Spring in the Land of Enchantment: A Flash of Orange

Land of Enchantment 3

(Image: Wikipedia)

As with many places in the world, Springtime in the Land of Enchantment involves changeable weather. There was snow in May and now hot (30 C/85 F) weather in June. Plus the previously-mentioned Spring winds. Add in the odd thunderstorm and a few tornadoes here and there and it gets interesting. It will get hotter, of course, as Spring advances to Summer.

The trees are fresh-looking now but will start getting browner soon. The real rainy season locally comes later in the Summer, with a true monsoon pattern. Then any greenery not previously burnt to a crisp in wildfires will freshen again. The flowers in the garden gave a colourful display due to the previous month's moisture but will now need watering to survive the coming hot weather.

The hummingbirds (Black Chinned/ Archilocus alexandri) usually return by the middle of April. They were delayed somewhat by the cold and snow, but were buzzing in front of the dining room window by the end of the month. They clearly remember that the Mad Scientist's household puts out a feeder every year and duly remind us if we are late. The cats enjoy the presence of the hummers, while the birds ignore the cats completely. All seem happy enough with the arrangement.

We were watching the momentarily vacant feeder while discussing plans with another family member. There was a brilliant flash of orange and black at the feeder, which startled and stunned us both briefly. Then the latent twitcher in Us blurted out 'Bullock's Oriole' (Icterus bullockii)! The sun caught the bird full on the glorious sunset yellow-orange of its breast, set off by the surrounding black markings. They are occasional visitors to the area, but not real residents. Previously We've only seen them as distant bright spots in the trees; never so close up.The poor Oriole was too large for the hummingbird feeder, although they do eat flower nectar when they can. He quickly realised he couldn't get anything out of the feeder and flew off. The bird book (you knew We had one didn't you?) was consulted to verify the sighting. Undeniably, splendidly, goldenly Bullock!

What nice punctuation to a Spring day in the Land of Enchantment.

http://www.newmexico.org/

http://www.newmexico.gov/

Budget recipe of the day: http://notecook.com/soup/new-mexican-green-chile-stew/

Cleveland: The Best Things In Life Really Are Here!

So Forbes Magazine has recently rated Cleveland, Ohio as 'America's Most Miserable City' . But anyone who has lived in Cleveland knows that The Best Things In Life Are Here!

Cleveland, Ohio is certainly not a city for wimps. Yes, it does have very hard winters. It's located on what is often called 'The North Coast' of the US. Situated on Lake Erie, the weather is indeed harsh. Icy winds blow down nearly unobstructed from the Arctic. But people bundle up, the streets are cleared as soon as possible and life goes on.

The summers are what one would expect on the Great Lakes: hot, humid and grey. Plenty of thunderstorms and the occasional tornado watch or alert. Shops do a brisk trade in air conditioners, raincoats and umbrellas. It's good for business.

A valid complaint is the high crime rate. Cleveland has a population running just under 500,000 (down from a 1950 high of about 900,000). What city of that size in the US doesn't have a high crime rate? New Orleans, Louisiana (about 300,000) and Camden, New Jersey (about 80,000) both have higer crime rates at last count. It's not ideal of course. People and the public safety agencies do their best.

There is high unemployment in Cleveland; just under 9 percent. Formerly an industrial powerhouse (steel and manufacturing) it is now part of the American 'Rust Belt'. Those jobs have moved to the Third World. They are gradually being replaced by jobs in the service and high tech sectors, such as manufacture of medical equipment and biomedical research.

The professional sports teams are considered 'lackluster'. Fair enough, really. The Browns, Indians and Cavaliers (football, baseball, basketball) aren't at the top of their respective leagues. But games are well attended; 2009 attendance for Browns football games totalled over 500,000. That's more than the population of Cleveland and higher than for many other NFL teams. Similarly, attendance at Indians baseball games totalled over 1.5 million and attendance at Cavs basketball games (the season isn't over yet) stands at over 500,000, which is *second* in the NBA.

So why would anyone want to live in Cleveland (as people still do)? Simple: a lot of world-class facililties. There is world-class healthcare and research at the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals and many more. Music? The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Chamber Music Society, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra and numerous clubs and music groups. Art? The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Art and plenty of galleries. Not forgetting the other museums and gardens in the University Circle area. And the glorious West Side Market, a foodie's delight!

Cleveland is often referred to as the 'Mistake On The Lake'. After all, how many cities have their river (the Cuyahoga) catch on fire? Really. Happened in 1969. The phrase 'The Best Things In Life Are Here' was coined in 1975 after Cleveland was emerging from one of those 'bad phases'.This of course was offset by 'Cleveland: You've Got To Be Tough', also from the 1970s. They are both still true. That's one of Cleveland's charms to those who know and love it.

