Scandalous Santa Fe Reporter cover

This cover from the Santa Fe Reporter, New Mexico’s favorite alt-weekly, has created a bit of a ruckus: No, I’m not talking about the bikini-clad Lady of Gaudalupe. I’m talking about the saguaros, those two tall-armed cacti in the distance. This outrage must not stand. “New Mexico?” Chris Clarke wrote last year. “No tienen saguaros.” …

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fire map

Recalling one of Inkstain’s two mottos*, I’m experimenting here with fire maps. This is an attempt at the perimeter/heat map for the Thompson Ridge fire in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico, as of last night’s IR overflight, GIS data courtesy National Interagency Fire Center. The “view larger map” link allows you to do what …

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Observations on a brief visit to Canada

Three of the five restaurants in which we have eaten during our brief visit have had hockey on the television. This includes breakfast this morning at Denny’s. The Kwik-E-Mart where we stopped to procure snacks had Hershey’s chocolate Stanley Cups for sale. Also, hockey on the television. The tendrils of empire extended to the park …

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Seattle: creeping toward water

Our waitress at dinner tonight, on finding that Lissa and I are from Albuquerque, asked what brought us to Seattle. “The water,” Lissa said. “We’ve got lots,” the waitress said, pointing with a smile out the window to Elliott Bay. “Happy to share.” Seattle wraps around Elliott Bay, both geographically and historically. I guess that …

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irritable?

Typo found in my notes: “irritable” where I meant to type “irrigable“. Looking at century-old estimates of possible agricultural land in the desert southwest. Notable mistake.