Off To A Rocky Start

As I noted in my last entry, my youngest son is showing an interest in rock climbing.  We did a couple of large and fairly easy boulders as a warm-up and then he started bugging me to do another climb on the rocks in our NW corner.  So, the other day, we headed back there to check on the pasture and do a little climbing. 

He did 6 different climbs up this face, using just about every inch of the rock.  He did this one first, then over the little overhang to the left, then across the large crack to the right, and different routes up the front.  He's naturally  good and I saw some progress as he got used to the rock- he was switching feet and just using his hands and feet together much better.

The traditional "peak" shot

We had fun.

Next up is a picture of grass.  Just grass. This is good stuff for us ranchers.

Grass.  Green grass.

Falcon-wise, I'm just working with the prairie falcon, trying to get her into a routine of circling a bit, then catching a pigeon.  Last time out didn't go so great.  I'd fed her a bit in the morning and I think that took the edge off her appetite by the time I finally got out in the evening.  She circled us a few times but lost interest and landed on a pole.  I did get her back, though, and she did behave better on her pigeon, so I guess we made a little progress. 

Excitement and Changes

It's been exciting around here the past couple of weeks.  First, though, the changes.  I heard thru the grapevine that a certain biologist and a certain group of organized birders were upset at some of the photos I posted of the peregrine falcon take.  They felt that I had "compromised" the nest site.  In spite of the fact that this is a legal, defensible activity, I understand their concerns.  I thought I made a good attempt at not giving away exact locations and, yes, if you were standing under the exact cliff you could probably find the nest ledge, but really, at that point, all you'd have to do is lift your binoculars up- just like we did.

It's easy to get nest locations and I sure didn't think I was giving away anything that you couldn't find in a dozen other places. For instance, if you pick up a copy of "Raptors of New Mexico" you will find not only nice pictures of nest cliffs for all the raptors, but the county given, landmarks shown, and in some cases, the nest site circled on the photo!  Another "for instance" is that you can sign up for birding tours and get taken to some of these sites.  But, whatever...there was some concern and so I locked my blog down until I had an opportunity to go thru and cut out some references and pictures.  I also made some phone calls and talked to some people, reminding them that I did spend 11 years as a raptor biologist, am published in peer-reviewed journals and symposium proceedings, and so forth.  Instead of spreading dissent thru the grapevine, all these folks really had to do was shoot me an e-mail and say "Hey, Bryan, have you considered....?"  All I was trying to express with the photos and descriptions is the work, preparation, skills required to take a wild peregrine falcon, along with the sheer excitement of the thing. It's kind of A Big Deal and is probably a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me.   In any case, though, some sections have been modified, photos removed, and we're back up.   It should go w/out saying that if I missed something and you're concerned about it, you should let me know.  And, hey, if you organized bird-watchers want a presentation on falconry from a life-long raptor enthusiast and fellow birder, let me know.  You know, I originally got into falconry because I didn't know anything about it and I thought it would be good to have actual first-hand experience if I wasn't gonna like it.

Speaking of the falcons, they're doing great!  I started flying the prairie falcon and her training is coming along well.  Yesterday, she circled overhead and climbed a bit before getting her reward.  She's getting steadier in the field and on the whole, I'm looking forward to catching a duck or two with her this winter.  The peregrine's fully feathered now and is just starting to get trained.  He's a playful bird, for sure.  His personality and the prairie's are 180 deg opposites.  She bates away but takes the hood very well- never even scratches at it. He bates to me, lands on the glove and chups but hates the hood.  I carry him from the mews to house and he rows the whole way. She never rows. He picks at his food. She rips it apart with a vengeance. She sits on the edge of the perch calmly, he stands in the middle of it, looking over the edge. And so on.

Wendy- the prairie falcon

The biggest news is that it is raining and the grass is growing.  Just look at the difference in the grass in the above photo versus some of my earlier shots!  We've rec'd 2-4" of rain in the past 3 weeks and it's just great.  I absolutely appreciate the rain more after the drought we went thru.  The thought of it not raining at all is a fearful one!  Let's see some rain pictures!!!

