Obama-nation

It's much better than it sounds!

From the "Low Concept" Department at Slate.com

It's A Hit!

Early indications are that you like the bumper stickers. In the Netherlands, especially! Love you, Anke! In addition to those, and the US, we've even sold to Australia.

Biggest seller so far is the Galgo Espanol. Did I mention we love you, Anke? :-) Followed by Basenji, and Borzoi. So... where's the Whippet folks? Greyhounds? Longdogs? Salukis?

See them all here. They'll be available on T-Shirts soon, as well, and Margaret will be coming up with new designs, too. Check it often.

Still More Birding Images.

Circus Cyaneus. What a great name for our old friend the Northern Harrier, (formerly Marsh Hawk.) We've gotten lots and lots of images of Harriers in New Mexico because they're probably the most numerous of the birds of prey here. Big birds anyway. They're always around every field we take the dogs to. We kind of caught this one by surprise when we were out east of the Floridas looking at property. I saw her- females are brown, and larger than the mostly blue/grey males- in the distance, moving our way, so I stopped the car and waited. The top image was at the instant she noticed us and veered away.

This image was taken a second later, and really shows the aerodynamics of the body. The Peterson Guide describes Harriers as "slim hawks with slim wings, long tails.... flight low, languid, gliding..." I enjoy watching them, as they're always hunting, watching the ground for voles, which is their main prey. You can always tell the Harrier by the large white rump patch, clearly visible above.

As I mentioned in a previous post, this particular trip to New Mexico has been particularly rich in viewing birds of prey, both large and small. Just from memory:

• Bald Eagle
• Golden Eagle
• Northern Harrier
• Ferruginous Hawk
• Red Tailed Hawk
• Zone Tailed Hawk... (maybe; briefly over the car, and I remember it was dark, with a black and white tail)
• Cooper's Hawk and Sharpshinned Hawk
• Peregrine Falcon, and
• Kestrel.

..and probably more, but it's hard, sometimes, to get a positive ID on a bird sitting on a yucca when you're driving by on the interstate at 75mph ;-)

Someday, I'll write about how I got so into amateur birding.

No, They Mean the Pecans.

The MLBPA was getting nervous. (That will require a little bit of thought) ;-)

Subliminal Bleg.

Lotta stuff gotta happen, before this can happen. Jackrabbits everywhere. Buy stuff!

Good Veterinarians, Good Eats.

Rally, I mean Money Pit, is recovering down in El Paso at Crossroads Animal Clinic. We took her in this afternoon, and met Dr. Jim Koschmann, who's the closest thing we've met to Jim Radcliffe, the wonder vet, back in the East. He explained the procedure he would use to re-attach the achilles tendon to the heel bone. We like being treated like we're not stupid.

Dr. Koschmann called later this evening to tell us that the surgery was complete and Rally was resting, and that she'd "done quite a job in there". There was more damage than just the tendon, but he got it all together and stitched it up, although to hear him describe the procedure it sounded more like he was making a rug on a loom! And she'll have an external fixator holding everything steady for the next 6 - 8 weeks. Robodog.


The best part about the timing of this little errand to El Paso was that we were able to stop in La Mesa, NM and have lunch at a place that had been highly recommended by local friends- HT Val Koeppler- and also by the Sterns, of Road Food fame. Chope's Bar and Cafe is a true "hole-in-the-wall" gem. Chiles rule there, and their rellenos are their specialty. Very lightly breaded, and deepfried, in a combination plate with enchiladas, beans, and the best taco I think I've ever had. Magnifique! And, as always in this part of the country... lots of green chiles. Rumor has it that former Dallas Cowboys head coach, Tom Landry, used to fly to El Paso so he could eat at Chope's. The cheerleaders, too. They swear it's true. It's on my keepers list.

British Invasion

In the last couple of hours we've had blog visitors from England, Scotland, and Ireland. They arrived from a message board on this very cool British website. Not being a member, I don't have access to the message that linked to our blog, but they seemed to spend time looking at the Desert Hare Classic posts and picture.

Interesting website, covering all things "hunting" in the UK.. of particular interest: Lurchers, and Lamping. Return the favor, and check it out.

UPDATE: The Hunting Life website has been added to our link list.