Our culture…

As demonstrated in our social center, the Golden Spur Saloon (I have for the moment ignored ranchers and cowboys, though the Spur’s site doesn’t). Click or double to enlarge either photo. Below, my late mentor Floyd Mansell in our front yard in 1986, with son Brandon, who now has his own kids, and a morning’s …

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Seton and Vadim Gorbatov

Vadim acknowledged Seton as an influence before he ever visited us in NM. When a Korean publisher asked him to do a version of Seton’s Lobo, the story of a youthful Seton’s capture of a notorious cattle- killing wolf in late 19th century New Mexico, we sent background images to him in Moscow. He in …

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St Patrick’s at the Spur

Cowboy-Spanish St Paddy’s at the bar, with Montana’s excellent band “86’d Again”(thank God Linda at least did not have a green beard.) From top: Montana Pettis and Luke Martin (hat); Mary Jean Zamora Rains and Catherine Aragon tend bar; Chelsea Armstrong takes video as Bobby (Bad Dog) Contreras, owner Darryl Pettis (Montana’s father) and ranch …

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Bar 2, Q C # 5

Says Lib, “The thing is, we’re multicultural–we just don’t know it.” Mmmyes. Karaoke night at the Spur. Cody Henderson — his father is Lee, who owns the ranch we hunt on, and his mother was born Lorraine Lopez — as Cupid, about to sing “Landslide” with Linda (Rael) Mansell, born in Taos and married into …

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Where I Live: Querencia Country Part 1

This is either overdue or redundant. But when I sent some of these to not very “Anonymous” commenter- in- chief Lane Batot, to satisfy his curiosity about the country, he thought I should blog them. The physical “structure” of the land, and its use patterns, will be utterly familiar to Westerners but perhaps a bit …

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