At her fortieth birthday party, my sister basked in the warm glow of loving friends, candlelight and good cheer.  She laughed her big beautiful smile, and we marveled at her vibrancy.  An effervescent children’s librarian and comedienne, Gayle cherished her pint-sized audiences, her friends and her family, and she was...

RUIDOSO, NEW MEXICO. Last week the local Oktoberfest organizer denied a booth to the local chapter of the Democratic Women.

By his own admission, the director "hates everything the Democratic Party stands for” and won’t consider their participation."

For many years, our softly-lit park in the pines hosted a carousel...

RUIDOSO, NEW MEXICO.  I write from a small mountain town in Lincoln County, New Mexico where, not just for the sake of tourism, we revere America’s most colorful good-natured juvenile delinquent, Billy the Kid.   Offering a weak hero-energy to this dubious mascot, Sheriff Pat Garrett hardly provides a...

As the Republicans unfolded their presentation of Governor Sarah Palin as candidate for Vice President, I immediately realized that political candidates are NOT "vetted" by a crack team of FBI investigators. Who knew? I had imagined a meticulous scrutiny of the contender's computers amid a flurry of file folders, personal...