When we moved to the ranch about seven years ago we took to recycling with the fervor of tree-huggers from Portland, San Francisco or Vancouver.Of course, we set up a three-bin compost pile. And we also began to separate aluminum, cardboard, plastic, regular metal cans, and glass, which we took to a recycling center on …
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Trump: Populist, fascist or opportunist? Pick one.
In America's inflamed political environment today, and arguably in much of the world, complex problems have been reduced to generic political labels, and Donald Trump has become the leading exponent of something called "populism". In Britain one has Nigel Farage, in Italy, Silvio Berlusconi and in France, Marine Le Pen, each offering their own version of …
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Fed up with faux haute cuisine
And now a rant, of as the French might say, a cri de cœur, about all the pissiness that is swamping San Miguel, what with a boutique hôtel or some restaurant with haute cuisine delusions popping up practically on every corner.Last week Stew, a friend and I went to a restaurant that had all the trappings …
Off leash and on a run
You may not agree, you may not care, butif you are holding this book you should knowthat of all the sights I love in this world—and there are plenty—very near the top ofthe list is this one: dogs without leashes. "Dog Songs," Poems by Mary OliverThough our seven-and-a-half acres of rocks, trees …
Front seats at a rare whale show
It was, as Stew put it, "a National Geographic moment," when nature puts on a live show rarely witnessed outside the pages of a glossy magazine or a nature documentary.Late Thursday afternoon, with the surf quieting down, we heard loud and sharp plop-plop-plop sounds, like thunderclaps, that we soon identified as coming from a humpback …
On guns: Couldn't have said it better myself
From today's Washington Post:America's ritual of outrage By Anthea ButlerIt is an American ritual, engaged in on almost a monthly basis. A mass shooting. Screaming. Frantic families. Shell-shocked survivors. Carnage. Grim-faced police and emergency responders, and news reporters smelling blood in the air, angling for the right shot of grief-stricken friends and family.Then, the tweets and statements …
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In the company of pelicans
On this quiet beach, where not much goes on except the rhythmic crashing of the surf, brown pelicans have captured my attention. They come out in droves at sunrise, largely vanish at around noon and might reappear a couple of hours before the sun sets.With their huge beaks with a pouch underneath, tiny beady eyes, …
And so, on to the beach
To people hunkered down in snowstorms and subzero weather up north, hearing someone living in ideally temperate San Miguel complain about the weather must sound like insufferable whining. Oh shut up! What do you know about cold or winter misery?Home for the next two weeks.Except memories are short and feelings about the weather are relative. …
Should retirees be grateful to Trump?
A year into the Trump presidency the continued rise in the stock market—actually a continuation of a bull market and economic recovery that had begun under Obama—has fattened our retirement portfolio handsomely. And the Republican tax cuts—a wet kiss to corporate America—can't help but propel the continued rise in the stock market, and even the world …
And now, a short suspense story: How we liberated our pickup from the San Miguel auto pound
On Dec. 10, our trusty 2000 Nissan Frontier pickup was in a head-on collision with another pickup. On a scale of one to ten, this mishap scored a four or about the equivalent of a broken nose. It's all fixable and fortunately there were no serious injuries thanks to the sturdy burro bumper on the …
El Rancho Santa Clara 