As a city, Cleveland has its share of problems. However it's not a bad place in which to be miserable.

http://www.positivelycleveland.com/

http://www.city.cleveland.oh.us/

http://www.plaindealer.com/

http://www.westsidemarket.org/

The Land of Enchantment: 2

This being a desert, it doesn't rain much. Otherwise it wouldn't be a desert, would it? Most years about 11 inches/28 centimetres descend upon Our locality. However, that rainfall comes during the monsoon season in the summer. It is a true monsoon pattern, something We've always associated with tropical settings. The anvil-shaped thunderclouds (cumulonimbus anybody?) form over the mountains every afternoon after a day of blazing heat. Eventually they let go with a lot of noise and enough rain to cause flooding. Despite the fact this has been happening every summer for centuries, local government hasn't caught on yet. Storm drainage in town is still inadequate. We are fortunate though. Our street slopes down to a large arroyo which used to be a river bed anyway. All that water just rushes past the front garden (why yes, it does happen to be gravel, thank you for asking) and ends up right where it feels at home. We will only start to worry when the arroyo fills up. The people who live at the *bottom* of the arroyo will worry sooner than that.

It also frequently gets windy in the Land of Enchantment. Wind speeds can range from a gentle breeze right up to hurricane level. Any wind that doesn't blow small dogs or children off their feet is considered a gentle breeze.There are actually two specific windy seasons. The Spring Winds last from March until September. The Autumn Winds go from September through March.

People are often surprised to find that it also snows here in the Land of Enchantment. The Rocky Mountains (and various offshoots) run through the state; no mystery there. Not to mention it is also the home of the Continental Divide. Those of you who aren't smarter than a 5th-grader can look that one up. There are several good ski areas whose snowfall can be measured in metres. It's usually dry enough for decent powder and there's plenty of sun. Unfortunately, a certain number of tourist skiiers from the Nether Regions (the flat parts of the country) end up needing medical attention due to the altitude. People don't seem to associate mountains with heights. Strange, isn't it?

www.skinewmexico.com/

Budget recipes of the day:

http://notecook.com/soup/southwestern-cooking-posole/
http://notecook.com/bread/southwestern-cooking-sopaipillas-fried-bread/

The Land of Enchantment 1

Possessing genes acquired from a long line of northern and central Europeans, The Mad Scientist has a definite preference for cooler climes. A short stint of hot weather, preferably spent in a beautiful tropical resort, doesn't come amiss of course. But as the temperature climbs, The Mad Scientist tends to wilt and become more slothlike than usual.

So Our friends find it amusing that We now reside in the desert. More specifically in a place often known as 'The Land of Enchantment'. There are deserts, mountains, volcanoes and not a lot of water.

Some aspects of this Enchanted Land are worth examining.

It does have a varied landscape with a lot of interesting geology. There are mountains, deserts, dunes, plains and badlands. It also has a local culture whereby several tons of that geology, in the guise of gravel, comprise a front (and often back) garden. To be fair this isn't everyone's idea of a garden. Chunks of lava, not from the local volcanoes, and boulders often substitute for the gravel. A rock garden is literally that: rocks and not much else.

The Land of Enchantment has a history going back thousands of years: Native American settlements, the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s, various groups coming during and after the American Civil war and the more recent influx of people from Southeast Asia. It's the only US state that keeps disappearing.

Despite the fact the US claimed/took the territory from Mexico in 1846, many Americans think The Land of Enchantment is a foreign country. In some ways it still is. Often when booking an internal flight here, airlines have asked for Our passport; this was long before any security issues made it a requirement. When phoning a US government agency for a grant application for scientific research, upon giving Our (American) university address, the sender said such grants were never given to foreign institutions. If the US government doesn't know where this place is, We can't expect anyone else to either.

http://www.nmmagazine.com/50missing.php

http://www.newmexico.org/

Budget recipe of the day:http://notecook.com/appetizers/dips/southwest-cooking-basic-guacamole/

Ruby and the visitor

The Mad Scientist's household usually includes a cat or two. The current contingent consists of the Senior Diva Ruby (about 8 years old) and the Junior Diva Jasper, aka Jazzy-Purr (about 16 months old). They are both indoor cats, except when they've been watching 'Prison Break' and decide to have another go. We have provided space for birdwatching at the dining room window. The birdfeeders hung up outside are changed seasonally. April through September it is a hummingbird feeder; the rest of the year a seed feeder for everyone else. They are well patronised. Always enough to keep the felines amused.

