Columns

Middle of Nowhere: Taos Pueblo

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View of the Taos Pueblo. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

One of the buildings in the Taos Pueblo. While it may appear to be one structure, it is actually made up of many housing units that share common walls. The buildings at the Pueblo are made entirely of adobe. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

 

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post

The middle of nowhere can be deceiving.

The phrase seems to conjure up places no one knows about or at least very few. As a result, it is easy to assume places described as the “middle of nowhere” are locations cloaked in obscurity. But that Read More

TALES OF OUR TIMES: Muster More Joshua Chamberlains And General Gordons

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Tales of Our Times
By JOHN BARTLIT
New Mexico Citizens
for Clean Air & Water
 
Muster More Joshua Chamberlains And General Gordons
 
On this July 4th, our nation remains in a civil war of issue advocacy.
The words fired grow less civil each year. Partisan vitriol splits the news as did rifle shots at Gettysburg.
The Civil War of 1861-1865 is rich with lessons for our time. Much can be learned from the leadership of army volunteer Joshua L. Chamberlain of Maine, who rose to the rank of general in the Union Army.
Chamberlain, like President Lincoln, had a sharp sense of larger things. His
Read More

Living Well Los Alamos: Tis The Season For Canning

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Living Well Los Alamos
By HELEN IDZOREK
Los Alamos

Pressure Canner Care and Maintenance

Tis the season for canning! Whether you are planning to can homemade applesauce, salsa from garden tomatoes or apricots from your fruit trees, well maintained equipment is one key to successful food preservation. This is especially true of pressure canners. 

To begin, check any rubber gaskets for cracks. Rubber that has dried out, cracked or broken can result in a loose seal and not being able to reach the appropriate pressure. New gaskets can be purchased from the manufacturer or at our local hardware Read More

Home Country By Slim Randles: An American Thing

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Home Country

By SLIM RANDLES

We all watched as the flag came by. It was the first thing in the parade, of course. Great big one, carried by two of the kids from the ROTC at the high school. The bands followed, along with the mounted patrol, the ski patrol in their summer-weight jackets, the float with the princesses on it, and the local kids leading dogs and cats – some rather reluctantly – on leashes.

For some of us, the Fourth of July parade is a chance to see just how much the local kids have grown over the past year. For others, it’s a chance to see something that is really ours. This is our valley. This is our Read More

Mr. Pierotti And The Anniversary

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Stainless steel cream and sugar set 7-year-old Kim Smith purchased at Pierotti’s Flower and Gift Shop. Courtesy photo

 

By KIM SMITH-NILSSON
Redwood City, Calif.
(Formerly of Los Alamos)

I had forgotten the anniversary. As I lay in bed the night before, I heard my parents wish each other a “Happy Anniversary” from the other room, and my heart dropped.

Even at 7 years old, weren’t you supposed to do something for the people who mostly just made your life work? They expected nothing, of course, but my little ears picked up the words and my little brain kept me awake, and I decided that

Read More

Snodgrass: Great Opera Is Coming To Your Neighborhood … Some Thoughts On What To Expect

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BEYOND TAILGATING As a part of a major new upgrade that has transformed much of the area around the main entrance to the Santa Fe Opera, a new patio behind the box office will offer picnic suppers with tables for diners. Photo by Roger Snodgrass/ladailypost.com

 

By ROGER SNODGRASS
Los Alamos Daily Post

With less than a week to go to opening night Friday, July 3, you can almost feel the joy wriggling in the first lively notes of the overture to Gaetano Donizetti’s Daughter of the Regiment. Next, Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic masterpiece Rigoletto lights up the stage on Saturday.

So, it’s about time Read More

Smart Design With Suzette: The Future Of Design

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Bechtel’s environmental classroom – Smith College A Living Building. Courtesy photo
 

Smart Design With Suzette

By SUZETTE FOX
The Future of Design

In reading an article recently about design ideas that matter, I was blown away. All roads lead in the direction of resiliency – not just sustainability, but designing and building for the next hundred years. Architects, designers and developers are creating innovations into the next century. Pretty cool stuff.

Buildings That Produce Their Own Energy

Architect Eric Corey Freed feels that the typical new building is an energy Read More

Pastor Granillo: All Powerful Access

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Pastor RAUL GRANILLO
Los Alamos

Billy Sunday once said, “If you are strangers to prayer you are strangers to power.”

I confess that I have struggled with the importance of prayer in my Christian walk. I’m an action guy and I am driven to engage physically in whatever needs to be done. My struggle has been with the reality that I can accomplish more from my knees than from anywhere else. I struggle with this because my natural instincts tell me that being on my knees makes me weak, and to depend on God’s power is a gamble.

Even for the mature Christian, it can be difficult to grasp the fullness of God’s power. Read More

Column: Top 3 Social Security Mistakes LANL Employees Should Avoid

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By LEE MUNSON
ALBUQUERQUE
 
Popular singer-songwriter Paul Simon brought us “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” back in 1975. Now that he’s 73, Simon’s new version might be called “50 Ways to Claim Your Social Security.”
 
Like millions of baby boomers, Simon has probably grappled with the uncertainty of how and when to claim his Social Security benefits in order to maximize how much money he will get from the government. 
Except there are more than 50 ways you can claim your benefits, especially for couples. So many that Simon might need
Read More

How The Hen House Turns: Raising Finches 3

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How The Hen House Turns
By CAROLYN (CARY) NEEPER Ph.D.
 
Raising Finches 3

Having successfully raised two baby Cassin’s finch, we realized the time would come when they must be released to the wild. We double-checked the Release Check List provided by the Kragdahls. Release should be done at 6 to 8 weeks. The time was approaching in mid August, and the birds were still insisting that I feed them.

I knew they had to be self-feeding for two weeks, so I steeled myself and left their food, which now consisted of insects, seeds and crumbs along with their gruel of Gerber’s baby beef and cereal, hard boiled Read More