Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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"This is dust storm country. It is the saddest land I've ever seen." Washington Daily News reporter and columnist Ernie Pyle wrote those words in 1936 after a trip across the drought-ravaged Midwest. They could sum up where we're at in eastern New Mexico in 2013. I knew things were not good on our land in eastern New Mexico and it hadn't been for a long time. A daytrip shocked me as to just how bad the drought has become. Even the hardy buffalo grass has dried to the point of near desiccation. As you step on a clump it...
"But you can't dance," exclaimed my wife after I made my announcement. That one really hurt, because it was true. But the challenge was nearly more than I could resist. Nearly — but I could resist. A little over a month ago I got a visit from a volunteer representing the Local Collaborative of mental health agencies (LC9). I later found that I had agreed to either be a celebrity dancer (or find one) for a fundraising event called Dancing With Our Stars. Growing up in the Church of Christ in Portales in the early 1970s, d... Full story
With my NFL team on a bye week in the playoffs this weekend I jumped at the chance to go bird hunting. It started with a call from my brother that was prompted by a call from one of his buddies who had been talking with a farmer with a wheat field being ruined by wild geese. As I write this about a dozen would-be waterfowlers are putting together gear for the safari, some with a little experience and some with none at all. I fall into the category of a little bit of experience a long time ago. In my 20s I spent a lot more tim...
This will no doubt go down in family history as the "Get Smart" Christmas. No, it had nothing to do with Don Adams as Agent 86 Maxwell Smart. Though it did have a little in common with his clever shoe phone. My wife and I got smart phones and my mom got a smart TV this year for Christmas. I think the gauge of how smart these devices really are lies in just how dumb they made me feel. My mother and my 78-year-old aunt both had smart phones before I did, so naturally at that point it didn't matter whether or not it was practica...
Christmas is a time to be jolly with lots of holly by gosh by golly. What could put us all in a more festive mood than these funny Christmas ponderings I've read or heard recently. - "Next to a circus there ain't nothing that packs up and tears out faster than the Christmas Spirit." — Frank McKinney Hubbard - "In the old days it was not called the 'Holiday Season;' the Christians called it Christmas and went to Church, the Jews called it Hanukkah and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing ea...
Is the end near? Anyone know a Mayan philosopher we can ask? I don't know but pretty sure the world will probably continue after next Friday. Just in case I'm going to see if my wife will let me open my Christmas presents early. I don't think I could take the eternal suspense of never knowing what's in that box with the red wrapping paper. I think we're all going to be OK though because the calendar we use today apparently continues past Dec. 21. I've had four sales type people drop off 2013 calendars in the last two weeks. I...
Several random observations recently have tickled my funny bone (starting with the struggle whether to spell funny bone, funnybone, funny-bone or funniebone). Here they are in random order. A television station I used to watch always announced the lotto numbers by saying "And now here's tonight's lotto numbers in random order." If they weren't random wouldn't that be a pretty rigged lotto? On the phone the other day I got tapped into a phone system that supplied news or maybe it was trivia for me while on hold. That wasn't...
My wife has a holiday theory. If her husband announces plans to hang outdoor Christmas lights, it's time to prepare for a blizzard. Clark Griswold of "Christmas Vacation" fame doesn't have a thing on me when it comes to hard luck with a Christmas light string. I've yet to actually electrocute myself. But I still have a little decorating to do so watch the headlines. Time always seems to be at a premium this time of year and so sometimes you're forced to climb a ladder or steep rooftop while it's coated in ice. I remember one... Full story
"W ith greatest apologies to Clement Clarke Moore, I offer up what is destined to be another holiday classic." 'Twas the night before Thanksgiving, when all through the kitchen, Mama was busy makin' pies, the workload really had her bitchin'. There was pumpkin, pecan, chocolate and even mince meat Bread in a pan was rising to make sure we had plenty to eat. Later the children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of drumsticks and dressing danced in their heads. And Mama in her flannel bed shirt and I in my... Full story
The pup eyed me cautiously from the porch, never lifting his head as I pulled into the driveway. He wasn't too sure who this was visiting him. As I slid out of the pickup he craned his head to the left to watch me but still didn't move. I hollered his name and Dutch bailed off the porch and immediately began to treat me like an old friend. I hadn't met this nephew dog (that means he belongs to my sister) until it fell to me to look after the 6-month old Weimaraner for a little over a week. The story was he liked to jump... Full story
Fall was asserting itself on the High Plains as I drove to Lubbock early in the morning. Dead calm when I left with an obvious frontline painted across the sky to the northeast, it didn't stay that way for long. Soon, in the pre-dawn light, I could see tumbleweeds the size of small cows racing across the road in front of me. Occasionally, a smaller specimen flung itself out of the ditch at my vehicle but none made contact with the paint. The tumbleweeds were coming at a monotonous rate when suddenly a dark shape bounded... Full story
My wife is hooked on the alphabet police dramas. What are alphabet police dramas, you ask? CSI (Crime Scene Investigators) and Law and Order SVU (Special Victims Unit) are two examples. She also watches Blue Bloods and Hawaii 5-0 but they haven't quite bought into the initials thing even though 5-0 is a code name for police. If I were to make my own alphabet police drama it would be titled RDC (Really Dumb Cops). The hook for some of these police dramas is really good. A unit that responds to victims of weird sex crimes is...
