100 Days

Periodically at Garuda (my tai chi class), our instructor would announce 100 days of training.  The idea was not to resolve to do something forever more, but rather, to do a push for about 3 months and then see if the habit sticks.  

Seems like today will be a good time to commit to 100 days of tai chi and see if my old muscle memory is still there.  Definitely feels better than trying to come up with a New Year's resolution. 

I'll have to give it a go and then dust off my old videos to correct myself.  Good thing I captured those videos of me when my form was pretty good.  Wish I'd recorded tai wu sequences and the kata.  I'll see if I can remember them and if so, will take videos.  

Stepping Over Stones
From May 2012

A Brief Respite

Having survived a couple holiday dinners (one out at M'Tucci's, the other at our place), the main events were visits out (open house at Deb & Nat's, Christmas Eve dinner at Debbie's).  Then followed the Jane and Tommy take-out / eat-in evening.  Now, finally, we've had a couple days to ourselves to recoup.  

Today's effort is a batch of baguettes.  With 520 ml of water in 700 g of flour, it's a wet, sticky dough.  But after 3 risings, it's stretchy and alive.  

Now for shaping before the final rise.   

And finally, baking.  First above a pan of boiling water, then finishing in dry heat until golden brown and delicious. 

Now I just have to keep my hands off them until they're cool enough to slice for tonight's charcuterie board. 

The Feasting

The feasting continues with Jane and Tommy visiting last night for Rudy's take-out.   

It will take some doing to get this season's weight gain off.  Definitely been eating too well.  

Meanwhile (my favorite transition word), it rained last night.  Blessed moisture from the sky!  Not enough to be measurable, but definitely enough to wet the world.  

This morning saw a heavy cloud cover, perfect for hiding indoors by a fire, even if it's a natural gas fireplace.  The air has that damp coldness to it that penetrates the bones deeper than the thermometer would have you guess.  The forecast is for more of the same tomorrow, perhaps with gusty winds, and then a very cold Monday morning.  Nature's Notebook observations will require extra layers. 

Boxing Day

The day after Christmas was surprisingly busy despite a slow start: 

• Laundry
• Quick trip to the grocers
• Kitchen cleanup
• Appending one missing photo to the "England - Part 1" book 
• Peanut butter cookies (including another dash to the grocers for shortening)
• Picking up a big take-out order at Rudy's
• Dinner with Jane and Tommy
• Kitchen cleanup, redux

Cottage with Thatched Roof
South of Combe House, near Sidmouth

The weather continues with record-breaking warmth, although the forecast is for much colder in the next few days.  There may be snow in the mountains, but I doubt if we'll get rain down here in the North Valley.  

I may need to take extra steps to protect some of the bonsai that are in smaller pots.  Otherwise the garden only needs minimal care and twice weekly watering.  

The Goldfinches are using the Bodhisattva fountain heavily, especially in the mornings, probably because it does not freeze up.  Niger and the other seed mix for the House Finches aren't disappearing as fast as the unhulled sunflower was.  

Spotted a greyish shorthair on the back wall as it made its way westward into the neighborhood.  With Fluffy gone, our backyard is a cat-free zone.  The universal "Pst, pst, pst" attracted its attention, but it eventually moved on.  

Holiday Wishes

Joyful Tidings to All Most!  There are definitely more than a few people on my naughty list.  Travel Schlepp is not one of them, despite his Christmas Sweater. 

Cheers to the Naughty List!

The holiday countdown continues:  open house at Deb and Nat's place this afternoon, then Christmas Eve dinner at Debbie's.  Tomorrow is a day of rest <whew!>, but there's still laundry and one more batch of Glen's Merry Mix to concoct. 

Friday we'll have Jane and Tommy over for Rudy's BBQ here.  That leaves the deck cleared until Nature's Notebook on Monday, the last set of observations for the year.  

As we swing into 2026, Ric and Marlene will join us for dinner on the 2nd, while Kent and Ric come over on the 6th for an afternoon of gaming.  

Ta ta for now! 

Festivus Greetings to All Who Celebrate

 Had a lovely evening with the cousin and her husband.  The 3 spirits of Christmas past, present, and future visited:  beer, vermouth, Champagne.  

