New Mexico 2012

December 31, 2011 New Mexico
New Mexico Centennial 2012

Guess what? The state of New Mexico turns 100 years old on January 6! In honor of the New Mexico Centennial, I hereby present the official state song, “O, Fair New Mexico.” It isn’t anything like I thought it would be. A freaking tango, forgodssake. Scroll down to the words below and sing along for [...]

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More Old Adobe Winter Lore

December 28, 2011 Taos
woodstove in the old adobe

There once was a time in Maryland when living in the cold weather meant getting up early to turn the thermostat up. Oh right, most people have programmable thermostats. Well, this was some time back. At any rate, I was always cold! The pitiful heat emitted by the radiators in the last house we owned was no better than the forced air heat the blew in friends’ homes, leading me to invent the phrase, “the dank chill of centrally-heated houses.”

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Merry Christmas from Taos

December 24, 2011 Best o' the Blog
John Hamilton Farr, Taos, New Mexico

They grow a considerable amount of their own food and draw spiritual sustenance from their very surroundings. They have a magic dog. For some reason I mentioned a survivalist website I visited once that spoke of “doomsteads,” or self-sufficient hideaways in which to weather the approaching storm. I had to explain what doomstead meant, of course. My buddy laughed and said, “Jesus, I’ve lived in doomsteads my entire life!”

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Solstice Meditation

December 21, 2011 Nature
Thumbnail image for Solstice Meditation

How the hell does anyone experience anything directly? There’s so much chaff and scrapings in the way. Odd emotions, opinions, lists of things to do. Running narratives and lusts. Little fears like cockleburs, big ones that wake you up at night. Dogma and certainty, hunger and pain. As I was telling someone the other day—while [...]

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Good Taos Day

December 15, 2011 Taos

See, it’s not all angst and primal bullshit with electrodes jabbed into your spinal cord. Sometimes you walk right into a moment that just works. It happened to me today in the local organic food emporium when I encountered a dangerous, wise-cracking personage of some repute whom I hadn’t seen in quite a while. He [...]

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Arizona Trip Notes

December 13, 2011 Taos
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One of the great things about living out here in the West is the joy of road trips. It’s not like back East, where you’re hammered by traffic and congestion. In New Mexico, go just about anywhere: you’ll wonder where the hell everybody went and then be grateful for it. That is not the case [...]

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Crazy and a Half

December 11, 2011 Personal
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“What?” I asked, reading her face. “I don’t want to go back!” she said, referring to Taos. I knew how she felt, but I had to laugh a little. The declaration is often timely—you have to live there to understand—but after two days at nearly 70 °F when we had the doors and windows open… [...]

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The Legacy

December 9, 2011 Personal

Back in the late ’70s, my parents were living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. After attending a “get rich quick” seminar for expats, they bought 2.5 acres of land in Rio Rico, Arizona, where the entire world was going to retire. What happened next was embarrassing and predictable. This afternoon, however, the long, sad [...]

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Poison Gas

December 6, 2011 Personal

I got nothin’ here. Not even a decent photo, and it was a beautiful day in Tucson. I hardly noticed, because I was too busy being an asshole. It goes with the territory, I tell you. And that must be a big place, because everywhere I go, there it is. I’m just no good at [...]

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Tucson December

December 4, 2011 Personal

Yes, I’m back in Arizona again. Today I tweeted something about where we’re staying, and a friend of mine replied, “What are you doing in a doublewide in Tucson!?” Now there’s a good question. The ostensible answer is, taking care of business in the aftermath of the dissolution of my birth family. The real answer [...]

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