We got our first blast of winter last weekend and I had to attend two different events that were outdoors. After talking to one young lady with her hoodie up and teeth chattering I shortly spotted a young man in shorts and a long sleeve T-shirt. We all have differing tolerance to cold and heat and it doesn't become obvious until that first cold snap of the year. Putting on Cannon Appreciation Day in Portales with the Portales Military Affairs Committee during that first cold snap of the season proved a little nerve wracking f... Full story
For most of us imagining the eastern Plains of New Mexico or the Llano Estacado without fences roads and houses stretches our minds. Ruth White Burns, of Clovis, has had that imagery in her mind and her filing cabinet all of her life. This last month it all sprang to life in a new book about life before the railroad in eastern New Mexico. It is titled "A Man Was a Real Man in Them Days, Pioneers of the Llano Estacado 1860-1900." While Ruth is an avid researcher and accomplished writer, she didn't write the book on her own,...
Some knew it as Taylor's Grove and even more referred to the place as Oasis State Park. In my circles it was simply "The Sand Hills" growing up. A trip to the "Sand Hills" meant a picnic, playing in the sand dunes and maybe a ballgame. Our first line of attack was always the dunes. We couldn't wait to get into that sand and get our shoes and socks off. Rolling down a hill or jumping off a bluff into deep sand somehow was outstanding entertainment back in the days when we got one television station by antenna pretty good and o... Full story
No doubt Satan probably got a kick out of the headlines in the newspaper in Portales last week. "Prayer ruling upheld" relating to a ban on coach led prayer in City League sports. Hopefully the devil read a little further into the story and saw that maybe he hadn't exactly won this one after all. A large crowd turned out in support of prayer at the last council meeting even though they knew it was an uphill fight based on other similar cases. From all reports the crowd modeled Christianity well for the community and no one ha...
Some days I make this columnist business look easy. Other days I wonder what I was thinking when I decided writing my thoughts down for a public consumption on a weekly basis would be a good thing to do. I think I started doing a column back about 1988 or 1989. I've had a few short breaks since then but for most of the last quarter of a century I've managed to scrounge up a weekly topic. Some of those years I was writing two or three columns or editorials a week. The ideas flow like a fast river at times and other times the...
Knowing I had a column due later in the day, my mind began to wander as my wife and I sat in the municipal court waiting room. One of my first thoughts was that the source of our problem, the family pooch parade should be there instead of me. After all, I wasn't even home when the incident (dog at large) occurred. Those involved were an unknowing service technician, a couple of crafty canines and a wife with slow reflexes and a serious lack of verbal control over her dogs. They become her dogs instantly when they're bad and... Full story
I admire our country's 19th century pioneers for a lot of reasons. Facing down wild Indians, working hard and plowing with mules, cooking on a wood stove, communicating without Facebook and otherwise living life large. But stop some day when it's 105 degrees outside and wonder how they ever made do without air conditioning. All I can say is I'm pretty weak compared to my forefathers. This past week or so it became clear just how spoiled I am. First I cranked up the old evaporative coolers at the Merchants Building at the...
I admire our country's 19th century pioneers for a lot of reasons. Facing down wild Indians, working hard and plowing with mules, cooking on a wood stove, communicating without Facebook and otherwise living life large. But stop some day when it's 105 degrees outside and wonder how they ever made do without air conditioning. All I can say is I'm pretty weak compared to my forefathers. This past week or so it became clear just how spoiled I am. First I cranked up the old evaporative coolers at the Merchants Building at the... Full story
Just when I was beginning to think it was safe to go out on the front porch again — they're back. Several years ago I wrote about the barn swallows nesting on my front porch and how I put up with the mess for the sake of the birds. After the birds migrated off that fall I removed the mud nest above the door and the following spring when they tried to rebuild it there I took it down until they gave up and moved to the other end of the porch. Several nests of swallows fledged from that much more desirable location over the y...
Just when I was beginning to think it was safe to go out on the front porch again — they're back. Several years ago I wrote about the barn swallows nesting on my front porch and how I put up with the mess for the sake of the birds. After the birds migrated off that fall I removed the mud nest above the door and the following spring when they tried to rebuild it there I took it down until they gave up and moved to the other end of the porch. Several nests of swallows fledged from that much more desirable location over the y...
One minute two brothers are on a community mission, the next a whole community is wondering how they'll get by without them. The hurting was focused on the community of Elida recently as Ronald and Fred Anthony died in a truck accident while fetching a load of sand for a new playground at their church. The shock went well beyond the village of Elida, though. Farming and ranching was in their blood but the extended Anthony families also made a living operating the school bus contract for Elida Schools. Those bus rides put...
It had been awhile since we'd all been to "Texas" and a recent trip to Palo Duro Canyon didn't disappoint. We had great weather, if anything it was a little too hot in the amphitheater with its cozy, close-together seating and the trip was relaxing. My wife and I went to see the West Texas musical not long after we were married 30 years ago. The basic story of the struggle to settle the dusty, thorn-covered terrain of the Texas Panhandle was unchanged but the technical capabilities of the show and the talent of the cast has... Full story
It had been awhile since we'd all been to "Texas" and a recent trip to Palo Duro Canyon didn't disappoint. We had great weather, if anything it was a little too hot in the amphitheater with its cozy, close-together seating and the trip was relaxing. My wife and I went to see the West Texas musical not long after we were married 30 years ago. The basic story of the struggle to settle the dusty, thorn-covered terrain of the Texas Panhandle was unchanged but the technical capabilities of the show and the talent of the cast has...
