Well, have you noticed the absence of any football talk lately.Been busy around here…I sure do hate the Mountain West is Breaking up and at the same time rebuilding.We did good this year, huh?…TCU beat Wisconsin, hooray for the Mountain West beating a solid Big Ten team….Great going, and we wish you well TCU in the Big East….Air Force, Mountain West beat Georgia Tech, good job….San Diego State, Mountain West beat Navy, (by the way, ex=Lobo head coach Rocky Long is taking over next year for Brady Hoke who is moving to Michigan),….BYU, Mountain West beat C-USA school UTEP, and BYU is going independent next year….Our lone  Mountain West loss was Utah (going to PAC 10)  to an incoming Mountain West team, presently WAC leader Boise State. So, as a conference we were 4 – 1 in the bowl games…..I think that is pretty good playing…How about them Tigers of Auburn….There’s the SEC and then there is everybody else…Newton is declaring for the NFL…Nick Fairley may declare for the NFL today….Those two will be hard to replace….Mississippi State might be the powerhouse in the SEC next year, what do you think?….Well, it could happen….

Several years ago while visiting Alabama I lashed out at an individual…Within seconds, I regretted those spoken words…No amount of apologize will ever change those words and I wish that I could….So, at this site, I try to control the words that I write and also, to some extent, words that others write. I try to let most comments stand as sent in by the commentors….Hurtful words, cuss words and inappropriate words will not make the site. The shooting in Tucson was sad. I have family there. Thankfully, they were not in attendance of that meeting, but they could have been..I have no knowledge of the shooter’s intentions, reasons or mental condition, but something was bad wrong with the guy….My heartfelt sympathy goes out to those families involved in the shooting and I will not publish anything that remotely resembles sympathy for the shooter…..I just cannot do that….

Censoring Twain = Revising History, Albuquerque Journal, Jan. 10, 2011….Mr. Pitts has a very good article in todays Journal discussing the censorship of Mark Twain and changing the term n—–  to slave….He points out that to change Twain would be in effect be changing history….Twain used the langague of the day in his writings.  . A lot of us would like to say this history did not happen, rewrite it and go on. We could, but that would be more wrong, a lot more wrong, than allowing history to stand as written. The only way to right a wrong is to understand that a wrong happened and keep it from happening again….We know now not to use certain words because they are inappropate and other words can be used that are less sensitive…..Mr. Pitts covers this subject matter very well and I hope you will read the article, but I want to share a couple of paragraphs of that article with you on this web site,….”Huck Finn is a funny, subversive story about a runaway white boy who comes to locate the humanity in a runaway black man and, in the process, vindicates his own. It has always, until now, been regarded as a timeless tale…..But that was before America became an intellectual backwater that would deem it necessary to censor its most celebrated author”….I agree. I hope Mr. Pitts or some respected writer will one day report on “God” being censored….stricken from  reference in our schools and government, etc…..

I have told you guys about my new book coming out, but did I tell you that one of my early painting was used as the cover for the book. Since I made reference to jet aircraft contrails in the book, I thought that one of the painting I did would be suitable for the cover. Turned out pretty good. Here is what it looks like….Pete

ApachesBuffaloSoldiers_cvr1[1] cover    I have some books available at 15.00 each, which includes shipping and handling while present supplies last….Send check or money order to E. V. Hester, P. O. Box 56552, Albuquerque, NM  87187. Allow 2 – 3 weeks for delivery ….

I hope you guys have enjoyed my story on my little white mouse and his friends….They make it all the way to the
White House during the Bush administration….He got a Bureau Directors job out of it and….well, I’ll just let you read it….Bernie_and_Them_Chapter_Nine,                 Bernie_and_Them_Chapter_Ten   and   Bernie_and_Them_Chapter_Eleven

1000 birds  dropping out of the sky?…..You remember the old song, Mountain Dew…..One line goes something like, “the buzzards in the sky get so drunk they can’t fly, from smelling that good old Mountain Dew.” …I just wonder if that could be what happened….We may have to coin a new phrase, “drunk while flying”….Anyway, I hope they can figure it out…Strange, huh….1000 birds just falling out of the sky….really strange….ps…now the fish are dying, the drum fish. Black birds and drum fish…..what is going on in Arkansas? …….I  think we can rule out the mountain dew….That is very amazing…If it was a hail storm for the birds, it would have gotten more than one variety(black bird)…..If it was some type pollution it would have gotten more than one species of fish (drum). I hope the investigative powers in that state soon come up with some answers…

This posting goes back to 2011….Does anyone have an update on this happening? Surely it was not he Mountain Dew? Or was it?