Rain comin' down!

A rain gauge doing its job

Water!

A rainbow at the end of the storm

And now that it's raining, we're stocking up on cattle.  It's possible that we'll have a long summer and be able to graze until Nov.  If so, then we can salvage this season and make a living.  I have 3 trucks coming in today and another 3 tomorrow.  My neighbors are also getting cattle and that caused some excitement the other night.  It had just rained 0.8" and their truck couldn't make it to their pens to unload.  So, they asked if they could store their cows in our pens for the night.  We ended up unloading the truck in the dark, in the rain, in the mud.  And no one complained.

Ships in the night

I originally tried to cut down on my guitar business this summer, but I learned a lesson.  Never turn down work if you can do it.  I've now picked it up again and am stocking up on work.  I'm also in the process of getting a real, actual, stand-alone shop so that I can move out of the house (where I've been working for 11 years).  In addition to giving me a dedicated shop, I can use my existing "power tool building" as a badly needed pigeon loft and I can free up the room I've been using, turning it into a ranch office.  Stay tuned!

Youngest son, Derek, wanted to try rock climbing and so, several weeks ago, we stopped off at REI during a blood transfusion run to ABQ so he could try on kids harnesses.  We ended up buying a Black Diamond Whiz Kid and it arrived this week.  So, of course, it was off to find a suitable rock.  Derek took to it like a monkey to a tree.  We all had fun.  Pictures by David:

Whiz Kid in action

Up the rock!

Welcome back!

Win Some, Lose Some

We got another great rain- 3/10" across the east side of the ranch.  The west is still dry, but the eastern 3/4 has now received nearly 3" of rain in the past few weeks.  That's still way behind, but believe me, we'll take it.  I went out to check on stuff and found this:

Water in the creek, clouds on the horizon

We've gotta cross here!

Water in the creek!!  This really takes a load off the windmills and also helps the cattle spread out and graze different areas.  I have to cross the creek in the 2nd photo, but fortunately, there's a patch of high ground there.  ASAP, hopefully today, I need to bring our skid steer down here and make some road blocks to keep antelope and prairie dog hunters from driving straight down a hill to the right of this photo.  A straight road will just erode like crazy; the correct way down is to zig-zag.  Unfortunately, visitors to the ranch aren't always astute in matters of erosion.  So, I"m gonna block the road.


I drove around the back side of Chavez Mountain and put some salt out back there.  Salt will draw the cattle to that spot and there's some strong grass on the backside of the mountain.  While back there, I took this panoramic photo with my phone camera.  Didn't realize this until I got home, but panoramic view uses a much smaller photo size.  Too bad, 'cause this would look really neat if it filled your screen.

A little further on, I liked this cloud formation but was still on panoramic setting.  Oh well, here it is anyway:

The rain is the "win some".  As for the "lose some" see the little box in the upper right hand corner of this blog.  I've been on a diet since April 25.  Back then, I weighed 177 lbs and even though I felt okay, I looked fat and my dear wife said I was fat.  About that time, I also got a new phone- a Samsung Android- and started looking at apps for it.  One of this was the "MyFitnessPal" app which is neat little online calorie counter.  According to the BMI, I should weigh 140 lb.  Now, I think that's a little low because I'm kind of a stocky guy, but I set 155 lb as a reasonable goal- still a 20 lb weight loss.  For the past 3 months, I've been entering calories and keeping at my recommended calorie count.  At first, I over-estimated my activity level (and we were hiking a bit more then) and gave myself 1800 calories/day.  After awhile, though, I decided I really wasn't that active, recalculated, and now I get 1600/day.   If it's an active day, I can have 1800, but I basically try to keep my calories between 1600-1800.  If I exercise, I get more and MyFitnessPal tells what's what.  Today, I stepped on the scale and was greeted with a "159".  This is the first time in 10-15 years that I've been in the 150's.  Yee-haw!!! 

