Snow Bobs

I came in this morning after a final shoveling of the driveway only to find some feline non-domesticatas playing on the upper deck.


I had to shoot through the window screen which is why the pictures look so grainy.

According to the Field Guide to the Sandia Mountains bobcats (Lynx rufus) like these two are the only native short-tailed spotted member of the cat family in the Sandias. They occur at all elevations and in all habitats.

I only managed to get one shot of the both of them together because the victor (or loser) headed off and the loser (or victor) remained behind a few minutes for the salivating paparazzi.


Of note: If you click on the picture above you can see that this cat is sticking out his tongue! Winner or loser, I think that falls into the "taunting" category but I'm not certain whether fines are assessed in this league.

Winding Down the Year

Time moves on and no blogging occurs. Actually, the days between the end of school and Christmas passed in a blur of running errands and getting ready for the holidays.

A trip to Palm Desert on the 21st was unfortunately cancelled. Still, a heavy snow storm that day and over the weekend created some good "burrowing" time at home in front of the fireplace.



This also gave us time to get those holiday cards addressed and packages wrapped.

Christmas came and went with a lot of cooking. I produced probably the best set of green chile, chicken enchiladas that I've ever done, followed by three dozen Lebanese butter cookies and a pan of rum soaked sticky buns. Oh yeah, I'm just Mr. Domestic this year.

After the food coma lifted, houseguests arrived from cold, snowy upstate York. On arrival they found themselves in... yep, you guessed it, cold, snowy New Mexico.

Many people have the impression that because Albuquerque is in the Southwest, its weather must resemble that of say, Phoenix; i.e. winter averages in the high-sixties, low seventies. Not so.

Although we average about 300 days of sunshine per year, central New Mexico also averages about 10-14 inches of snow a year. At the higher elevations (such as our house at 6300 feet), even more snow accumulates.

Of course, this year (because we just moved here no doubt), snowfall thus far is about triple that amount. This means that while there will be no pool-time for the weary travelers, there will also be no sunburn to take back East either. Fewer questions that way.

Holiday Missives

“Ninety bucks for a Christmas tree in New Mexico?” I said. “You must be joking.”

“Nope.” Mr. Tree salesman replied.

“These trees here are imported from a small village in the far mountainous north, where they are cut by hand using only miniature saws so small that it takes the woodcutters, each of whom passes their secret craft down from father to daughter, over six months of constant sawing just to cut through one tree.

“These trees are then carefully loaded onto a special sleigh that is only used to transport one tree each day to the village, and is then destroyed in a ritual burning attended by each and every one of the village’s townsfolk (woodcutters excepted of course).

“These trees are then inspected for their ability to handle a minimum requisite number of ornaments. Each tree is completely decorated with only the finest hand blown glass ornaments, strings of lights and individually hung strands of tinsel, each of which is specially manufactured for this purpose (and each made in different villages, located, of course, far away over the sea).

“These trees are then de-decorated, wrapped in a special twine for shipping of which the secret of making has now been lost to only the village twine-makers, and loaded on specially built trolleys for their trip down the mountain.

“These trees are then loaded on tractor trailer trucks which are specially painted in festive holiday colors, and shipped direct to Albuquerque.”

“Actually,” Mr. Tree salesman confided leaning so close I could smell the pine tar, “I should really be selling them for one hundred and ten dollars, but as it’s only a week before Christmas, I feel sorry for you.

“Don’t you know that in New Mexico everyone gets the tree over the Thanksgiving Weekend? What are you? Buddhist or something?”

Shaken by the rampant consumerism that seems to control the sale of Christmas trees in northeast Albuquerque, I ran for my car and hightailed it east to Edgewood, New Mexico, where I found a very nice Nobel Fir on sale in a lot…

For $35…

Cut by hand, but sans the hype.

Curtain Falls... Bows All Around

At 12:20 p.m. (MST). Finished, finished I am, with my final, final exam.

This is it. I have completed my law degree. I’ll say it again. I’m finished.

I now only require certification from the University of Wisconsin in order to be sworn in to the Wisconsin Bar next month, and then to sit for the New Mexico Bar exam at the end of February.

It has been both a very long and very short two and one-half years.

There were times when I couldn't wait to fall asleep because that was the most enjoyable part of my day. There were other times when I felt awed and inspired as I realized the great opportunities awaiting me; opportunities that I couldn't even imagine in detail, but that I somehow know will be none-the-less entirely the product of my future efforts and desire.

Since May 2003, I have been on a path that I chose deliberately to follow, not knowing where it would ultimately lead, but always believing that the destination was worth reaching. True, I didn't "go to the woods to live" in a literal sense, but I think the metaphor applies to my deliberate choice to return to school full-time.

So, to all of you who care, be you near or far, you're in my thoughts today and I thank you.

