I've recently read The Fabric of Sin, the latest entry in the Merrily Watkins series by Phil Rickman.  This series is highly recommended to the discerning reader.  Here is my review that I posted on Amazon.com:

If someone like Phil Rickman had been my history teacher in high school, I probably would have got better grades and an earlier interest in what may be the most fascinating subject of all. The point is, he does meticulous research and has the ability to make it come alive for the reader. Merrily's Border Country is steeped in ancient mysteries that can only be speculated about; so much is shrouded in the depths of time. This time out we have the Knights Templar and their connection with present day Freemasonry. Also there is a reference to the writer, M. R. James, without whose wonderful ghost stories many of us would have been cheated out of the experience of shivering in our beds late at night, searching the shadows and thinking, “There's no such thing as ghosts. Really there isn't...”

But this certainly isn't some musty old tome written by an academic. This is the ninth (and you will see the significance of that number in the story) adventure with Merrily Watkins, her daughter Jane and her extended family. At this point poor Merrily is very stressed and who wouldn't be in her situation? Her position as Diocesan Exorcist is in jeopardy with the distinct possibility of losing it and having to take on multiple parishes much like the circuit riding preachers of old in the U.S. That, coupled with the gruesome things she has seen, would be enough to drive the most stable of us over the edge. But we are seeing her eventually becoming toughened by her experiences. She may still have self doubts but she won't be pushed around, even by her superiors.

Helping in her investigation into the strange events surrounding the Master House in Garway are her lover, Lol Robinson and her daughter Jane. In the course of the book we see Jane growing up, taking charge of her life and Lol reaching a possible turning point in his career.

I think this really is the best book of the series with Rickman throwing in the occasional biting social commentary. The murder mystery makes me think of Raymond Chandler who said that he did not write whodunits but rather was concerned with the reasons that people commit the act. Whodunit becomes whydunit and the motive in this one, when it is finally revealed, is absolutely shocking.

Rickman is one of a group of really exceptional writers in the U.K. who include Kate Charles, Andrew Taylor, Stephen Bishop, Deborah Crombie and others who never seem to make our best seller lists which says something about the state of the publishing industry in our country. He is the best of the bunch and, while the temptation is to compare him with other writers like Chandler, Hammett and McBain, his writing is unique. There just is no one else like him. Unfortunately, we have to wait until next year for the next chapter in this superior series.

In mid October we took our last  trip of the year, a couple of days to Taos, New Mexico, to look for changing foliage which had been very elusive due to warm weather.  While there we saw one of the most spectacular sights in our state, the Rio Grande (pronounced Ree-yo Grahnd-ay for you non New Mexicans) Gorge.  Picture driving along on fairly flat land for miles and then suddenly arriving at  a long bridge over a huge split in the earth.  Far down at the bottom you can see the Rio Grande winding its way through the Gorge.  You can read more about it here.  My wife tried to take pictures from as many angles as possible to try to give you an idea of the depth and length of this rift in the Earth.

We also drove what is called The Enchanted Circle starting at Taos, winding throught the towns of Questa, Red River, Eagle Nest and Angel Fire, eventually arriving back at the starting point.  We did see some beautiful foliage between Questa and Red River but, between Angel Fire and Taos the branches were quite bare.

Just outside of Angel Fire, in the Moreno Valley, is the DAV Vietnam Memorial built on the convergence of what is believed to be ley lines, primeval lines of force.  Read more about the Memorial and its creator here.

On the way home we got a bit of a surprise.  When we drove into Taos the pass was mostly green.  After two very cold nights, suddenly there was an explosion of color.  My wife snapped as many pictures as possible. 

Since then, Taos has become very cold and there has been a pretty good snowfall.  This is a good thing as the area depends on the annual influx of skiers.  As for us, we'll just wait for warmer weather before we go back.

Maybe June...

In September we returned to Bloomington, New Mexico to stay at the Best Western there.  It's a really great motel, one of the best we have ever stayed in.  The location is really great as you can go West to Farmington and the Navajo Nation or North into Colorado.  This time we chose to go back to Durango, Colorado and then further North to Silverton.  There is a train that runs from Durango to Silverton but this time we drove.  The mountain driving is a bit scary as there are no guard rails.  Some of the trees are 150 feet tall and you can see the tops of them off to the side of the road.  My wife is really not crazy about heights so we probably won't be doing that again.  Next time we'll take the train.

It has been rather warm so we didn't see as much changing foliage until we reached Silverton and, in fact, it was the first day that they had seen any cool Fall weather at that location.  But Colorado is still beautiful in any season.  It's very hard to take a bad picture so there a lot of them to be posted here.

It seems that I have been neglecting this blog since last May.  I don't know where the time has gone.  I always tell people that, if you want to get really, really busy, retire.

Anyhow, we have had quite a few trips so, in addition to some new pics of the most beautiful cat in the world, I'm going to add an album for our Las Cruces Trip.  We went there in April to visit the Southern part of our state.  Among the  sites we saw were the Ranch and Heritage museum, the Mexican city of Palomas and the White Sands National Monument.

Note: The horse sculpture at the museum is not painted.  It is colored with tiny beads.

All my life I have been hearing about White Sands but I never knew what it really was.  It's the world's largest above ground deposit of gypsum which normally is only found underground.  It made for some really spectacular pictures.  You can read more about it here.

Next entry will be about our trip to Northwest New Mexico and Colorado.

There was a story on CNN about a massive study which concluded that being only a little overweight can increase your chance of dying prematurely.  It concludes that, in order to be  fit, you have to have attained your perfect body weight.

Let's see...perfect body weight...absolutely no exposure to second hand smoke...exercise a lot...no smoking of any kind...eat very little red meat...avoid stress.  Wait a minute, avoid stress?  With all these don'ts and the amount of stress that most people feel at work, what good is losing weight?

These studies will drive us all crazy.  One said that beer is good for you but, oh-oh, it has calories!  Another says that, if we worry about dying, we will die sooner.  Of course, if you worry that being overweight can make you die prematurely...well, you see where that leads.

I turned 68 this year and I damn sure am not at my perfect body weight.  In fact, I am over enough to be called obese.  Now, there is a word that the medical community loves.  Notice how it sounds like "beast."  Just another way to control all our waking hours, making us exercise a lot, worry about what we are eating and, in general, feel bad about ourselves.

The only study I really like is the one that says that laughing a lot can extend life.  Hell, I can do that easily.  I saw something in an email the other day that made me laugh.  It said, "Eat right, exercise and die anyway." 

So I think I'll take my wife out for a good meal tonight and, when we come back put a comedy in the DVD player.  Then I will light up a good cigar to enjoy with the movie.  If, for some reason, I don't make it past tomorrow I will have had a very good night.

Somehow, I think I might be around a little longer...

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Speaking of good movies, the TNT channel just showed a very good one.  The Ron Clark Story is about a teacher who refuses to believe that children from the inner city cannot be taught.  The fact is, the man is still at it, planning a special academy in Atlanta.  You can read about it at this link.  Way to go, Mr. Clark.  A real hero.