Good Morning,

Rather than get fully suckered into writing about politics – so easy to do and most of it ends up amounting to only a volume of hot gas – I will write about many aspects of life. Taking care of our day to day living after all is the basis of making the world a better place to live in.

I live on the rough end of more than a mile of dirt road in northern New Mexico. There are times it’s a royal pain in the butt getting in and out of here, but so far the benefits make up for it. We have peace and quiet, privacy and wild life out here. I feel safe. My few neighbors are all interesting people. Most I have great friendships with. One of them is a complete ass-wipe, but what are you gonna do? We also have a dark night sky. Looking at the stars on a clear moonless night takes my breath away, and I’ve lived out here for years. In the immediate neighborhood, gosh, I’m the old timer, that is, I have lived here the longest. Huh. Maybe I ought to run for Mayor. No, that’s politics again.

I have never owned a TV and gave up on the “news” years ago. That happened shortly after September 11, 2001. I only needed to see aircraft hitting buildings once to get it. What the media did with instant replay for days to follow convinced me the news had little to do with providing useful information. As a matter of fact my previous two posts were both inspired by dipping into, looking at the “news.” Somehow I feel I owe you an apology for getting off to such a ranting start. Sorry about that.

In place of TV and the news, I read a lot of books and pay attention to what’s going on around me. Good readers make good writers, and writing is what I do. There are many many great books written, all the products of fertile minds. Lately I have been reading a lot of Ernest Hemingway, a remarkable writer and man.

What I see going on around me, yes there are things to rant about, but mostly I see people getting on pretty well. Despite the inequities of life, they put in a good effort, they love their mates and their children.

Gordon Bunker