works on winter blues but that in-your-face bright light in the morning sure is a positive jolt for the day. It’s a keeper. As you know, the winter solstice is my favorite day of the year, the earth’s new year. It’s natural, simple, meaningful. Been celebrated for a long time. Here’s some historical text. “Humans may have observed the winter solstice as early as Neolithic period—the last part of the Stone Age, beginning about 10,200 BC. Neolithic monuments, su

new sticker

November 30, 2022

Don’t think I’ve posted this particular shot of Mesa and Meadow on the cage. Don’t know where we were. And yes, they jump and climb up there on their own. Well, I’m not getting back to the state parks this winter, maybe next year. This will be the third winter I’m not making it to the parks, through no fault of my own. Guano. I had made reservations for this winter, but something came up and I had to cancel them. I’ll be staying in Alamogordo until some time in April. Might even look forward to moving back up to Timberon by then. From Timberon’s elevation of 7,100’, I generally drop down to around 3,570’ for the winter months. This winter I’m in a different valley and only down to 4,330’. A bit chillier. But I have daily access to wi-fi and cell phone coverage. It’s in a RV park, however. Thank the gods I only do this when I have too. In the NMSPs, sites are generally farther apart, with no frills or calendar of events. Simple, my thing. I have some deer photos that I have