Memorial Day

Mr. and Mrs. Sam Beimer

Camp Adair Oregon or Ft. Leonard Wood Missouri

early 1940's - World War II

Dad was headed for Germany with the 70th Infantry

He returned to Taos after WWII and lived there until his death in the late '80s.

Mom lives on in Albuquerque (approaching the 94th).

Vacation Report #1

Having just returned from about two weeks in the Puerto Vallarta area of Mexico I can report, all was well.

Here are some sights from south of the border down Mexico way.

Guayabitos - primarily a location that is frequented by tourists from Mexico. 

It is a beautiful beach, plenty of places to frolic, eat and drink.

Speaking of frolic.  Here's a pineapple drink fashioned by Ramon at the beach club adjacent to our condo.

Hmmmm

And here's the courtyard at Playa Royale in Nuevo Vallarta, where we go twice a year.  Precisely manicured (note the stripes from the lawn mower) a number of those palm trees are holding soon to be ripe coconuts.  That's the Bay of Banderas way out yonder.  Hurricane Bob, that turned in to a tropical depression before arrival, was/is supposed to enter from Bahia Banderas.  

I've always wanted to have a hurricane party!

Mexican sunsets are the best!  The sun is setting over Punta Mita, the home of a Four Seasons and a St. Regis resort. We've not been able to get through the gate to check it out.

Vacation time

Cinco de Mayo

Despite rumors to the contrary from the folks at Best Foods and Hellmans, May 5 has nothing to do with mayonnaise.

And it has little to do with Mexico - other than a battle the Mexicans won against the French in Puebla - and the continuing battle between Corona, Tecate and Dos Equis.

Jay Leno..."This week we celebrate two major holidays. Cinco de Mayo & Sinko de Bin Laden"

It's 5 o'clock somewhere, so drink up!

Congressional Investigation

Why don’t those people quit investigating?   They do nothing to further good government, they only do things to further their own personal ambitions, or those ambitions of their respective supporters, and in the process spend thousands and thousands of our money.

A soon as something happens that attracts media attention, someone in Congress in a blue suit standing at an oak lectern in front of American flags says, “we need to investigate, so we're going to hold hearings”.  Then the poor souls who are charged with running the government are forced into more sleepless nights preparing for stupid questions that have been written by staff for  “The Senator” or “The Member” so he/she can sound somewhat intelligent.

  

There is no way us lowly citizens can ever find out how much money Congress spends “investigating” things.  

They take trips during “work periods” all around the world to “investigate” how people are spending our money – and they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the investigation. 

And, the “investigations” will undoubtedly uncover some dirt under a rock somewhere and here come the cameras again!

We’d be better off if they’d quit investigating and keep that money in the treasury and then shut up!

Here's what it is   sing along!

Prairie Dogs

From Today Show “Animal Tracks” web page… 

These prairie dogs are just chillin’ out in the Arizona sun, looking like they are fending off food coma. The photo was taken by Jane Lyons, an interior designer who dabbles in photography. "I managed to get the shot without them becoming too alarmed and it seems I caught them at a relaxed moment,” the Philadelphia resident told Solent News. "I was really thrilled to have photographed their closeness and very unique charm and personalities."

We have prairie dogs in New Mexico, too. They can be pretty pesky little things that are real problems for horseback riders, highways, airport runways, etc.

But they are cute!

George Maloof, father of Joe, Gavin, George, Phil and Adrienne, told me once his favorite of all the stories I ever did for KOAT-TV’s Big Seven News was a report from a prairie dog village near Espanola.

I stopped by the village on a trip to Taos one day and attempted to get an interview with the Mayor of the Prairie Dog Village, but he was not commenting for TV, or any other media, at the time.

We went about our merry way going from hole to hole looking for folks to talk to, and none of those little creatures would talk. From a distance, they would stand on their front porches and watch the goings on, but they didn’t want to go on camera.

As we drove out of sight, I could hear them exclaim, “Good riddance dear reporter, now leave us alone!”

I did.

Discovery Lands

It is a sad day for US Space Travel. Space Shuttle Discovery has taken her last flight, this one from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral to Dulles Airport near Washington, DC where she will be on display for all to see from now on.

I was there when she took off for the heavens on February 24, 2011, her last mission. I can not tell you how it felt to see her aim for the stars. Here's a photo I took.




And here's a video.


I was about 3 miles away. Notice the communicator from NASA when he says "The shuttle has cleared the tower"...at that point in every mission public comment on the mission switched to Mission Control Houston and the next comment was from officials there.