Author Archives: Patrick Lamb

With the early monsoon rains we’ve received in the last couple of weeks over most of New Mexico, the raging wildfires in the Gila and Santa Fe/Carson National Forests have likely been doused by enough rain to be controlled or extinguished. When reading a blow-by-blow of the travesty of the Hermit Peak/Calf Canyon Fire inContinue reading “Really dumb things people said…”

Let me start by saying that stories about people conspiring to hire someone to kill a family member they don’t like isn’t funny. It happens too often. However, a case which was reported in Las Cruces recently was just too full of ridiculously fragmented planning to pass up comment. Luckily, the hit job never happenedContinue reading “Discount Hit Jobs “R” Us…”

New Mexico is on a big learning curve about consequences of legalization of marijuana, put into motion this year by the state legislature and implemented April 1. Sales boomed during the first month of legalization, then have dropped back significantly since. Who knows what demand will be like in the long run? That should makeContinue reading “If it looks like candy, smells like candy and tastes like candy…”

We’re fortunate to see red tailed hawks flying and soaring around our neighborhood on a daily basis. They roost in some tall Afghan pines nearby and always put on an entertaining show when they began their skillful riding of thermals in the afternoons. What’s especially amusing is how quickly the flocks of white wing dovesContinue reading “Raptor’s Rapid Rescue Ride Receives Reprimand…”

Our church, St. James’ Episcopal in Mesilla Park, is located just across South Main Street from the heavily trafficked north-south BNSF Railway. Trains passing through this part of town and blasting their horns have always interrupted church services — sometimes funerals — at totally inappropriate times because of the numerous street crossings in the neighborhood.Continue reading “Whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on…”

Well no, not my wedding anniversary. I think Margo would have been a bit annoyed if I had forgotten that one, although we usually don’t make a big event out of it. What I DID miss was the posting of my first blog on June 5, 2020. I’ve now written 256 of them in theContinue reading “I missed my 256th anniversary…”

Just a brief warning to anyone who is ready to venture out into the Gila Wilderness in the next few weeks. Be REALLY REALLY careful with fire or any source of heat. My wife, dog Chester and I took a day during the Memorial Day weekend to get out of town and drive up toContinue reading “Really, really scary…”

It was uplifting in the last couple of weeks to read stories about humans going out of their way to rescue wildlife babies that had been separated from their mothers. The first involved a great horned owl baby that had tumbled out of a nest from a cottonwood in the Rio Grande bosque in Albuquerque.Continue reading “Surrogate moms for critters…”

The annual first release of water down the Rio Grande from Elephant Butte and Leasburg Dam happened Wednesday, June 1. And as usual, large blocks of white foam accompanied the welcome rush of water down the watercourse that had been dry since early last fall. At first, it looks like the entire river has beenContinue reading “Foam means it’s summertime, except not on top of your beer…”

My wife and I were enjoying a glass of wine on the back patio on Wednesday afternoon last week when we were startled by two thundering booms that we could feel. I was pretty sure it was a sonic boom, but we haven’t heard many of those around here in years. Shortly afterwards, something poppedContinue reading “Things that go BOOM in the day…”

(With apologies to Paul Simon) When the New Mexico State University baseball team made arrangements to go to Mesa, AZ, for the Western Athletic Conference baseball tournament last week, the school didn’t have the budget to charter a fancy jet to make the relatively short journey to Arizona. The plan was to charter a lowlyContinue reading “Just hop on the bus, Gus and set your bats free…”

I wrote last week about my grandfather, Charles Hurst, and his talent for writing, painting and creative engineering designs. The post was the result of a friend commenting about what an interesting man he must have been. After reading that, our good friend Cheryl dug a little more into my family’s past and came upContinue reading “Presenting Archibald…”

It was amusing to read last week that the U.S. Forest Service had implemented a 90-day pause on any controlled burn operations in forests the agency manages in the United States. It was also incredibly sad what had prompted that decision. “Wildfires are increasingly extreme because of climate change, drought and dry fuels across manyContinue reading “Closing the gate after the horse got out of the corral…”

My good friend Don from Montana sent me an e-mail recently that made me think about doing a blog about a grandfather I never knew, Charles M. Hurst. I had mentioned in an earlier post (regarding tongue sandwiches) that my mother and her family came from England and that my grandfather had an interesting background.Continue reading “Floating concrete ships, the Johnny Appleseed of oaks, a playwright and an artist…”