The groundhog didn't see his shadow so we have six more weeks of winter. Now isn't that great!! And why, when I drove into Socorro this morning, were gas prices 10 cents higher than yesterday? Is there a holiday coming up that I don't know about, or a gas crisis that hasn't been ballyhooed across the country. All I see in my news online is endless Romney-Gringrich garbage, and Facebook articles, none of which I understand or care about reading. In fact, from the few headlines I have read, I may just take myself out of Facebook once again. Way too much information out there for predators to take advantage of for various reasons.

Anyway, that's the way I see things right now.

A week ago yesterday evening, I went to a fabulous musical presentation at Tech. It was called RHYTHMIC CIRCUS, a group of tap dancers and musicians from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Eleven or twelve in all, full of energy and fun. I laughed so much I was crying at some points in the show. It was a great mixture of dancing, music, singing, soliloquies, and just plain fun. If any of you ever see it advertised, make sure you get a ticket and go laugh your way through the show.

The following day after the show, a week ago from today, I drove out to Datil to deliver some books to the library. Driving back, I took some photos of historical markers, and other scenes of the road. The Plains of San Agustin are between Datil and Magdalena. Anne told me several years ago that many believe that a UFO crashed on them in the fifties and there was a lot of investigation into that rumor...

Also located on the Plains is the VLA - the Very Large Array, a group of huge receivers, on train tracks so they can be moved around the area. They are listening for radio waves in the universe. This picture isn't really to good, but at least you can see them...

On the south side of the road, the mountains had snow...

and on the north side of the road there is none...

I stopped in Magdalena...

and there I had a wonderful lunch at Mary Mac's. Good quiche and salad. I had a good visit with the owner, whose restaurant used to be in Datil. She was telling me about the Writer's Workshop on the 25th being held at the restaurant. Steve Havill will be the teacher. It is an all-day affair. I signed up for it. Steve is my favorite Southwest mystery writer, as some of you may know. So I am very excited to be able to attend it.

Magdalena, as the sign says, was a major cattle center, as well as having silver mines and other ores. Ranchers would drive their cattle from the ranches all over the area to the rail head. In some of my pictures, railroads tracks can be seen. That train no longer exists, and most of the track has been covered over, but there are still a few, as well as the remains of small bridges built over the many arroyos along the way. There are also several ghost towns in the area, which I plan on visiting at some point.

Just outside Magdalena is a historical sign documenting the Magdalena Fault...

Yes, there is a fault line here, and some of the professors at Tech are seismologists who go all over the world tracking earthquakes. There is even a huge magma area about thirty miles north of Socorro. And I was told that we have earthquakes here all the time which are seldom felt - 3.0 ones.

Coming back into Socorro, I was tickled by this McDonald's sign...

For those who wouldn't know, California is California Street, not the state. And McDonald's definitely had a hard time with placing their signs in Socorro. Coming in from Lemitar going south on I25, there is a McD's sign saying "McDonald's - five miles" when in fact it is only one mile away. Coming north from Las Cruces on I 25, the McD's sign says, "McD's - 1 mile", when in fact it is about 5 miles. I think that someone must have been smoking peyote when those signs were placed!

I want to share with you some things that I received from my sister and my nephew, Will, when I returned from San Diego after New Year's. Marty is a quite accomplished artist, working in multi-media, and she let me pick one of her works of art all of which I just love...

It is called "WONDER". She also gave me a remembrance of Molokai, a piece of decorated driftwood, which I placed in the arms of Kokopeli for safe keeping...

My nephew Will builds the most wonderful benches and shelves from old pieces of lumber. He also restores old picture frames, some of which he has made as mirrors. Then he paints them wonderful bright colors. He gave me this blue bench, which I put in my bedroom...

You can find his work on Etsy...
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SquareNailFurniture?ref=seller_info

Last Monday our book group met and discussed SARAH'S KEY, a book I really liked, but it made some people very uncomfortable because of the content. Yesterday I met with the lunch group and had my first green chili sauce. I was very happy that I asked for it on the side!!!

I have been trying to get in some walking, and also working outside around the house. Lots of limbs and brush from the trees, not to mention that when the house got new gutters, the old ones were just thrown outside. Same with all the pipes when the new toilet was installed. I have them piled all together, and Matilda and I will take them to the metal pile at the landfill next week. Recycling around here is very limited and I know some people who take their stuff up to Albuquerque. We do have someone who collects newspaper and mixed paper, and I took mine to them today in Socorro.

I am almost finished with my taxes with the exception of one piece of paper I need that should have been sent out before the 31st of January. I am now harassing the company!!! I want to get my taxes sent to Deaver's Tax Service in Elkton with the hope that when I get there they will be finished and I may even have a refund coming! Now wouldn't that be nice.

This little farm village of Lemitar also has its share of crime, and in the paper on Wednesday, there was a story about six or seven dogs being shot. Not feral dogs, but pets, all of them on their own property. This apparently has been going on since mid-December, with the latest killing happening a week or so ago. I really have a hard time understanding this kind of thing. Then when I was at the post office, I mentioned that I had to run back home before going into Socorro, because I had left my door unlocked. And Janna told me that definitely I should keep my door locked all the time, as one of her customers had been robbed three weeks before when they left their door unlocked while they left for just a short time. All jewelry and all the guns were taken, along with other things. It is believed that the robbers knew the owners, as the dogs didn't attack them. And like everywhere else in the country, Socorro is having a field day arresting people for drugs. Some things never change, regardless of where one lives.

There are blue skies outside, and it is cool. But I am holding off turning on my gas and electric heaters for the time being.

Good movies that I have watched, from Netflix, streaming and using DVD's...AMELIA (about Amelia Earhardt); A LONG WALK; and OLDER THAN AMERICA (a very wonderful Sundance film, but also very sad). I have finished my fourth book of Steve Havill's, starting from the beginning of his series - Posadas County Mysteries. Last night I started THE BOOK THIEF, which is what our book group will be discussing at the end of the month.

Peace to all of you.
I love you,
Sally