You know, it really wasn't that hard.  Keeping track of the calories was the key.  I have found that the difference between making the goal and going over is a single glass of juice at breakfast, an ice cream bar, a cookie, a biscuit, 2 tortillas instead of 1 for lunch, and so forth.  It really helps me to just eat consistently.  For breakfast, I have one of two choices- a Clif Bar or ham/eggs/potatoes.  The former is an excellent breakfast, easy to eat, and surprisingly satisfying.  The latter has a few more calories but is good for variety.  Both of these will hold me to lunch.  I can't say the same about other breakfasts, so I just stick with one of these two.  At lunch, I get a serving of this, a serving of that, a salad, and that's it.  I choose my foods a lot more carefully now.  I usually eat 600 calories for lunch which means I have 500 or so left for supper,  If I exercise, I can have more and once every couple of weeks I splurge at Pizza Hut buffet or eat Sunday lunch at the restaurant.   But even then, I don't "pig out" and the next day, I'm back on the program.  Again, it really hasn't been that hard sticking to this plan and there are days where I actually have to eat a little more!  Mostly, after entering my day in MFP, I find that I need some more carbs.   Protein and fat has not been a problem, but I've found that I'm sometimes low on carbs and I've also found that if I don't eat those carbs then the next day, I'll be run down.  That's where the Clif bar is especially handy because it has such a good balance of carbs, protein, and fat.

And so here I am- in the 150's!  Granted, I'm on the deep end and not the shallow end, but the shallow end is in sight.  I think I'll shoot for an honest 150 lbs and then up my caloric intake to 2000/day to see if I hold.  The bad news is that none of my 32W jeans fit any more, and I just bought 5 pair back in early April!!  Maybe our local seamstress can take 'em in?

Finally, I've been working on the hawk house, getting metal panels up and such.  It's still not real pretty, but it's getting there:

Moving along

And remember that ball of fluffy white down that I told you was a peregrine falcon?  Here's the handsome little fellow today:

Hello.  I am a peregrine falcon.

He likes to play

Serious training is going to be starting for him in the next 2 weeks.

Oh, YEAH!!!!

Sunday afternoon.  Over 1.5" of rain across the ranch.

And this was at 6:30.   By 7:30 pm, it was still sprinkling heavily.  More photos and news tomorrow.

Look Ma- Mud!!!

My mother actually does read this blog...


We got over 1" of rain yesterday afternoon and last night!  And it seems to have gone over pretty much the whole ranch, too.  This is great, people!  Can I hear it?  I can't hear you... this is GREAT!!!  Let me hear ya out there now!!!  GREAT!!!!  (I missed my calling- I should've been a rock star).  Well, anyway, here're some pictures.

Mud On The Tires

Puddles of Water

I spent most of yesterday working on guitars.  Here's one that's getting a new bone nut/saddle and a new pickguard.  The customer gets to pick his guard (that's why they're called pick-guards.) 

Pick Your Guard

A Sunburst Top

Just a short note today.  Let's see what trouble the day has in store.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:34)


Yet man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward.
(Job 5:7)

"Man who is born of woman Is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue.
(Job 14:1-2)

Have a GREAT day!

In The Groove

This has been an incredibly busy week.  First, we spent Thurs getting ready for the 58th Annual Sierra Grande Camp Meeting.  This is a Christian camp meeting that's been going on for- surprise!!!- 58 years.  I've been chairman for the past 3 years and have working hard to reverse a downward attendance trend.  When I first started going to the meeting 14 years ago, there were lines 100 yards long at supper and the big tent was full of people.  Attendance fell off quickly shortly afterward and by the time I took over the Chairman role (I like to be called the "Camp Meeting Czar"...:)  ) we were down to 20-25 people at meals and maybe that many at the Sunday service.   I've been advertising more, changing the schedule around to give more free time, involving more local preachers instead of a single "guest star" preacher, and things like that.  This year seemed to be more well-attended and, more importantly, more active.  The people who were there participated much more in setup, discussion, take-down, and so forth.  I did the daily Bible study and preached the closing sermon on Sunday. I'll have some photos when B2 gets back with her camera.

