Thank goodness God was in control of the rain this year and not congress. During July, August and September we got good rains statewide. Albuquerque also got a pretty good share of this rain fall. Our water table increased several feet even without input from the Rio Grande water flow. Some areas are still dry and needing rain. Albuquerque people, according to this morning’s Albuquerque Journal, used 6 % less water than in 2012….That’s great, however, some of the yards in my neighborhood suffered some until the rains started. Our grass was sure pitiful until it got the rain, that’s for sure. It is still looking pretty good but it is ready for another good shower…. I was talking to a Roswell area cowboy who’s boss sold off most of his cattle due to no grass and the high cost of hay early in the year, suffering a loss on the sale. During the monsoon rainy season their ranch got real good moisture and now the grass is about knee high. He said his boss sure wished he had his cattle back. That’s sad, but it is the nature of ranching, good years have to provide for the bad years…. I really like ranchers and their abilities….They can do more things and do them all well….Seems like all of them can be accountants,  do mechanic work, do carpentry, wield, use their imagination to improve conditions, dig wells, get by on a little of nothing and get a dang old pickup to run many years beyond a normal life span, and get a woman to live on a ranch and wear  old shirts and jeans, work on the ranch, still cook, be a mom and wife and love every minute of it. My hat is off to the American Cowboy…..Some mighty good folks in some lonely places and they love it…..Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Rancher……Pete Hester

Here goes:

Bama over Arkansas by 14 points….Roll Tide, and did they ever, big time. Sorry Razorbacks….

Arizona over Utah by 3…..Arizona is at home and Utah is going to have a let down after winning that shocker last week…Go Wildcats…Arizona Looked good in beating Utah. Good job, Arizona.

Lobos vs Utah State…..Lobos by 1…Lobos will finally get it together.. Uh oh, Utah State did a come to Jesus number on the Lobo’s..I don’t want to recount the score here…ok?

Aggies vs Rice…..Aggies win their first game beating Rice by 7. The pink “glow in the dark” jerseys will shock the Owls into submission, plus the Aggies had a week to rest up for this one…Uh oh, I don’t want recount the score here ok. er. uh, did I just say that. I did, huh…Well, I be dog. What can we try next if “glow in the dark jersey” do not work? We will work on it. Silky pants, maybe….

Wisconsin vs Illinois…..The Badgers win by 14, could be 21…..It was several. Wisconsin did good, ….make that, did well….

Stony Brook has a bye.

Denver and Dallas  both win…Dallas wins, Denver loses…..dag nab it….

Albuquerque Journal, Oct. 17, 2013 by Mike Bush, “Break the faith or stay home” article. Seems like Liberty Thompson, Cuba, New Mexico High School, class valedictorian, will not get to walk with the other seniors with her class on a Saturday’s graduation exercise. That is the Sabbath Day for Liberty and her church, The Seventh Day Adventist. State rules are against changing the graduation date. There are 43 in her graduating class and they are all for her and the change of dates….. Now, in my way of thinking, this is a personal issue between Liberty and God. Quietly, she should resolve the issue herself, staying home if her conscience so dictates or go to school and walk. Involving the community, state board of education, newspapers and what ever else seems to be calling attention to herself and what she wants and not to the schools program. Am I being unfair in that assessment? What do you think?…Pete  ps   She could attend Sunday church with one of her classmates, after all they do serve the same God, just worship Him on different days…..

From New Mexico Wildlife:

Kokanee are land locked salmon. Although not native to the Southwest, , kokanee thrive in some of New Mexico’s deeper and colder plankton producing lakes. In late fall, large schools of four-year old kokanee gather to spawn and die…….A popular method for catching kokanee is snagging, the intentional taking of fish by hooking the body rather than the mouth. Kokanee are the only fish that may be legally snagged, and only during Special Kokanee Snagging Season. If another species is caught by snagging, it must be immediately returned to the water…..Each autumn NMDGF collects millions of kokanee eggs and milt to fertilize eggs and hatch fry. The young fry are used to stock Heron Lake, Navajo Lake, Abiquiu Lake, El Vado Lake and Eagle Nest Lake. Keeping this fishery vibrant and healthy for anglers to enjoy depends on successful collection operations, which is why Heron Lake and Willow Creek are closed Oct. 1 – Nov. 8.  Snagging Season: Oct 1 – Dec 31, Abiquiu Lake, Chama River (check regulations for full locations), Pine River, El Vado Lake, Navajo Lake, and Eagle Nest Lake. Nov. 15 – Dec 31, Heron Lake and Willow Creek…..Bag limit, Kokanee salmon, 12 per day, 24 in possession. General information, call 1-888-248-6866 and online license applications, www.wildlife.state.nm.us….

