Smokey Bear

Smokey Bear is my favorite and I am lucky to live where he was found! 

The old timers still remember finding him and his trip to fame.

The town is called Capitan as well as the mountains where the small cub was found. The tiny cub was found clinging to a tree and the firefighters rescued him.  Due to the bandages on his feet where he was burned, he was named "Hot-foot Teddy."  He was renamed Smokey Bear and became the symbol of the Forest Service and fire prevention.

They had started an ad campaign in 1944 and Smokey became the living symbol of that.  He lived in the national zoo in D.C. to the ripe old age of 26.

Windows to the Past

I took these photos on our day trip to Lincoln and Capitan a couple of weeks ago.

I do sense the past closer in some places, and this is absolutely one of them....

If not for the pavement, you would swear you could see a horses and buggys....

Turtle 2

Well, look what was in the street.  Yep another turtle.  This one was by the truck this morning.  He is smaller than the other.  He looks like a two year old v. a 3 or 4 year old like the other.  He was quite active and insistant about being put down.  Maybe Speedy is a good name for this one.....

His markings are different on his shell.  The recent rains have brought them out.  I wouldn't want to see him squished in the street.  So...It looks as if we are becoming a turtle nursery.

Art

Here is creativity! He is cute and friendly even with the horns.

Decorated blue gate....

Strange Tree July 2010

This guy has grown alot so far.  I am a bit suprised considering that we chopped the second trunk limb off and tried to dig him up.  He recovered nicely.

RAIN

Yesterday we got a TON of rain!  Our guage read 1.9 inches this morning.  It rained slow and steady.  It brought us a visitor.

We had the door open to get the fresh scent of the rain and cooled air and looked who popped in?

I haven't seen a toad (of the four legged variety) in years!  He was a bright green I didn't want the flash in his eyes so the photo is kinda dark.  I am very happy he was out.

Name the Turtle!

So we have a new pet.  I found this little guy in the middle of the street. 

He is about half grown.  I think he is about 3 or 4 years old.  He is a box turtle and we have decided that we THINK it is a boy box turtle.

Here he is wet so you can see his pretty markings.  His eyes are not a discernable color yet so it is hard to tell if it is a male or female.  However with the long tail and a bit of orange on his front legs we think boy.

We need a name for him now.  Please leave comments and name suggestions!!

Thanks!

U.S. Post Office Lincoln, N. M.

I am sure I have different things that interest me, as I said yesterday.  I am loving this old post office.

It seems tangible items are becoming a thing of memory, letters, photos, all now are ephemera.  Not so a generation ago.

I love seeing these still in use.

The brass door emblazoned with eagles have watched many decades come and go.  Lincoln is a snapshot of a different era.  A lazy Sunday easily transports you back, where the only ambient noise is the faint buzzing of insects.

Billy the Kid, Lincoln NM

I received a phone call where I was told about my boggy blog....

Unfortunately, I haven't kept up as well as I have wanted lately.  However; we did take a drive in the mountains on the Fourth of July.  What better way to commerate than to visit Lincoln, home of the famous Lincoln County War.  It was a brilliant day and a beautiful trip.  This mosaic was actually on the Hubbard museum up in Ruidoso, but it is as good of a picture as any of Billy.

This is of the Torreon tower in Lincoln where the settlers would hole up and protect themselves from Indian attacks.

I first went to Lincoln a s a child and have photos of my sister and myself on top of this.  They don't let you in anymore, but it is two stories, those are rifle holes you see. 

This structure has always been my favorite in the town.  Sure, the bullet hole in the wall of the court house is riviting....I won't re-hash the war here, but suffice it to say it is worth the trip.  There are so many names from history that are alive in these mountains, Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Susan McSween-(cattle queen), Geronimo, Victorio, General John J. Black Jack Pershing, Lew Wallace to name a few.