Carrizo Spring Trading Post

09/27/2026

Defining Happiness

September 27, 2026 Nogal House Indian Divide, New Mexico Defining Happiness What a lovely title this has! I could write a book on this subject and it certainly deserves a well considered effort to describe. Happiness, waking at daybreak in my bus, the air cool, the linen sheets exquisite, the comfort immense. Watching the first light as it touches the peaks of the Vera Cruz Mountain and makes its walk to the base, the sky a pastel painting of clouds and color....

September 27, 2026 Nogal House Indian Divide, New Mexico Defining Happiness What a lovely title this has! I could write a book on this subject and it certainly deserves a well considered effort to …

04/26/2026

Dust And Smoke

Dust And Smoke A blend of dust and smoke The sky swept white with both Mountains shrouded in the mist Of sand and burning timber The alkali particles coming north From some seventy miles away White Sands coming to see us Whether we want it to or not. The smoke comes off the Gila The Wilderness on fire yet again…...

Dust And Smoke A blend of dust and smoke The sky swept white with both Mountains shrouded in the mist Of sand and burning timber The alkali particles coming north From some seventy miles away White…

11/17/2024

November 17, 2024Nogal HouseIndian Divide, New Mexico A thought thanks to my dear friend, Mary Katherine Rays comment, “We are so lucky to even exist. We need to cherish every day.For Mary Katherine, I Can But Try I am grateful for every single breathAnd express that each dayAs I speak my morning prayer.Every breath…...

November 17, 2024Nogal HouseIndian Divide, New Mexico A thought thanks to my dear friend, Mary Katherine Rays comment, “We are so lucky to even exist. We need to cherish every day.For Mary Katherin…

10/19/2024

An Ode For Ruidoso From here on the rain will never be the same The cumulous clouds will loom a bit closer The towering thunderheads will represent a threat. Those welcome rainstorms will still quench the earth The moist air at daybreak still bring a deep breath The storms will incite an instinctive thrill and some fear But still yet, they will never be the same....

An Ode For Ruidoso From here on the rain will never be the same The cumulous clouds will loom a bit closer The towering thunderheads will represent a threat. Those welcome rainstorms will still que…

10/07/2024

October 7, 2024
Nogal House

A Raw Sense Of Happiness

Suddenly it strikes me, this raw sense of happiness. A crude title? Perhaps, but it is the abrupt realization that I have, at least for the moment, achieved an elusive goal. Not that it hasn’t been present, this sense of serenity and stillness, but it is front and center this morning. In the absence of crisis, with no sense of or requirement for urgency, comes this moment. The air is still, the fire a gentle bed of coals, it’s purpose for the morning already served. Having so recently rebuilt my hearth I now have a place to build my morning fire, even as I am warmed by the rising sun. With but a handful of scrap lumber, such as there is a plentiful supply of, I can boil my tea, heat my wash water and my oatmeal. The joy of the ritual is a gift in itself, and the crackle of the flame a blessing. The waft of smoke from the stovepipe tells me the direction of the wind and even the temper of the day, a barometer without a gage. There are days the smoke falls to the ground and times when the fire won’t even heat. I am mindful of it all.

Forgive me but if you enjoyed the first paragraph please go to my blog, adventureasaconstant.com for the rest of this post. Thank you in advance! I am building my platform once again and there is plenty more to come. Two more books on ready!!!

10/07/2024

October 7, 2024 Nogal House A Raw Sense Of Happiness Suddenly it strikes me, this raw sense of happiness. A crude title? Perhaps, but it is the abrupt realization that I have, at least for the moment, achieved an elusive goal. Not that it hasn’t been present, this sense of serenity and stillness, but it is front and center this morning....

October 7, 2024 Nogal House A Raw Sense Of Happiness Suddenly it strikes me, this raw sense of happiness. A crude title? Perhaps, but it is the abrupt realization that I have, at least for the mome…

10/05/2024

User comments There is a change in the weather A coolness to the breeze On an otherwise warm morning. Something has shifted The season poised to change The feel of things different From just the day before. The birds have come to ground Covering my yard and garden, Three to find the greenhouse Trapped for a moment By walls and windows…...

User comments There is a change in the weather A coolness to the breeze On an otherwise warm morning. Something has shifted The season poised to change The feel of things different From just the da…

10/05/2024

Too timely not to share! I wrote this years ago but nothing much has changed. I am blessed.

A Change in the Weather

There is a change in the weather
A coolness to the breeze
On an otherwise warm morning.
Something has shifted
The season poised to change
The feel of things different
From just the day before.
The birds have come to ground
Covering my yard and garden,
Three to find the greenhouse
Trapped for a moment
By walls and windows
That they cannot comprehend

The wind rises even as I write
As does that restless sense
Of urgency
That so often ruled my life,
If now settled
But restless all the same,
As the heightened emotion
Of instincts long held
Threaten every aspect of security.
Flee she says so clearly
Fly as the birds do
Scatter your accomplishments
Vacate your security
Follow the winds and the seasons
As you always used to do.

It is good fortune for me
That I have a greenhouse and a garden
And that my treasured camper
Is in need of some repairs
Because otherwise
My gallery and plantings
Might languish in failure
In the absence of myself.

09/30/2024

Blogging Again!!!! I am reviving my blog though I have had a steady stream of visitors and readers even in my absence, a heartening affirmation and thank you to everyone who visits. I am posting again so please take a moment if you will.

In 2018 I was yearning to come home but still working full time as we all must do for at least part of our lives. I have since returned home to stay. When I looked back on what I wrote back then I found all the affirmatio9n that I needed to assure me that I chose well.

September 30, 2018
Bohemian Grace II
Coyote Road
Fort Sumner, New Mexico

Spontaneity

It is the spontaneity which wears thin with the years. I am not the same person I was eleven years ago, though I certainly aspire to be her. I am the same in so many ways but the joyful flow of words is altered, strained by the struggles I have allowed into my life.

Might I have taken a different path? Perhaps, I sought it for certain. If I have never looked for the easy way around I have always tried to keep my feet on the best road I could. In so many ways I have succeeded at that but the effort to maintain my balance has still taken its toll.

I remember a moment, many years ago, kneeling in front of the stone hearth on my front porch and questioning my logic. I was building a fire to heat my morning tea and asked myself a question. Would I take another step towards work and worry if I knew the world as it is would soon be altered? If the conventional structure of our lives was to be shattered what good would it be to try to stay abreast of it, at the cost of my very happiness? Why make such a sacrifice as that if in the end it would not matter in the least?

Please visit my blog at adventureasaconstant.com for the rest of my story, and others as well. Thank you in advance. Comments are most welcome!

09/30/2024

September 30, 2018 Bohemian Grace II Coyote Road Fort Sumner, New Mexico Spontaneity It is the spontaneity which wears thin with the years. I am not the same person I was eleven years ago, though I certainly aspire to be her. I am the same in so many ways but the joyful flow of words is altered, strained by the struggles I have allowed into my life....

September 30, 2018 Bohemian Grace II Coyote Road Fort Sumner, New Mexico Spontaneity It is the spontaneity which wears thin with the years. I am not the same person I was eleven years ago, though I…