Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Two people with one car can drive a person nuts. What about those times my wife has to use the car? Yes, she can drop me off at work and pick me up when it’s time to go home, but what if she can’t be there? Then I’m forced into getting some exercise by walking home. It got worse a few weeks ago when she had to drive out of town and be gone a week or two. The situation made me choose between a period of fresh air and healthy exercise or putting out $$$ for a rental car. I sure hated spending that money. Situations like that go...
Last week I spouted off about the proposed closure of Cannon Air Force Base, but I still haven’t used up all my hot air on the issue. This is because practically nobody accepts that the closure is a done deal. We have to change the minds of five Base Realignment and Closure commissioners, and five of them may not even show up for the base tour on June 23 and the public meeting on June 24. This ought to tell somebody something. This doesn’t mean we should give up and slink off with our tails between our legs. We have to try...
I planned on writing about car battery recycling this week, as sort of a follow-up to last week’s bit about my car battery’s demise, but recent events have me thinking about Air Force base recycling instead. I wonder why. We may view the situation with denial, determination, or despair, but we have to deal with it. We have to deal with it now. We must realize we can implement damage control, possibly turn a crisis into a gift. To do this we need sound, responsible planning. This is not an option. This is a requirement. Unl...
I managed to get to the garage without tripping over the cat or forgetting where I was going. This time I remembered to open the garage door before putting the vehicle in motion and got into the car without banging my head. Things were really going my way that morning — until I inserted the key and twisted it to the start position. Nothing happened. No vroom sound. No grinding sound. Not even a clicking sound. Within minutes, I cleverly deduced the car wouldn’t start. Since no lights appeared on the dashboard, I assumed it...
Not too long ago, at lunch with some university people, I mentioned how odd it seemed that the snowshoe hare is actually a rabbit while the jackrabbit is actually a hare. I thought I knew what I was talking about, and no biologist was present, so I apparently spoke confidently enough to gain some credibility — either that or they were just treating me politely. Eastern New Mexico University President Steven Gamble, who had joined us at the table, suggested that I write a column about it. I appreciated his interest and r...
Sixty years ago today, one of the worst events in human history came to its long-awaited end. The allies called it Victory in Europe, and the annual remembrance is called VE Day. The day commemorates the end of World War II in Europe. With still a war to be won with Japan, millions upon millions of human beings (more than 20 million from the Soviet Union alone and at least 6 million Jews of many nationalities) perished in the conflict between Sept. 1, 1939, and May 8, 1945. One of those lost lives was that of Eddie Slovik....
Jim Lee: PNT columnist Sometimes I forget things. Wait a minute, I should correct that statement. After all, I need to be specific and accurate here — if I can remember how to do that. I rarely have difficulty remembering things from a long time ago, or other things that don’t really matter. The real problem is that things that matter are almost always something recent. Does that make it fair to call me absent-minded and disorganized? If someone asks me the name of the 14th president of the United States, I correctly com...
I was recently invited to present a talk to a Portales organization called P.E.O. Nobody I asked seemed to know what name those initials represented ... either that or it was none of my business. However, I did learn that the organization does good work for this community and beyond. P.E.O. is a philanthropic educational organization of dedicated volunteers working hard to provide scholarships for deserving women. When I was asked to speak I had no idea why anybody would want to listen to me, but it was a great honor — w...
I was recently invited to present a talk to a Portales organization called P.E.O. Nobody I asked seemed to know what name those initials represented ... either that or it was none of my business. However, I did learn that the organization does good work for this community and beyond. P.E.O. is a philanthropic educational organization of dedicated volunteers working hard to provide scholarships for deserving women. When I was asked to speak I had no idea why anybody would want to listen to me, but it was a great honor — w...
Celebration certainly isn’t the right word, but we recently observed the second anniversary of going to war with Iraq. When talk of sending combat troops to that country began, just about everybody I knew assumed war was inevitable. I appeared as an invited guest on a TV talk show with three professors, two of them history professors. It taped before the American first strike but aired afterward. It came off as a very timely show because we all spoke as though the war had already started. The certainty of pending war was a...
This country has become so obsessed with polarization in recent years, I no longer feel confident in knowing what deserves consideration for what. Of course the most obvious division is Democratic and Republican. Most Americans are one or the other, but that does not eliminate the confusion, even in this period of political extremes. Basically, Republicans are viewed as conservative and Democrats as liberal. That’s what they call each other anyway. Not only that, both parties seem to have gone to the extreme right or left. T...
Since we survived Friday’s April Fools’ pranks, it’s time to look forward to the spring rebirth in our annual cycle. By the way, the first day of spring (two weeks ago today) and April Fools’ Day have much in common. April Fools’ Day, or All Fools’ Day, began in France back in the 1500s as a day to subject a victim to a practical joke and thereby make that person the “April Fool.” The French also called this unfortunate soul a “poisson d’Avril,” meaning “April fish” in English. Although the French started this socially accept...
Since we survived Friday’s April Fools’ pranks, it’s time to look forward to the spring rebirth in our annual cycle. By the way, the first day of spring (two weeks ago today) and April Fools’ Day have much in common. April Fools’ Day, or All Fools’ Day, began in France back in the 1500s as a day to subject a victim to a practical joke and thereby make that person the “April Fool.” The French also called this unfortunate soul a “poisson d’Avril,” meaning “April fish” in English. Although the French started this socially accept...
