Author Archives: Patrick Lamb

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…”

No, not our wedding anniversary. That was 51 years ago on Feb. 13, 1971. This anniversary was March 30, 1982, when the Space Shuttle Columbia landed at what was then called Northrup Strip on White Sands Missile Range, virtually in our back yard here in southern New Mexico. Columbia, which began its mission on MarchContinue reading “A 40th anniversary I missed a year ago…”

I read with sadness last week that Chevrolet was planning to end production of the Camaro, introduced in 1966 to combat Ford’s wildly successful Mustang. That car, as well as the Mustang and many other followers, fueled the desire of young men to look cool in a sporty but relatively inexpensive set of wheels. IContinue reading “The end of many young men’s dreams…”

But first things first, my good friend Don in Montana spotted another error in my writing. And to make it worse, it was in an article about how careful we need to be with writing style. I apparently inserted a semi-colon in place of an apostrophe in the word “it’s.” I blame my fat fingersContinue reading “Being handsome and sartorial wasn’t enough to save him…”