Winter Solstice Thoughts

The sun shines bright this morning in NM.  At 8:04 the solstice arrived.  With the neighbor's house now blocking the mid-winter sunrise, I have to wait 2 hours later for the sun to shine over their parapet, through my office window, 

reflect off the glass of a picture on the wall, and illuminate Travel Schlepp.

With the keyword "reflection" in mind, here's a lesson in point of view from Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life."  

The longest, coldest (figuratively speaking), darkest night is now behind us.  The light of the reborn sun will overcome the dark.  Light and life will prevail.  

Now if only democracy and the United States can prevail... 

 

Holiday Observations

Things I've noticed this season:

• No candied fruit in the stores for my stollen
• A surprising dearth of slivered almonds
• Flowers still blooming in the backyard
• Record high temperature the day before the solstice
• No fondue to be found in the local stores

Meanwhile, the administration is trying to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the flagship climate research program in Boulder, Colorado.  Just like their destruction of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the plan is "if there's no data, then there isn't a problem." 

Tomorrow morning at 8:04 a.m. it will be the winter solstice.  The days will grow longer, the light stronger.  The new year truly begins on the solstice with renewal and hope.  Here's hoping that the sun's return will be accompanied by democracy's return.  By the next winter solstice, let us pray that Congress is in capable hands and that the pendulum of TCF will be swinging back to obscurity. 

But there will be so much work to undo and rebuild what he and Project 2025 have destroyed:  science in general, education, international reputation, our economy, public health, and on and on.  

I guess the best I can do is keep plugging away for the local party in my ward and precinct, keep up the volunteer work at the BioPark, and promote a message of conservation and sustainability in my life.  

Happy Solstice, everyone! 

Kadomatsu Workshop

I've been remiss in mentioning the kadomatsu workshop last Friday at the Botanic Garden.  With the Atrium full of decorations (see below), they held it in the Education Building.  There was some confusion about the location with some people walking out to the Cider Barn before coming back to the correct location.  In the end there were about 40 participants.  

 In fact, so many visitors turned up that they ran out of bamboo, plum branches, and berries.  I took mine home unfinished and added sand cherry branches from the backyard to complete the trilogy of evergreen sprig-deciduous branch-cluster of red fruit.

I will remind everyone to get down to River of Lights while the weather is warm*.  Don't forget to check out the minimalist lighting in the Lebanese Garden and the beautiful decorations inside the Atrium.  They're both easy to miss.  Also, after looping around the Heritage Farm, be sure to go out to the pond in the Japanese Garden and then take the back path (turn west at the railroad tracks) around to the main pond.

_______________

* Warm does not equal "good."  We've got no snowpack and no precipitation in the forecast.  Forget that White Christmas thingie.  Pray that we don't have a terrible wildfire season. 

First Flight Day

December 17th is the anniversary of the Wright Brother's first flight.  25-odd years ago we visited the Wright Memorial at Kitty Hawk.  I had not expected to be so moved.  It's a particularly special place.  

From the top of the hill, I could watch small planes take off and land at the OBX airport.  Since that day in 1903, air travel has become commonplace, drones take our point of view into the sky, and the moon is reachable.  From typewriters and horse carriages, we've come to computers and electric vehicles in an amazing century.  

Switching now to botany, in 1903 there was the publication of A Text-Book of Botany (Strasburger, et al.).  

It's remarkable how much has changed in the past 122 years:  DNA, electron microscopy, PRC, and more.  The Table of Contents has chapters on the Choripetalae and Sympetalae(!).  Systematics has definitely changed our phylogenetic trees.  Even so, I still find joy working with my plant press and my dried specimens, just like botanists have for centuries.  

War... What is it Good For?

Absolutely nothing.  

"At least 6 E/A-18 Growlers from NAS Whidbey

Island flown into Puerto Rico."

Looks like our Sec. of Defense will get his war.  Today we learn that the Navy captured a Venezuelan oil tanker.  This act may have actually had some kind of judicial warrant to give it a cover of legitimacy.  Not that they've bothered with any sort of due process for bombing a couple dozen cigarette boats.  