We have all of this coming week to prepare for April Fools’ Day, which is Friday. I originally planned to set up a gag to honor this annual event, but I would never sink to such an act. What I want to bring up, though, is a new exhibit at the Roosevelt County Museum of Natural History and Needlepoint. As we all know, this institution houses living animals native to this region. Unlike the natural history museum at Eastern New Mexico University, it has many animals most of us don’t know about. Few of us look at the tho... Full story
When I bought my computer about two years ago, it came with all the latest whatever-it-was stuff and was supposed to do everything this side of a landing on Neptune. Since then I have spent far more time trying to get it to work than I have in actually doing the work it is supposed to facilitate. No, I’m not going into high-tech exorcism this week, although that could be an intriguing topic. It’s just another example of Murphy’s Law, also known as Finagle’s Law or Sod’s Law. “If anything can go wrong, it will.” If this maxim...
Jack Benny got away with calling himself 39 right up to his death at age 80. In reality, he actually turned 40 on St. Valentine’s Day in 1934. Now that I’m getting older, he has become my role model. My friends tell me I need to stop saying I’m 39, but Jack Benny got away with it, so why can’t I? Does remembering him make me over 39? Truthfully, I must confess my claim to 39 does lose some credibility when one considers that my son is 35. And I may look a bit over 39, but just a little bit. This stems from the fact, just betw...
Someday I’ll figure out how to cook without cussing, without stuff falling on the floor, and without third-degree burns. Maybe I won’t come up with anything as good as Bobby Brunson’s rolls, Charles Brooks’ steamed turkey or Gene Bundy’s biscuits, but I’m determined. A road paved with good intentions doesn’t have to lead to you-know-where. I have no idea why my otherwise wonderful wife will not recognize my culinary skill and refuses to admit my spaghetti sauce is better than hers. Maybe she just fears getting shown up. Tha... Full story
Slavery did not confine itself to the South. Massachusetts, for example, tolerated slavery over 140 years. In 1641, it became the first colony to legally recognize slavery. Some of the “founding fathers” at Plymouth Rock probably became slave owners. The city of Boston had a thriving slave market long before places like Atlanta or New Orleans. Yes, people came in bondage to the birthplace of abolition. Why do I pick on Boston? Well, I’m not really picking on Boston. I’m not even trying to get negative. As a matter of fact, th...
It really doesn’t seem possible, but this is my 100th column on this page. Next month will mark two years of doing this. It feels like I did the first one just a few weeks ago. Thank you for reading what I have to say. And thank you for your comments. Probably the most common question I get is where do I get something to write about every week. Another common question is: “Do you lie awake in bed every night coming up with all those weird and off-the-wall ideas?” Well, my friends, ideas are always plentiful. They lurk aroun... Full story
Well, Monday is St. Valentine’s Day, the anniversary of Capt. James Cook’s murder on his third visit (in 1779) to what is now Hawaii, and the 102nd anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor. Before we all pop the champagne corks and prepare for a seizure of uncontrollable giggling, I should mention this week’s column is about none of the above. Today’s topic is the use of a New Mexico variety of the mescal plant. Wait a minute. Don’t yawn yourself to death because this gets pretty doggone i...
This is the first Sunday of Black History Month. This observance means more than simply giving black people an occasion to point to contributions that were so long ignored or denied. Black History Month provides the opportunity for all Americans to express appreciation of the contributions of Americans who happen to be black. After all, we are all Americans first, then members of whatever microculture(s) in which each of us happens to be categorized. Microculture means race, nationality, religion, or other ancestral or cultur...
I really appreciate that relatively new statue in front of the Campus Union Building at Eastern New Mexico University. But I have always been intrigued by naming a university mascot after a bus going through town. According to the official account of acquiring the greyhound as the symbol of the teams published by the university, that is exactly what happened. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I think the sleek canine is a great mascot. So what if it all got started by a passing long-haul bus? Besides, it’s the n... Full story
A couple of weeks ago, I flew for the first time (on an airplane) since 9/11. I expected to enjoy myself about as much as a giraffe with strepthroat, but I looked forward to finding something to complain about. It all started with my deciding to attend a Kiwanis district conference. As a club president, I felt obligated to show up, even if it did require air travel. By the way, I have no fear of flying — I’m just afraid of airports. Airports lurk darkly in difficult-to-find areas surrounded by a moat of cryptic direction sig...
On Thursday, President Bush will take the oath of office for the second time. To most of us, a second term inauguration is about as exciting as an instant replay at a chess tournament. After all, we won’t get a new president. We may get some entertainment value in seeing him try to make a speech, but what’s the big deal over more of the same? “Lame duck” seems to apply to the occasion as much as it does to the second term itself because all we get is another corny parade, and maybe some mildly interesting protests from so... Full story
A few months ago, four Portales people started talking about how they thought life could be made better for Americans if they could get people involved in the political processes of our republic, get people to think for themselves, and contribute to the preservation of our constitutional rights. Among the questions they typically asked each other (and themselves) was: “Does anybody else agree, and do they feel just as isolated?” To answer this question they collectively and individually started reaching out to the com...