They do the typical cat thing of crouching and 'chattering' when they spot someone at the feeder. Eventually their instincts get the better of them and they often pounce at the window as well. The birds don't mind; they know they are safe behind the double glazing. The larger birds attract more attention. The cats sit up, ears forward and don't move. When we saw Ruby in that 'freeze' the other day, we assumed a crow or mourning dove was outside. But no large corvids/columbids to be had. She then ran to a living room window on the side of the house. Same attention. Of course we followed, but still no birds. Ruby then even stood up on her hind legs to get a better view. Rare behaviour on her part. Finally we spotted what she had seen minutes ago: one of the wild cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus sp) that come round from time to time. They are the colour of the gravel that often passes for a front garden locally, making them harder to see. Ruby must have thought we were utter dolts not to have seen the rabbit. It moved on eventually and Ruby resumed her twitcher status at the dining room window.

Budget recipe of the day: http://notecook.com/main-course/chicken/spicy-chicken-burgers/

When High Tech is Low Class

The Mad Scientist lives in a society that could easily be deemed 'high tech'. This blog was written on (or, rather, with the help of) a computer (old and cheap) and has been published by another computer (undoubtedly newer and more expensive). The 'latest' of just about anything technical can be had by those with enough money or patience to queue up for it. High tech companies just love those insane 'early adopters' who *must* HAVE those expensive new toys. We (using the royal 'we' here, of course) generally aren't among that group for a host of reasons.

By 'We' is meant the human inhabitants of the household. The cats aren't counted for this purpose. The feline interest in high tech is predictably limited to: the fridge (food), the microwave (food), the computer (lap time as opposed to laptop time) and the television (the nature programmes). They lead simple lives, catered to 24/7 by the paw-challenged among us. No one has yet caught a cat queuing up overnight for anything. They have more sense.

While We are not Luddites, there is a limit to how much 'hitech' We need in our personal life. Some things are necessary, such as advanced medical equipment, which saves lives and reduces costs. A decent communication network, modern aircraft etc are needed and welcomed. We have never been especially thrilled with flying, but the thought of flying in something made of metal, cloth and glue (like many early planes) is even less tempting.

In our daily personal life, there are choices to be made about hitech anything. So, The Mad Scientist doesn't use a superslick hitech phone for two reasons. The first one is that We really *don't* need any more voices in our head. There is enough noise in there already. Adding more precious/annoying ring tones and incessant chattering won't decrease the entropy of the universe. We like a quiet life. The second reason is that the Mad Scientist has a defect in close vision, which requires a lot of magnification for reading. The microscreens on those hitech phones are useless for anyone with low or no vision. The adverts show the user reading a book on the tiny screens. At the level of magnification We require, only one word could be visible at a time. Not a lot of use really.

Because of the switch to digital TV in the US (finally; other countries did that some time ago), the purchase of a new model was deemed necessary. The old set was nearly 20 years old and its idea of 'colour' no longer meshed with ours. The new TV has about 25 ports on the back to plug things in. We are using one of those ports for the antenna. There aren't 24 other things in the house that need to be connected to the telly. While it is hitech indeed, We just don't need all of it. It goes on, tunes to the desired programming, adjusts colour, picture width and volume when asked and switches off. Works fine! Life is good.

Buy that hitech toy if you must. Just be prepared for it go obsolete that same day. The cats won't care in any case >^;^<

AL

Budget recipe of the day: http://notecook.com/salads/cabbage-salad-2/

Dealing with the recession the easy way :)

The Mad Scientist hasn't had any trouble dealing with the recession. Why is that, you might wonder (or you might not)? Very simple answer: The Mad Scientist has little or no money to lose sleep over. Strangely enough, it makes life during the Recession very easy. Nothing to lose, nothing to worry about! A small retirement fund, which hasn't lost any value so far. Some unknown amount hamstered away in Social Security. No mortgage (the house is paid for), no student loans (already paid off) and perhaps most important, no credit card debt beyond what can be paid in a month or two at most.

A catastrophic illness (and catastrophic hospital bill to go with) wiped out all the savings a couple of years ago, so nothing losing value there either. It really does make for a quiet life. Of course it means working well past the usual 'retirement' age, but that had always been the plan. Back in the day, people worked until they dropped dead in the field or at the bench. Now people are being forced back into that pattern because of economic stresses. Having intended to do that all along means The Mad Scientist has one less stress in life. Being a writer should ensure employability for a while. Yes, it's tiresome always looking for the next bit of work but better than phreaking over diminishing investments.

Trying to keep costs down is a lifelong game for the Mad Scientist. Tips on saving money will appear from time to time in 'A Mad Scientist's View'. Watch this space!



Budget recipe of the day: http://notecook.com/bread/breadmaker-chile-bread/