Author Archives: Patrick Lamb

My late brother once told me about a controversy at the then new baseball stadium for the Los Angeles Angels when the concessionaire decided that it would be “California appropriate” to serve quiche to fans. I’m not sure you remember it, but there used to be a Chevrolet advertising campaign with an all-American spin andContinue reading “Let’s call it what it is…”

Almost anyone in southern New Mexico who has driven from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft has marveled at the old Mexican Canyon railroad trestle just below the summit of the Sacramento Mountains.  Built in the early 1900s, the trestle was the crowning achievement of a steep mountain railroad called the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway. Work onContinue reading “So I’m a bit of a steam train nerd…”

Our daily morning walks around the Mesilla Park neighborhood frequently yield pleasant surprises and discoveries. Earlier this spring, we noticed a century plant starting to sprout up in the yard of an historic old adobe home adjacent to an irrigation ditch that we frequent. Many weeks after spotting it, it has now grown to beContinue reading “Proof that patience is a virtue…”

On occasions when I’ve had maybe one more glass of wine that I should have, I have been known to break into embarrassing (for my wife) songs. There are usually three of them that fall into rotation: “Deck us all with Boston Charlie…” from the comic strip Pogo, which I have written about in anContinue reading “Give the bear a break…”

One of the reasons why hot air ballooning is such an adventure is that you almost never know exactly where your flight will end. You may have a general idea of an area where you might land, but subtle variations in wind direction, changes in winds at different altitudes during your flight, landing site restrictionsContinue reading “With no particular place to go…”

In case you missed it, last Friday, May 7, was “No Pants Day.” It was the last in the rush of truly significant events — Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with you), Cinco de Mayo (when maybe a ship carrying a load of mayonnaise was sunk), and then on Friday, “No Pants Day.”Continue reading “I think I know who invented this…”

New Mexico is frequently confused with our neighbor to the south. In fact, the New Mexico Magazine has a regular column entitled “One Of Our 50 Is Missing” in which readers offer their stories of being told they can’t ship items to a foreign country or that they’ll have to prove they have the proper vaccinationsContinue reading “Well, at least they got the country right…”

During the 2016 Presidential Campaign, a high level Democrat in New Mexico was chastised for bashing a piñata bearing the image of Republican candidate Donald Trump. I’m not going to dip into the political issues involved in this story except to say that piñatas are essential parts of our New Mexico heritage,  often used toContinue reading “Candy is dandy, but maybe not eye candy…”

Odors, scents, smells — good and bad — often make lasting memories in our brains. We associate a particular moment, time of year, place, person or experience with them. I can still remember the smell of Aqua Net hairspray that girls in my high school spritzed on themselves to pump up their bubble hairdo thatContinue reading “There’s a hint of a pleasant memory — or maybe worse — in the air…”

On a trip a few years ago to visit my sister in Cochiti Lake, I passed by a street sign that literally made me stop and take a second look. The name of the street was “Sparkling Moolah Road,” just south of metropolitan Pena Blanca.  After some research, I discovered that the street was namedContinue reading “Street Smarts…”

My wife used to remark that our children’s dental bills probably paid for one of the propellers on our orthodontist’s fancy twin-engine airplane. A recent confirmation of discovery of the fossil of a “Godzilla Shark” that swam in a shallow sea covering what is now New Mexico 300 million years ago puts those dental billsContinue reading “Here’s hoping that these critters aren’t still swimming in Elephant Butte…”

For the last several weeks at our church, St. James’ Episcopal, I’ve been noticing pennies in the collection plate and outside the front door of the church. Usually, the pennies are lined up along a metal railing leading to the front door.  I wondered where they were coming from and why somebody would bother leavingContinue reading “This guy has something to teach us all…”

Las Cruces Public Schools confirmed last week that up to 150 students attending Mayfield High School had held a “secret prom” the previous weekend at an undisclosed location. The discovery has led to the suspension of in-person learning at Mayfield — which had just resumed two weeks ago — for 10 days. School authorities saidContinue reading “Maybe the sudden demand for corsages tipped off someone…”

Some of you might remember the Weird Al Yankovic parody of Michael Jackson’s hit pop song “Bad.” In the Yankovic version called “Fat,” an enormous man becomes even more enormous while complaining about the effects of continuously stuffing his face with food. “If I have one more pie alamode,” he laments, “I’m going to needContinue reading “Proof that mixing business and pleasure may not be wise…”