MAGE MUSIC: All In Good Time

MAGE MUSIC: All In Good Time: The Mage musician's first notes begin to weave the spell.  It becomes harder and harder for the listener to focus on the guitar’s individual...

Jimmy Jaramillo RIP

I just got back from the memorial service for Jimmy Jaramillo.  He was a personal friend of of mine for nearly 20 years.  He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather.  Referred to during the service and elsewhere as a hero, Jimmy was a role model for many both in his civilian life and his position with the Catron County Sheriffs Department.  Jimmy could cook up a mean batch of refried beans, and he seemed to get a lot out of scaring me with a flash of lights from his patrol car when he recognized my car on the road.

There were about 400 people at the memorial, and of course there was a large law enforcement presence.  In addition to prayers and eulogies, the formal honor guard brought in the ash urn, performed the ritual salutes and the flag folding and presentation.  There was a three volley gun salute, a last radio call, and then bagpipes. 

A lot of of our most comforting funeral/memorial traditions have old, old origins. The custom of wearing unadorned black clothing for mourning dates back at least to the Roman Empire. The singing of sad songs (country style around here) comes from the ancient Greece threnody (a song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person). In ancient Rome families carried masks in the likeness of the deceased in the funeral procession - today we use photographs. The gun salute custom originates from the European dynastic wars, where three shots were fired into the air to signal that battle could resume after a break for removing the dead and wounded. Bagpipes, too, are associated with warfare; Scottish warriors used musical instruments to intimidate their English adversaries as early as the 14th century - and we all know that there is something about that particular sound that bypasses the thinking brain and goes directly to the emotional centers.  Even the tradition of post-memorial food is from ancient Greece’s perídeipnon, a dinner after the burial.

Amazing Grace, played on the bagpipes, is a shot to the heart no matter what your beliefs. You don’t even have to be that familiar with the lyrics to feel it as a spiritual anthem when it’s performed as an instrumental as it was today. Just about my favorite version of Amazing Grace is performed by Walela (featuring Rita Coolidge) and is sung in Cherokee. And yeah, there are bagpipes in the background.

Good bye Jimmy, we will miss you.

52 WEEKS TO PREPAREDNESS - Week 7

WEEK #7

Follow this for painless preparedness that will get you going on the path to being ready for catastrophic events and that, at the end of the year, will leave you in the best position to thrive in the event of any emergency.

You can do this! The cost is spread out over a full year, plus you will have a year to work out your storage.

Food Storage:  6 lbs of jam
Extra Item:  20 lbs of oats

72 Hour Kit   Flashlight and AM/FM radio with extra batteries (wrap all electronic items in two separate layers of aluminum foil if you are concerned about the risk of EMP damage)

Family Prep: Clear brush, debris and trees to 30’ from your home.

Catron County Water Coalition: San Augustin Water Still At Risk

Catron County Water Coalition: San Augustin Water Still At Risk: Blogmaster opinion:  This February 12, 2013 Albuquerque Journal article shows us that the San Augustin water grab isn't over.  We are now s...

52 WEEKS TO PREPAREDNESS - Week 6

WEEK #6

Follow this for painless preparedness that will get you going on the path to being ready for catastrophic events and that, at the end of the year, will leave you in the best position to thrive in the event of any emergency.

You can do this! The cost is spread out over a full year, plus you will have a year to work out your storage.

Food Storage:  8 cans of vegetables
Extra Item: 30 lbs of rice

Family Prep: Make sure your house number is large and visible for Emergency Responders to see. Call your County Office to make sure they have the correct house number. Make sure all family members know their address and how to give directions on how to get there. Call your local police department and ask if your home telephone number matches to what they have for your address. Make sure their directions to your house are correct with the enhance 911 system. Notify your local police of any peculiar directions or special needs.

Spiritual Horsemanship - project development: Paean to a Good Mare

Spiritual Horsemanship - project development: Paean to a Good Mare: In memory of Suletta HCC (*Sukuris x HCC Rusletta)  1983-2013.     Spiritual Horsemanship is so much more than a mere horse-human partnership...

Book report: Book lover's tech mystery

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan

It's got a glow-in-the-dark cover - that alone should be reason enough to get this book. You can make all kinds of neat (temporary) designs by shining a flashlight over the front or back cover, which is really cool considering that if you don't know about it you won't think to turn off the lights for some play time (or you might turn off the lights and be freaked out about that glowing rectangle on the table, like I was!).

But seriously (sort of) this book is also great to read - I really liked it.  I even understood it, including the geeky parts.

The primary location:  San Francisco, a strange, dusty bookstore owned by one Mr. Penumbra.  Penumbra means partial shadow, especially when talking about eclipses. Hmmm.  What is the significance here?  You'll have to read the book to find out.

Secondary locations:  The Google campus in California, a book repository sunk into the bedrock of Manhattan, a knitting museum in Berkeley, an antiquities warehouse in Texas.

Mix together: A secret society, a team of talented friends with just the right skills, and a quest to find the clues and to break the code that could be the answer to immortality... or maybe at least to discover if there is any message in the code at all.

A fast read, great entertainment, some thought provoking moments.  Plus it's inspired me to play around with programming again.

Thumbs up!