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Once in a while I do a Where I Write Now blog.  In the past I have gone to a coffee house in the Amish community of New Wilmington in PA or I have taken a few days to stay at a B and B in Confluence.Out here in Chinle I have found it more difficult to get out of town to a place where I can write without the distractions of home.  A new place to inspire.So what a pleasant surprise to find The Coffee House right here in "Wild and Wooly" [...]

If you are tired of reading about the joy of reading stop here.Otherwise consider your own favorite reading places and spaces.Would you, could you in a tree?  Would you could you read a book ......here?Could you there?Could you read a book in the car or at a bar?  Would you could you at the beach?  Or on a plane or in the rain? When my kids were growing up they knew they could get out of a summertime chore with the excuse "But mom I was just going out to the porch swing [...]

Coming from back East I knew about deer mice moving into bluebird houses but I was not prepared for the feathered squatters I have recently met out here on the mesa.  On one of my regular mesa walks with Reena on this barren land, what  I thought was a small hawk- like creature began dive bombing us.  It was the kind of behavior you would expect from a bird trying to keep you away from it's nest and eggs or young. But looking around, where would one build a nest here? It took some more [...]

Have I mentioned before how difficult it is to battle the elements in Chinle and to keep things alive?   The heat, scorching sun and wind and dust attack the environment with ferocity.  In an earlier blog I have whined about this and my own garden (see photo above) but I decided to see what others are doing to help keep green things alive and to protect their own environments.The most common is some shade cloth around fences.But check out this attractive cover.  Note that the entire yard has small evergreens planted around [...]

It helps when the tour guide is your sister-in-law, Nancy Howard but either way Ionian Jewel Tourshttps://www.facebook.com/IonianJewelTours?fref=ts will customize your trip to Italy so that you will feel like you are traveling with a friend, not on a tour.Nancy grew up spending half of every year in her mother's village, Montepone in the hills of Calabria above Soverato in the Catanzarro region of Italy.  She is fluent in Italian and knows all the unique restaurants, inns, and out of the way spots you might never experience.  Best of all she shares colorful stories of [...]

The only thing that seems to grow abundantly in the garden here are weeds.  Pernicious weeds...goat heads like five headed spikes everywhere.  Add to that no rain, lots of wind and dust and HOT sun.  Even the Navajo gardeners are frustrated.  We try to be creative with various water systems, soaker hoses and timers.  And olas the age old Spanish way.  I thought my vegetables all died because of too much sun so I sheltered them with the popular shade cover.  Dead again.  Silly me it was the wind and dust that whipped [...]