“What is it!?”
Photo Credit Kristi Welton-Kidder

Today was a good “Turn down the noise” day after the last few days of worldwide heaviness.

For me, it started with some errands, which I am not prone to do on a Saturday morning, and then led into an afternoon of some research for an upcoming trip while watching or listening to Lobo sports. The Lobo baseball team continued to display its quest for an identity after it lost its first game of the day’s double header to Holy Cross. The Lobo men’s basketball team then knocked off Air Force in a a very close and good game in the Pit. And after that, the Lobo baseball team used a rally in its nightcap game to beat Holy Cross and move to 2-5 on the young year. It is a tough start for the baseball team, but the coach and his staff are new, and they deserve ample time to put their stamp on the UNM program.

The highlight of the day, though, was joining my sister and her husband (and their two doggies) for a walk in the Alameda bisque late afternoon. As we watched the terrain slip into golden hour and enjoyed just walking in the cool air by the river, we talked about life, and the Ukraine situation, and the joy of getting outside for a while on a New Mexico winter day.

And while we walked, I scanned the trees, looking for the mythical creature, knowing they were there somewhere, because I had seen photos of them others had shared.

I sprinkled our conversation with a revelation that I hoped to see one of these tree-lodging critters, and not more than 30 or 40 yards past the place of my declaration, my sister looked left, into the golden light weaving through upreaching limbs of riverside trees, and spotted a furry blob among them.

We investigated more intently from a distance, and decided we had, immediately, actually found one of these mythical bosque beasts asleep near the sky.

The porcupine dozed in a ball near the top of some thin limbs standing near the river.

And with that, we decided our day out was blessed, and that the time rejuvenated our minds and hearts, and we made our way to El Bruno’s afterwards to pick up some enchilada meals for dinner.

It was a fine evening.