Birdie's New Mexico Time Machine

Strange fungal beasts...

...no, NOT the boys, the mushrooms!

Just a quickie update from Ranchito Perogi:

The boys hold two of the fungal fruits of our spontaneous mushroom hunting labor. Mr. 11 is holding a freshly picked morel! Morels in August! Unheard of! Our monsoon season is well underway, with heavy rains most afternoons. We actually picked this morel across the street at the public library park. Crazy days.

Mr. 13 is holding a giant puffball, another northeastern New Mexican delicacy. You can cut slices of large puffballs and use them as "bread" for raw sandwiches. They are also delicious cut, sauteed and gently simmered in soup.

We're planning an all-out mushroom hunt this week. Shaggy manes and boletes are in season, in addition to the lovelies above.

Today's (school-wide) field work at Wind River Ranch

Students watch for bison, pronghorn, and elk as we enter the ranch.

Why do I always end up with bus monitor detail?!

What a pretty boy!

I sneak outside the bus - to the screams of the students - to take this shot!

5000 acres of beauty in Mora County.

Time to hit the road once more.

Nine weeks left of school. Nine weeks, not counting next week's Spring Break. Hard to believe I've lasted nearly the entire academic year. I miss writing for fun, miss the pound of foot against pavement, miss time, time, time and space to think and wonder, miss the lack of strict schedule. I suppose I miss just about everything and everyone I know.

I will say this: I discovered I make a damn fine eighth grade teacher. And perhaps in saying this - 'cause these teenagers are crazy, man, crazy - I am saying I can pretty much do anything.

Life near the ghost towns

My son's friend picks up a hopper in Loma Parda. The ghost town used to be called "Sodom on the Mora" as it housed the brothels and saloons that serviced Fort Union's over-worked calvary. Today she rests in ruins. The Mora River doesn't spill her secrets.