If this goes as well as Viet Nam 1965, Afghanistan 2001, and Iraq 2003, we should be in for a sad story of wasted blood and treasure.  Glad no one I know is in the military right now.  

Locally, the political season has cooled off until things ramp up next year for state and federal elections.  I'll take solace in our River of Lights with it's normalcy and winter beauty.  We've got our holiday decorations up, so now I can concentrate on cooking and freezing.  

 

Tuesday was a runoff election in Albuquerque for mayor and a couple city council seats.  Incumbent Tim Keller becomes the first 3-term mayor in city history.  Although these city elections are non-partisan, everyone knows who's in which party.  With a Keller victory, Albuquerque will remain a sanctuary city and maintain its blue reputation.

In the city council, one Democrat has won and the other race is too close to call.  Time will tell.  At any rate, I expect sometime in the next year for Albuquerque to face the ire of TCF and his ICE.  He won't be able to do much with the National Guard, since our governor already mobilized them in a strictly controlled fashion.  ICE will risk racially profiling everyone in the city, since we're 49% Hispanic.  For the moment we're locally about as well off as possible under the current national regime.  

What that means is that the BioPark is safe from political machinations.  Our bosque and local parks are in relatively good shape, although they are suffering under the weight of our homeless.  But then, where are the homeless to go?  We'll see if Keller and the council can come up with a solution.  

Photo of our side yard with holiday decorations for the photo tax...

Winter Has Finally Arrived

At long last our record-breaking warmest autumn ever is over and we've had not only a killing frost, but temps down into the mid 20's.  I brought the old Ginkgo and the small juniper into the garage because their pots are shallow and could be vulnerable to low temperatures.   

As the countdown continues to the winter solstice holidays, it's time for me to don my apron and get cooking.  Today's task was assembling the ingredients.  Turns out, it's difficult to find candied fruit for my Dresden stollen.  I finally had to resort to Walmart, where they had it carefully hidden in plain view.  No candied citron, though, so I'll double up on candied orange peel.  Now the mixture (a double batch) is happily soaking overnight in rum.  

I also cranked out the first batch of Chex mix, the aptly named "Glen's Merry Mix," after Glen Jones who came up with the modifications to the basic Chex recipe.  He kept it a secret while he was alive, but his widow, Peggy, took pity on me and passed it on.  

Also during this time of year, the BioPark has a volunteer reception at the River of Lights.  It was, as always, remarkable.  Here are some of my favorites.

The illuminated cherry trees looked amazing despite their particularly fake out-of-season appearance during daylight.  A lot of people walked right by some great side areas:  Lebanon, the Atrium, and even the back route behind the pond.  And surprisingly, many didn't follow the path all the way out to the Japanese Garden.  

What Is This Snow You Speak Of?

Rumor has it that it is snowing in ABQ.  Well, a little more than a rumor, there's the wx radar.  It shows frozen precipitation over most of the city right now (2:15 a.m.).  Then there's the traffic cameras for the NM DOT.  Here's the view a couple miles away and shows streets wet with rain, just like my sidewalk outside my window.   

Then there's one mile further east...

The long and the short of it is that after the main band of rain swept through late this afternoon, another piece of weather curled around from the northwest.  Where the surface was already cold, the snow has stuck, but down in the North Valley, it's going to take more time.  We'll see what the roads look like by sunrise.  

White Rabbit...

...White rabbit, white rabbit!  

Another month has come and gone.  At least I've made the proper magical incantation as the first words spoken (and written).  They say it brings good luck.  I think we need all the luck we can muster.  

December is here and with it we've finally had an official first freeze at the Sunport.  In a few hours I'll be back up and out in the Cottonwood Gallery for Nature's Notebook observations.  I've got miller mitts, phone touch-sensitive gloves, scarf, and the rest of the kit ready to ward off the chill.  

In Wisconsin, my cousin spent yesterday digging out from 10" of new snow.  A friend in Oshkosh sends photos of a white world.  Chicago's airports are a mess.  New Mexico?  Maybe some serious snow in the highlands, but for now, the famous "snow hole" appears to be keeping the precipitation away.

 

They say it's a fast moving storm and it'll be gone by the time I'm out in the field.  Let's hope that the current administration is "a fast moving storm" and gone by next November.