Immediately after the meeting on Sunday B2 and Georgia took off for South Plains College's Camp Bluegrass, leaving me and the boys alone for the week.  On Monday, I met with our lawyer to try to straighten out some issues we're having with our cattle owners.  With that resolved, groceries gotten, and some banking done, it was time to get David's blood tested.  And it was down again, with a hemoglobin of 6.6, which is still better than when we started, but not all that good.  Plus, his platelets were down to 29k.  See the post on "Bad Blood"... So, I scheduled an appointment in ABQ for another transfusion.  Since Mom was gone, I was going to have to take youngest brother Derek along for the ride, too.  We'd be leaving at 5 am for the 4.5 h drive to ABQ.

After doing a little last minute guitar work and getting things ready, it was 10 pm before I made it to bed.  Sometime during the night- about 2 am, I think- I awoke with the smell of skunk in my nostrils.  I went out with the shotgun, but didn't smell it anymore so maybe it was out in the pasture or maybe the dogs were doing their job.  In any case, it was back to bed and I managed another couple of hours of sleep.

Incredibly dry out here

On the drive in, I couldn't help but notice how incredibly dry it is .  The country around Las Vegas is normally green and gorgeous.  It's brown and dead now.  Going non-stop for 234 mi, we made it to ABQ right on time and got David all IV'ed up after a short and uninformative visit with the doctor.  There's just been no progress made since the last visit which is frustrating, of course, but I guess the wheels of medicine move slowly.  Upstairs, we ate lunch while we waited on the blood to be prepared, and finally, about 1 pm, we got started on the actual transfusion.

David was already hard at it with the video games.  These transfusions don't bother him a bit.  This was Derek's first exposure to such, and pretty soon, I had 2 Wii Zombies on my hands.

Wii Zombie-ism Spreads

Me, I was pretty tired.  The place was empty, so I asked one of the nurses if I might lay down in one of the empty chaises and take a nap.  Granted.  I plopped down, reclined, and I was out for most of the transfusion time.  I actually had a great nap and was rested up when David's blood finished.  We left right at rush hour, so I detoured into REI where Derek wanted to look at kid's climbing harnesses.  We spent an hour or so there, found some great kid's backpacks, checked out the harnesses, and then fueled up at Shell and McDonald's.  I'm really watching my calories (and it's paying off), but I needed a Coke for the road.  Armed with Chicken McNuggets, an Angus burger, and a Coke we hit the road for home at 6 pm.

Even though the Suburban is out of the shop, I'm still driving my mother's car- a Mazda Tribute- until I can get it back to Santa Fe, and it's great for quick road trips like this.  It's noisy on the road, but it drives well and gets 26-28 mpg which means that a trip to ABQ and back is $65 instead of $97 in the Suburban or $110 in the pickup.  That starts to add up.

After another non-stop trip, we were home just before 10 pm.  I felt lodgy and bloated after my fat-filled Angus burger and fries, so I loaded up "3:10 To Yuma" on the portable DVD player and hit the exercise bike for an hour.  Then, just as I was fixing to hit the shower at 11:30 pm, David came in with an "accident".  After cleaning that mess up- hydration from his transfusion, I guess- I got a shower and finally hit the sack at 12:30 am, exhausted.

Today, I slept in to 7:30 am, finished up a guitar, did odds and ends around the house and ranch, prepared some stuff for the lawyer, played with the peregrine falcon, and played guitar (fooled around with this one: Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi) a bit.  I feel "caught-up" now.

The Peregrine looks like a Peregrine now!

Tomorrow's another day!

This Just In...

RAIN!!!!

It starts

A few minutes later

Comin' down!

3/4" at the house.  The yard is flooded, the roads have water in the ditch, there's water standing in the creeks. 

Whoo-hoo!!!!

More pictures tomorrow.