Author Archives: Patrick Lamb

During my almost 35 years of flying hot air balloons, I gave hundreds of rides, many of them to first timers. I periodically meet someone who tells me how thrilled they were with the ride they took with me years ago. And to my embarrassment, I honestly don’t remember a lot of those rides andContinue reading “A dip in the river…”

Notorious American criminal Willie Sutton, who managed to steal more than $2 million in his lifetime, was once asked why he consistently robbed banks. “Because that’s where the money is,” he replied in an obvious statement of fact. So when the banks aren’t open, what do you do if youre in need of a cashContinue reading “A fast food joint was “where the money is…””

Last summer, I wrote about the case of some missing crematorium ashes in Albuquerque. Apparently, a member of the family had been tasked with transporting the ashes to a memorial service where Uncle Vern’s ashes were to be tossed into the Rio Grande on the Central Ave. bridge. However, when Cousin Louie’s 74 Nova wouldn’tContinue reading “First they lost Uncle Vern, now they can’t get rid of him…”

A photo posted on the Clovis Fire Department’s web page shows one of those old “fire horse” “wagons that used a steam engine to power the pump that sprayed water on fires during the city’s early years. You’ve probably seen pictures of one of these wagons in operation, spewing black smoke from an on-board boilerContinue reading “A burning desire to prevent fires…”

As we age, remembrances get bigger, smaller, grander or just plain forgotten over time. So it was with my recollection of my first trip to Whitewater Creek in the Gila Wilderness in the mid 1990s. I walked down a trail called “Gold Dust” to a section of water above the touristy Catwalk trail. I rememberContinue reading “The official doctor’s diagnosis — “Too much fun…””

As the United Press International political editor and state capitol bureau chief for seven years during the 1970s, I covered three governors during that time. The first was David F. “Lonesome Dave” Cargo, a Republican who was often seen as a loner in his own party and in the state in general. I was onlyContinue reading “Remembering Gov. Apodaca…”

I believe I’ve mentioned that our neighborhood has become quite a menagerie in recent years. We’ve spotted racoons, foxes, skunks, coyotes, various species of lizards, frogs, an occasional harmless snake, a flock of Guinea hens and even a pack of javelinas. Last week, we added a new critter to the list of nature sightings inContinue reading “It’s for the birds…”

My good friend David and I went fly fishing last week on private water in the Sacramento Mountains. It was the first time he had been fishing since he had heart surgery last fall and he managed to catch a nice fat rainbow to make his trip extra special. I caught only a couple ofContinue reading “He left it out there somewhere…”

Last week’s spectacular explosion of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket was described by company officials as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” Wow, what a creative way to explain a disaster. But Musk apparently saw the failure as a way to learn more about how to prevent a future multi-million dollar fireworks display. It was Thomas Edison, whoContinue reading “What we really wanted to say…”

Yesterday at our church, St. James’ Episcopal, a group of ten persons showed up unexpectedly. They were sitting on a rock wall while we were preparing for our monthly Vestry (church board) meeting. The group, consisting of six children and four adults, were migrants/refugees from Venezuela. Their only possessions were carried in paper Wal-Mart shoppingContinue reading “Far from home…”

I was once asked where I would eat my last three meals — breakfast, lunch and dinner — if I had one day left on the planet. My choice for breakfast was Andre’s in Aspen, where my wife and I used to go each fall when we were newlyweds. It was a prototype of theContinue reading “Shrinksizing and Jesus…”

The Albuquerque Journal last week reported that city officials admitted that a section of Third Street in the city’s downtown area had been transmogrified with errant lane stripes. The city said a routine paint job to delineate lanes on the road had been botched and ended up creating angle parking spaces on the road. TheContinue reading “Tripped Up Over Stripes…”

Our rambunctious goldendoodle, Chester, discovered another way to amuse us last week. I had just mowed our back yard and because I had let my tall fescue grow too high. When I mowed, there was a lot of bright green mulch scattered about in certain areas. Chester has rolled in some awful stuff in theContinue reading “He missed St. Patrick’s Day by about a month…”

You’ve probably been reading or hearing a lot lately about the New Mexico Legislature’s designation of roasting green and red chile as the official aroma of our state. The legislation drew criticism from some who said our lawmakers needed to focus on more important issues than the odiferous offering that seems to be unique inContinue reading “Officially, official New Mexico stuff…”