Yes, you few and far between readers, I haven’t posted a lot in the last couple of weeks and my anemic statistics on “WordPress” prove it. I write when I’m inspired by something interesting I’ve seen or read and anything with an edge of humor to it. Lately, I haven’t seen a lot of that kind of inspiration, but I do have a couple of updates I wanted to share.
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First is an update on — I know this gets boring to some — Trout in the Classroom. We’ve just started up the TIC program at G.W. Stout Elementary in Silver City where for the first time, students will be raising once endangered Gila trout native to that part of New Mexico.
The eggs arrived about a week ago from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife hatchery near Mora, NM, and were placed in two baskets in a 55-gallon aquarium where they will hatch and eventually be released into the larger tank.
By fall, they should be large enough to release in either Lake Roberts or in a Gila River tributary where there are other Gila trout populations.
What makes this significant is that Gila trout were on the edge of extinction about 25 years ago when a cooperative program between state and federal wildlife agencies and volunteer organizations led to the eventual delisting of the species from endangered status. Now you can fish for them on several streams in the Gila. I have caught a few in the last year and saw many more swimming last week in Whitewater Creek, which was once my favorite trout stream in the region.
Gila trout eggs in aquarium G.W. Stout El;ementary in Silver City.
Meanwhile, things are going well in the other Trout in the Classroom program that I’m also helping coordinate at White Mountain Elementary in Ruidoso. Those fish — rainbow trout donated by the Mescalero Apache Tribe — will be released May 2 at the lake at Inn of the Mountain Gods just outside Ruidoso.
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Earlier this week, there was a story on our local NPR station on the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, The Great Gatsby. The first movie version my wife and I saw of the novel was released in 1974 and starred Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. I suggested we watch it again because I honestly only remembered some parts of the movie. I have to say it was really worth watching again, and I’d recommend it to you.
It generated a lot of discussion and we found that several of the themes in the movie are relevant today. On top of it all is a very good story. You can rent it for about $3 on either Amazon or Apple. There are older and newer versions of the movie, but I think the 1974 version is the best.
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Finally, the New Mexico Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University held its annual spring plant sale Thursday and Friday. The sale is held at the Fabian Garcia complex which is literally just a short walk from our house.
Each year, the organization sells a variety of plants which have been started by students in the NMSU Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences program. Most are varieties of chiles, peppers, tomatoes, basil and squash, along with a few varieties of flowers.
I purchased some New Mexico Heritage 6-4 chile plants to grow in our raised bed garden, which we are in the process of preparing this week. I’ll keep you updated on our garden progress, which always holds a few surprises each year.
aero-cordero.com 