When Billy was not quite three, when my dad’s folks lived in Dodge City, before Dad was born, Billy was outside playing with a neighborhood boy. The neighbor boy had a gun. In whatever they were doing, there were bullets on the ground, and the boy told Billy to pick up some of them....
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The sun is falling, in flight from the blue haze in the east The heat is broken and light has softened- tender hues suffuse the sky and gild the white house walls in gold A careless breeze ferries about a fragrance of family in food- cornbread and chicken, buttery cheesy noodles, a savory gravy,...
Read more →I had an internal crisis this week that was a good wake-up call in a few areas. I received a phishing email very early Thursday morning that claimed that a hacker had accessed my hard drive through a compromised email account, and that the intruder had planted malware on my computer that would share...
Read more →“Welcome to NorthSouth Airlines. How can I help you?” “Good morning. I would like to get a single round-trip ticket to Seattle.” “Ahh, okay- for what dates?” “Leaving here on January 14th, and returning on the 23rd.” “This is for a minor? I see that you have a minor here with you.” “No- this...
Read more →It’s funny what sticks with you over the years. When I was a freshman at Eldorado High School, unsure and unconfident, I remember one fall evening sitting out on the big rock by the east parking lot waiting for a ride home. It was following an evening tryout for the school’s basketball teams. It...
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When I went to bed last night, I was considering a morning road trip, just to get out of the house a bit with the camera, with some hopes I might find some lovely snowy scene to photograph. I wasn’t committed, but it sounded like a nice morning pursuit. When I awoke around 6...
Read more →Spoiler Alert: Not intending to give the show away, I do provide descriptions here that do explain some of the plot of “The Good Place”. Read on if that is okay with you. If you haven’t watched the show yet, it is excellent, and I’d encourage you to check it out. One of my...
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For several weekends, I have toyed with the thought of visiting the ruins at the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, which is located southeast of Albuquerque down by Mountainair. Tim at work had told me about them a few years ago, and my dad had mentioned we had probably visited them in the past,...
Read more →It’s a basic principle in Christian theology, at least within Reformation churches, that there is a grand gulf between God’s holiness and our fallen, corrupted souls. It was a common refrain in the Evangelical Explosion materials I learned in my teens, and sewn up front into the basic Four Spiritual Laws tract so many...
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“He had a peace of mind I couldn’t find in Rocketown And when I reached down inside me I could feel the emptiness What was his mission Where was he going Why was his heart light Always glowing All I was missing He stood there holding What was his secret Could I know it”...
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I wanted to go ahead and post this Sean Tucker video today as perhaps an encouragement to myself for one day down the road- probably sooner than later- when I am questioning my investment in creative enterprises. But I also wanted to post it for anyone who has hobbies- for anyone who puts in...
Read more →“Hi Alex- how is your head?” Alex is a small nine year-old boy who likes to talk about his runny noses and his itchy ears. He looks at me through thick round glasses so that his stare is with gigantic fixed brown eyes. His eyes are moist, though, and I see shiny rails beneath...
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On Saturday, September 29th, Betty Rhodus passed away. Betty was a big presence in the lives of the Weltons, starting back in the late 70’s when Dad moved us across town from the bustling Juan Tabo and Copper area to a house in a new, largely undeveloped swath in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights. Our new...
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The 2018 Cubs ended their post-season run as soon as it began last night with a 2-1 13-inning chess match Wild Card loss to the visiting Colorado Rockies. The last game of the season for the Cubs was like 39 of the 163 other games they played this year, with the Cubs scoring 1...
Read more →Tonight I decided it was time to go to a photography meetup group activity here in town. The timing seemed right because I had been a “member” of this particular group for over a year, which involved me watching posts about member events on the meetup site for a year and never attending anything....
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