Welcome to 2011, folks. I hope it is a very kind and prosperous year for you. Thank you for spending some of your time with me at this site.  I appreciate it and look forward to writing posts for you again this year. Let me know if you like one of them, ok?  Thanks. …….Are you ready for some FOOTBALL? Roll Tide……

Well, Governor Richardson did at least one thing right in my opinion. No pardon for Billy the Kid…. The Kid was a murderous rascal and I don’t think his atitude ever changed, at least no indication of it.  He certainly did not deserve  a pardon. Had Lew Wallace pardoned him, I think he would have been back behind bars within a very short time. So, you leave the governor’s office on a positive note, Bill….I don’t know if Susanna will give us as much to write about as you have…..Stay in touch…you might try California….or Maine….

Governor Richardson is looking into giving a pardon to Billy the Kid. During the term of NM Territorial Governor Lew Wallace he apparently promised a pardon to Billy in return for his testifying in a murder trial against three men. The Kid wrote Wallace three letters in 1879 volunteering to testify in the murder case if Wallace would annul pending charges against him. It is said that Wallace responded that he had the authority to exempt him from prosecution if he would testify to what he knew in the case. It is said the Kid kept his bargain but Wallace did not.  Wallace did pardon other people in the Lincoln County War. Of course, he did escape while waiting trial for the murder of a man by the name of Brady. During the escape, The Kid killed two deputies, but the pardon does not cover those killings…..Gov. Bill says, maybe yes, maybe no…he is still trying to decide to pardon The Kid or not….Our new Governor, Susana Martinez, says she will not waste her time on such matters……I, for one, am glad this is keeping Gov. Bill busy, at least he is not spending millions or investing state money on some other schemes or such…..Billy the Kid is still a murderer, right? So what’s the point, Governor Richardson?….. But on the other hand, keep thinking about it and leave the running of New Mexico to the incoming Gov. Susana…..

We have plenty of nuts in New Mexico, but then you guys probably already knew that.  For those of you who do not know:

1. Pecans….The state of New Mexico looks like it will be no. 1 in pecan production this year…In the past, Georgia has been no. 1 but it looks like we might surpass them this year if what I read is correct. In the southern part of our state you find many large pecan orchards…I think Las Cruces may be the biggest producer. The 2009 crop was valued at 120 million dollars per AAA/New Mexico. Jan/Feb 2011 issue…

2. Peanuts….Portales has the soil and climate conducive to good peanut production. There is at least one peanut butter plant there and maybe a couple of candy plants close by. Anyway, we buy peanut butter and peanut patties every time we go to Portales. I think we are second to Georgia in peanut production, but we produce a bunch (no pun intended).  AAA of New Mexico in its Jan/Feb issue reports that it takes 540 peanuts to make a 12 ounce jar of peanut butter. Who’s counting?

3. Pistachios….Between Alamogordo and Tularosa there are two huge pistachio farms that are doing quite well. This is the newest nut to New Mexico, native to Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, it has adapted well to our hot, dry climate, cold winters and low humidity. They say Pistachios are not a true nut, but a fruit seed. The fruit is a bitter red and yellow fruit that is discarded and used as mulch for the orchard.  On Highway 54, between Alamogordo and Tularosa, you can sample the ice cream, candy, cookies and wine made from the Pistachios…

4. Pinon….from New Mexico’s state tree cones…They mature every four to seven years, officially nuts from the Pinus edulis pine species are the only nuts that can be called New Mexico pinon nuts. This nut was a food staple for the Southwest American Indians for centuries. Today, Navajo gatherers and vendors sell these nuts along side the roadways of New Mexico. Some local folks gather their own. If you are interested in buying some you may want to contact, David Cuneo, owner of New Mexico Pinon Nut Company at their website,  pinonnuts.com,  for price and availability. He states in the AAA issue of Jan/Feb, 2011 that the pinon nut was the most expensive nut in the world. At the time he made that statement the going rate was 26.00 per pound.

5. Pete….Human nut who loves to eat the above nuts….and more than his share….

So, there you have five of the nuts that you can find in New Mexico……