Full Moon Rising

January 15, 2023

Howdy folks,

Well, after a bit of a delay, we are finally back online again.  Our wonderful, little kittens chewed through our fiber optic cable that brings our internet into the house.  It's been a long time coming and we've been seeing little nibble marks on it for a little while now and knew that at some point, seemingly out of the blue, the internet would go out...well, sure enough.  We thought, no problem, we'll just run into Santa Fe and find the cord we need, easy peasy, but no, it was not to be.  Apparently, our provider, Plateau Telecommunications(out of Clovis) is super hi-tech and uses cords that almost nobody else uses residentially.  We get super, hi-speed internet delivered via fiber optic cables and we just needed the super-thin cord that connects the box in the wall with their hub that they provide.  It gave us a nice reason to go to town and get a bite to eat and a few beers, but after trying three or four places we soon realized how specialized our set-up is.  So, we called Plateau and ordered a service call, but as it was the weekend, they weren't sure that they could get to us right away.  It only took an extra day and just like that we were reconnected to the source(after being down for 3-4 days) and they even left an extra cable for us, too, just in case.  Apparently, this a regular occurrence, as they didn't even bat an eye upon hearing our situation.  So, other than the weekly updates to the website falling behind, we enjoyed the break from having WiFi and reconnected our old DVD player and played CDs, etc., catching up on all of our magazines that we get and trying to use our cellphones minimally, as the signal can be a bit sketchy out here, even at the best of times.  I guess the cats just thought that we should be paying some more attention to them!  Speaking of them, we've refined and finalized the names of both batches of kittens finally.  Chelly had five kittens and their names are: TG Swiper; Misty Gish; D.O.T.(was Dottie Minerva until Erin noticed testicles); Mimi(was Mini-Me and morphed into this); and Ebony(this was the last to be named).  As for Zia's kittens, here are their names: Charlie; Franny Freckleface; Kachina(gray and white with the white making his face look like a mask); GiGi(all gray and we played around with gray-gris, gris-grey, etc.); and Mitzi(was Mini-Zi and morphed into this).  They join the four cats that trekked out West with us from Pennsylvania: Buckwheat; Maddi; Smokey; and Jackie.  Maddi was the only one that came from our house in town, the other three slowly came to our house one-by-one after a lifetime at our feed mill and briefly retired at our house in the last year or two before we moved.  16 cats!

On other fronts, the weather has continued to be windy and this past week saw the temperature being anywhere between 20 and 60F.  One of the advantages of my job is that I'm always outside and tend to be taking care of the horses at dawn and dusk most days of the year.  It allows for many sunrises and sunsets and full moon risings, too!  Quite often, I'm also tending to them in the dark and get to see the immense night sky in intimate detail.  I've always been interested in astronomy, but over the years it was easy to lose track of moon phases and such while living in town, crammed on top of each other back East.  Now, I not only always know which moon phase that we're in, but I also know how many planets are in the sky and where to find them and have finally been able to expand upon my basic set of constellations that I've always known and am now able to see some really faint and smaller ones that I never knew about or could never find before!  I won't say that the sky is completely devoid of light out here at night, as you can see the glow from Las Vegas, Santa Fe and Albuquerque, but it is very faint and very distant and, all in all, the amount of stars(and usually the Milky Way!) that you can see every night is jaw-dropping.  While I'm frolicking outside with the animals and the universe, Erin's work usually requires her to be inside, either cleaning for the boss, running errands, or doing domestics.  Needless to say, there is an undercurrent that is welling up inside of her that is building into an urge to do something new and exciting.  The gigs that she was doing have been very infrequent, at best, so, she's starting to think of trying some kind of actual part-time job: waitress; cook; baker; bartender; chef; confection-maker; real estate agent; food trucker.  She's having fun playing around with all of these different ideas.  The question is, is New Mexico ready for Erin?  She's literally bursting at the seams and is bound and determined to turn it into something!  Look out!

Now, for our latest batch of pictures.  First up, three pictures of Bootsie and her baby, out in the hay barn(there is at least one and possibly more outdoor kittens!).  Next, one of my nightly treats for dinner...this time, Erin's Chimichangas!  Then, our old male, Milagros, standing guard by his favorite tree while everyone else goes to get water.  Next, two shots of the latest patio that we're putting in up at the new house.  Then, two shots from January's full moon, as it rose over the ridge: first, with the backhoe as a backdrop; then, through the hood of the boss's old pickup truck.  Next, three shots of the sunset from out here on the ranch: first, the sun winking behind the mesa; then, two shots of the sky's late glow from my chaise lounge.  Then, the nearly full moon high in the sky right before dark, with pink clouds underneath.  Next, two different shots of Venus: first, over the mesa and barns; then, with the water troughs in the foreground.  And, finally, a shot of the buggy at the water troughs with Orion and Mars high overhead as I shut the gates one night. 

Take care.