Over the weekend, drove to Pietown for the annual Pietown Pie Festival. I don’t know if it’s the altitude (Pietown is right on the contiental divide), the desert air, or the buckets of lard, or maybe all three, but the citizens of this desolate rural patch of high desert produce some of the best pies known to man. At least outside of New Mexico. We always talk to people here who have never heard of Pietown or it’s primal importance in pie making, eating, judging and eating. But someone gets it, judging from all the different license plates on cars parked on the side of the highway. This year we had some great blueberry and pinon nut slices and took home a mayberry pie, which H is still enjoying. Also had some amazing bbq and the horned toad race went down to the wire. A few pics are in the Fall Gallery. Sorry i didn’t take more, we were busy eating pie.
Pie-lot Episode Leave a comment
Scramblers vs. Tinker Belles Leave a comment
Pre-season scrimmage starts Fall season
H’s scramblers saw their first on field action of the Fall on Friday night. The Tinker Belles, an under-6 years old girls team, invited the scramblers to a pre-season scrimmage at NMSU’s intramural fields. The action started off with both teams looking a bit tentative until everyone got loose and started advancing the ball. The scramblers made some deep forays into the Tinker Belle zone, culminating with Henry’s breakaway sprint down the middle for his first goal. Behind 1-0, the TB’s were on their heels when Henry struck again, this time making it 2 – 0. Lashing back, the TB’s notched their own strike to make it 2 - 1. The game went back and forth, with Henry adding another two goals. Everyone was having too much fun to keep score by that point. Since the TB’s were hosting a hot dog cookout, everyone congratulated one another on a good game and hit the hot dog and root beer line. Anyway, check out the Summer Gallery for more picks of the scrimmage, plus some pics of the 2009 Hatch Chile Festival.
Hank is overcome by the aroma of roasting chiles at the Hatch Chile Festival Leave a comment
First Day of School Leave a comment
He just wants to look smart
Only 12 more grades to go
Hank goes to kindergarten. A little nervous on his first day. Ursula and Anthony from his roadrunners pre-k class will also be attending University Hills near campus, so that makes him feel better. Â I didn’t see any evidence of kindergarten cholo/gang activity, a big plus right there. The new being-on-time morning regimen is going to take some getting used to. Â It’s almost like we have to start school again, too. Â We’re pretty excited to get him into the dual-language program and many of the kids are already fluent in Spanish, and we’ll be learning English too. Â The playground is a hoot. Sometimes i forget how poquito H is until he’s shoulder to shoulder with the other five year olds.
Anyways, the Hankarazzi have been busy recording this momentous occasion, including his first practice with his new soccer team, The Scramblers. More pics coming soon.
Birthday Diary Leave a comment
The gracious host guarding the goods
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Henry’s party came off pretty well despite the usual crazy winds. Had a great time with the parents and all the kids seemd to enjoy the festivities. On Friday we went out with the Pierards to Katana, Henry’s current fave eatery because of the culinary pyrotechnics. This eruption means sure destruction for the fried rice fields in the plains below:Â
More party time pics coming up on Saturday in Hanks Mayday gallery.
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Here’s Hank in the Huachuca Mountains in April when he’s just four years old. Don’t know if you can see the peanut gallery of wild turkeys behind him, they’re sort of hidden in the trees. He’s five today!
Big #5 coming up Leave a comment
Somehow, by some random cosmic accident, H is about to reach the age of 5 without burning down the house, causing a lawsuit, or creating any other natural or unnatural calamities (that we know of). But he’s going to give it one more try on Saturday when we host a big birthday party for his Hankness. We hope to have pics up and maybe some viddy of the shindig. Pierards will be there, and a whole hungry locust swarm of Hank’s classmates.
Slow Food Leave a comment
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It was H’s turn to cook last Monday, and he went with a can of black beans and some rice for dinner. A couple more of shots of Top Chef at the end of the Winter 2008 gallery.
Santa Fe Holiday Leave a comment
We just got back from the holiday in Santa Fe. Had a great time rediscovering the fun of a white christmas. SF was pretty well blanketed all week, and i’m deeply embarrassed that i never removed our pair of x-country skis from the roof rack. Even more embarrassed that i went nuts building my own ski carriers for the car. I guess i was so proud of them i just couldn’t bear to remove the skis. C did graciously allow me a day off to go downhill skiing, which remarkably was injury-free.
We did, however, enjoy a train ride on the Santa Fe Southern railway. The SFSR does private tourists trips on the 120 year old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe line. This excursion had a children’s story hour theme, which was made tolerable by the wise inclusion of a restored 1920’s era bar and cocktail car. The trip was a lot of fun if a little chaotic since we shared the line with the new Rail Runner commuter line between SF and Belen, NM. This meant long pauses on the tracks as scheduled Rail Runner lines routed through. This would have been okay, except that the cars were unheated (we did find some musty blankets in the baggage loft). The general air of amtrak-style entropy was completed by the apparent Art School refugees who were manning the bar and other critical services. The MFA candidate manning the bar was dressed like a cross between Arlo Guthrie and one of the characters that pops up in the cornfield on Hee Haw. Still, it was a lot of fun and the kids all appeared happy.
So, if you have time, take a look at the Winter 2008 gallery for more pics of the Snow Miser.