I also want you to know that on this Friday afternoon in December…

Elvis... has indeed... left the building.

Quotes Duex...

Some more memorable lawyer lines to ponder. Hmmm.. two posts of movie quotes on the blog? Must be finals week!

"I'm going to tell you something that I learned when I was your age. I'd prepared a case and old man White said to me, "How did you do?" And, uh, I said, "Did my best." And he said, "You're not paid to do your best. You're paid to win." And that's what pays for this office... pays for the pro bono work that we do for the poor... pays for the type of law that you want to practice... pays for my whiskey... pays for your clothes... pays for the leisure we have to sit back and discuss philosophy as we're doing tonight. We're paid to win the case."

“You come in here with a skull full of mush and you leave thinking like a lawyer.”

“Now gentlemen, in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal. I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and of our jury system. That's no ideal to me. That is a living, working reality.”

"Oh, I forgot. You were sick the day they taught law at law school."

"An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned into snakes or the parting of the waters."

"I was your first, you know that, Arthur? I was your first client, you broke cherry on me."

"You ARE the law. Not some book... not the lawyers... not the, a marble statue... or the trappings of the court. See those are just symbols of our desire to be just. They are... they are, in fact, a prayer: a fervent and a frightened prayer. In my religion, they say, "Act as if ye had faith... and faith will be given to you." IF... if we are to have faith in justice, we need only to believe in ourselves. And ACT with justice. See, I believe there is justice in our hearts."

And finally in the category of good advice (present company excluded, of course):

"Oh, sweetheart, you don't need law school. Law school is for people who are boring and ugly and serious. And you, button, are none of those things."

Write that Down...

It must be the impending end of my time in law school but over the past few weeks I've been watching a number of law/lawyer-focused movies.

One of the things I've learned you can do as a 3L is find the time to reinstate the old Netflix subscription.

My choices have ranged from Inherit the Wind to The Verdict, to A Few Good Men, to probably a few you’re less familiar with. They're not all the most amazing movies ever scripted but I'm enjoying the courtroom drama. Not many comedies in this genre for some reason. Oh well, Legally Blond serves just fine.

The thing I enjoy most, however, about seeing lawyers portrayed on film, is that while the courtroom procedure often leaves something to be desired in terms of accuracy, some really great, powerful lines are often delivered. To whit:

"I may be rancid butter but I'm on your side of the bread."

"I strenuously object?" Is that how it works? Hm? "Objection." "Overruled." "Oh, no, no, no. No, I STRENUOUSLY object." "Oh. Well, if you strenuously object then I should take some time to reconsider."

"This is a sales pitch. It's not going to be won by the law, it's going to be won by the lawyers."

"My dad hated lawyers. You might think I became one just to piss him off, but you'd be wrong. Did piss him off so much though that when he heard he fell off a ladder and didn't know who to sue first."

"The truth? I thought we were taking about a court of law. Come on, you've been around long enough to know that a courtroom isn't a place to look for the truth."

Luck with the Morning Cup 'O Joe

7:45 a.m.

Me standing groggily in front of the sliding glass door with a cup of coffee in my hand and no doubt a dazed look on my face.

I notice movement to my left and before you can say "beep, beep" a roadrunner jumps up on the patio wall and poses.

I slowly take a step back and run to get the camera. Amazingly, he was still there on my return and I manage to snap off a few quick pics. He began moving, however, so only the first shot came out clear.


Lucky me. The roadrunner is considered a very lucky talisman by Native Americans and with less than a day before the first of my three exams, I can use all help that comes my way.

This guy has been spotted around the neighborhood on several occasions but I usually don't have a camera at hand to document properly.

Oh, and I even managed to put the coffee cup down without spilling the nectar within. (Yes, I'm an addict but I admit it and they say that admitting you have an addiction is half the battle.)

How fortunate indeed.

If I Had to Do it All Over Again

Even after seven years I wouldn't change a thing.

Well, I'd have made sure to get a taste of the cake!

How do you know when you've met the "one"? One answer is when seven years go by and it feels like just a few weeks and/or several decades have passed. In effect, time ceases to have real meaning.

Truth is, I don't remember what life was like before December 4, 1999, except to note that it wasn't as good by far as it has been these past seven years.

So, Happy Anniversary to us.

Fat Lady Takes a Breath

2:50 p.m. (MST)

The final class ends with the closing of notebook computers and a collective sigh from those assembled. True, there are three exams to go, but as of this moment, not one more class in this particular law student's career.

Hmmm... now what words adequately express my feelings...

"I have just left your fighting sons in Korea. They have met all tests there, and I can report to you without reservation that they are splendid in every way. Those gallant men will remain often in my thoughts and in my prayers always.

And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty.

Good-by."

General Douglas MacArthur Defending
His Conduct of the War in Korea before the
United States Congress in Joint Session
April 19, 1951

Oh yeah!