Sounds like fun, huh? What would you use to snag? I suppose a big old treble hook. And what about that poor old trout you snag on accident that you have to throw back. Reckon it will survive that ordeal? Seems a shame to throw it back for the other fish to eat, huh? But, that’s the rules, throw that sucker back….

I did not know until today that Oreo cookies are addictive. Per todays Albuquerque Journal, Oct. 17, 2013, by Kathleen Megan,  Professor Joseph Schroeder, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Connecticut and some of his students have proven that rats prefer Oreo cookies over cocaine and morphine, proving that high sugar and high fat foods are more addicting than the aforementioned drugs, they say. The rats keep coming back to the cookie jar even after the cookies were removed. And, like me, the rats take the cookies off the cream, eat the cream, then the cookie. I’m an Oreo addict. Sweetie bought some of the double filled Oreo’s the other day and I finished them off in a hurry. She would not buy anymore nor would she let me buy any. However, I stood near a end cap filled with the beautiful cookies and starred for several minutes, reading the labels and salivating. I was looking for an open package but there were none. I did get to appreciate the smell…..I have used some morphine during some surgeries, never any cocaine, but like the rats  its Oreos for me…Pete

I suppose the balloon festival for this year was a great success. Great weather prevailed and they flew most every day I hear. Good job, God, thanks a lot from all the people involved in the event. I don’t go anymore, but all the people who do are happy. The people who don’t go are happy the traffic is gone….But wait, the work on the Paseo Del Norte/I-25 interchange is starting today or tomorrow and will last 14 months….A flyover is being built and it will be nice when it is finished, however, we will endure some suffering for a while until then. That dang river is just in the wrong place, dividing the city and we only have a few choices traveling east and west. Paseo Del Norte is the high speed east west street, or make that was and it will become even faster upon completion of this job….Oh, did you miss me? What, you did not know I had been gone….Well, not gone, gone, but missing a few posting. If I had been posting it would have been about our sorry azz congress and you have probably heard enough about that. What are they thinking…Oh, sorry, they are worried about the Washington Redskins and the damage that is doing. If they decide it will affect them and their paycheck, then they might get to work. If not, then “the rough end will drag and slick end will slide”. Pete

Picks this week:

Bama vs Kentucky….Bama by 21…  Bama wins big…

Arizona vs USC…uh oh, missed it,. played last night…USC won 38 – 31..

Lobos vs Wyoming…..Wyoming favored by 15…I’m picking the lobos by 7…Oh, no, not again….a good game. You cannot lose three fumbles  and recover to win the game. We almost did…

Aggies bye. They did not lose this one.

Wisconsin vs Northwestern….Wisconsin by 3…Wisconsin by several…

Stony Brooks vs Colgate…..Stony Brook by 7..Stony Brook 21 – 3

will up date the records next week…. record 27 – 7 for college  6 – 4 pro

Sometimes during the day yesterday this web site rolled over 500,000 hits for the year. The best year for the site and it seems to still be going strong. Thanks to you folks who come by…some for a very brief visit, others stay and read for a while. I appreciate you and again thanks. Pete

My senior year in High School I drove a school bus. I don’t think that is allowed anymore, but back in days of yore we could do that. Two young cousins rode my bus, one of them was kind of rowdy and rough and the other very nice and polite. One day they started fussing at one another shortly after they got on the bus and would have fought on the bus had I allowed it. But I told them to just settle down until we got to school and then they could settle the argument. They did. I stayed to keep the fight honest and fair and not let it get too rough. Just as soon as the two of them got off the bus they went at it. The polite one was getting the better of the two in the fight and was on top of the rowdy one when the bell rang announcing the start of school. Hearing the bell, the polite one got off the rowdy one and started running to school. The rowdy one got up off the ground, started brushing the dirt off himself and said to me, “I showed him, didn’t I. Pete?” I looked at the kid in amazement wondering how he reached that conclusion. But he did….In his eyes he won that fight because the other kid ran when the school bell rung since he did not want to be late for school. Being at school on time was important to him. The rowdy one felt staying and fighting was the important thing to do even though it appeared to me he was losing and I suppose he did not think he was. I thought he  lost…… Many folks view the world through eyes much different than mine. It is good we see things differently, but sometimes I wonder how they see what they are seeing….I suppose they wonder about my vision as well…. I have often wondered about those two boys and how life has turned out for them. That day, one had a vision from the bottom and the other had a vision from the top….I think I know…We don’t change much, do we?…….Wonder what our congressmen are looking for….Which side do you suppose think they are winning…..Well, I know who is losing……Pete

This week, Bama plays Georgia St…..big rout, Bama by a bunch.  Won

Arizona has a bye

New Mexico plays New Mexico State and the Lobos win by 7. Won

Wisconsin has a bye.

Stony Brook beats Bryant. Won

Dallas hands Denver their first loss. Payton has his first bad day of the season. Losss