I got up early on a recent Sunday for my morning walk and came upon a small herd of deer, grazing in the near-dowtown Thomas Macione Park. I hailed cars traveling up Marcy Street to try to alert them of their approach to the deer. Several drivers stopped and took photos with their cell phones.

I ran back to my house and grabbed my camera, returning in time to catch the group of seven deer grazing in a neighbor's front yard. The sun was coming up and the herd was becoming restless, and as they walked up Hillside Avenue, I became concerned for their safety and cautiously herded them up Harkin's Lane to an open carport, through which they scrambled up the hill and into greener and safer pastures in Estancia Primera.



I have a question and some advice for all readers of The New Mexican who share a household with a wife and a cat: Has your wife come to love the cat more than she loves you?

If so, I urge the cultivation of the following habits: Every two weeks or so, present your wife with a bird carcass or some mouse guts; each morning, pull out some of your hair and sprinkle it on the furniture; if you're outdoors and begin to feel sick to the stomach, go indoors and throw up on the sofa: when no one else is around, see how much upholstery you can destroy; in the deep of the night, pierce the silence with a hideous, bone-chilling wail, signifying your demand to be fed instantly.

Is there a better way to win back a lady?





At this moment, we have an opportunity to rectify one of America's worst problems — increasing homelessness. Homelessness could easily double in the coming year, which promises to be a tough one for our economy, marked by massive layoffs. An appalling number of families with children are already homeless. An $800 billion-plus stimulus package is about to be voted into reality.

If a measly 1 percent were used to build new or to enlarge existing homeless shelters, not one person in America need ever sleep without a roof overhead. These would be shelters with counseling services Consider how many thousands of well-paying construction jobs this would create, to say nothing of counseling positions. A national abomination could be ended.

We must contact congressional representatives, the White House, and anyone with influence as quickly as possible to promote this stimulus-package provision.



Española is not the most famous city in New Mexico, but it does have some features that other places might like to emulate. For as long as I've lived here (12-plus years), El Paragua Restaurant has supplied the city's soup kitchen, a popular place these days, with a huge kettle of its wonderful soup.

The Española Valley Fiber Arts Building on Paseo de Oñate now is one of the biggest art centers in Northern New Mexico, offering classes in weaving, dying, spinning, knitting and all other kinds of handiwork.

The Garden Club of Española has been partly responsible for the upkeep of various spots, and as the impetus for the Plaza makeover, and for replacing or planting trees, shrubs, etc., throughout the city. Churches, the Crisis Center, etc., too many to include here, are doing great things also. Thank God, there are still some things that work and some places that are beautiful!



I would like to thank the local (Los Alamos and Santa Fe) businesses and the community for their efforts during the recent search and rescue of the lost snowboarder at Pajarito Mountain Ski Area. The support was incredible, and I think that is part of what makes New Mexico such a unique and special place.



Our city councilors need to wake up! They complain about the shortage of water and hike our water rates to pump water into Santa Fe. Yet they approve a 92-room hotel and more low-income housing permits. More building and less food on the table?



I went shopping at Smith's on Cerrillos after cashing a check for $600, and I lost my wallet. Gerardo Sustaita, a security guard at Smith's, found my wallet and returned it, containing my $600. Smith's is lucky to have such a wonderful, honest employee, and I am even luckier that there are still good and honest people like Gerardo alive in this sometimes not-so-honest world.





The 2007 New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey shows a decrease in use of methamphetamine and cocaine by high school students. The bad news is that inhalant and heroin use are up, and use of pain killers is alarming. "Just Say No" and fear-based messages are common in New Mexico schools. But research finds both strategies are ineffective in helping young people make good decisions in real-life situations. Negative consequences of drug use are real, but dialogue between adults and youth must be based on facts, not fear.

For more information on effective drug education or to get a free copy of the made-in-New Mexico DVD "Just4Teens: Let's Talk about Meth and Other Drugs," please go to www.LetsTalkNM.org.







Planning for whom?

I was in Rio Rancho the other day at the new Wal-Mart superstore. As I was walking through the aisles, I started wondering: What ever happened to the planned Wal-Mart superstore for Santa Fe? Then I was driving out to the community college and asked myself why isn't there an easy, four-lane lane road to get there? Why do I have to drive on a road that can hardly support two lanes of traffic? Then I asked: Who are our planners serving?





It is great that The Screen is fighting to stay alive! It is a great venue and perhaps I could offer some simple advice that could help it prosper more in the future:

(1) Embrace the industry standard, that concession sales are needed to supplement ticket sales; end the current "zero-tolerance" policy on popcorn.

2) Make The Screen more accessible by placing visible signage on local streets.



It is always sad when we must acknowledge that myths, like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny are just that, myths. Now it is time to acknowledge that the concept 'growth is good' is a myth.

I hope we can learn from nature. The piñons are dying from lack of water and overcrowding. The forests are burning because there are too many new trees. Our trees and our children's playing fields are dead or dying from lack of water.

As we see from nature, it is not a question of grow-or-die, but rather, grow-and-die!

The people who live in Santa Fe are making heroic efforts to conserve water. Still the city and county keep approving water-consuming projects and issuing building permits. Cancer is uncontrolled growth!




It certainly is hard to get used to pay-for-parking, after all of these years of free parking at Sanbusco Market Center. Recently, someone in On Your Feet gleefully announced that parking was free for the day. I said to whoever was listening, that in the last couple of weeks I had run into the store whenever downtown, to see if further reductions had been taken on shoes I had been coveting. On separate occasions, I had incurred three $16 parking tickets, and once, a machine had eaten my $5 bill and given me no change for only 10 minutes of parking. My bargains, therefore, had been negated.

Sanbusco owner Joe Schepps was immediately notified by a concerned employee and came right over. He thanked me for my customer loyalty and apologized for my parking woes. He insisted I take $40 to cover expenses. His generosity and kindness will surely not be forgotten.