Baby-Boomers they called us…Kids born in the aftermath of World War II. Mostly to parents that either soldiered or contributed to the war effort on the home front. That was me and my friend’s parents to a tee. Those warriors had just conquered the world and they were not going to be denied their time in the sun or the fun that went with it. My little neighborhood in Silver City, New Mexico, was a colony of those men and women and I was part of a pack of kids that went with it. The adults I knew never missed a chance to have a party and the kids just kind of roamed the neighborhood going from house to house having their own kind of fun.

We learned to bartend and wait drinks at their parties and drive a car to get home in the aftermath…we played their crazy games along with them and laughed and laughed all the time. My friends all played baseball, basketball and football on any vacant lot we could use. No lawn was safe from the damage we could inflict. Boys and girls all joined in. My best friend, Sandy, was bigger and stronger than everyone else and she was a fierce competitor and good fighter as well… so nobody picked on me.

We went from kindergarten through high school this way. The dating and social life as teenagers had little effect on our gang with some exceptions now and then. Sandy introduced me to a new girl that made the cheerleading squad. Sixty years later we are still together. Joanne is a New Mexico gal too. Born in Hot Springs in 1948, the same year as me. She did not have the communal childhood nor was she exposed to the socially exuberant style of parenting we had. But I turned out to be a good guide in our adventure together. We have complemented each other very well over these 60+ years.

After we graduated from WNMU (the local college) and my stint in the USAF… thank you Vietnam and my low draft number….she took her teaching degree in mathematics and I took my science degree in biology and chemistry and we set out to conquer the world. Wichita Falls, Spokane, Hurley, Silver City, El Paso, Flagstaff, Tucson, Phoenix and Mule Creek are places we have lived ….some of them more than once. Joanne has always been a math teacher and retired as Chairman of the Math Department from a large urban high school in Phoenix, I am very proud of her. I on the other hand have had many jobs and have uprooted our family to chase opportunities I thought might benefit our futures. I have worked in mining smelters, construction labor, machine shop, Chemistry lab, an industrial and environment chemist with El Paso Natural Gas, owned an off course Golf Shop, managed an environment consulting office, owned a construction company and secured a US Patent.

After 9/11 I sold out my share of the construction company to my partner and went to work for my wife teaching Algebra at that Urban School. Quite a humbling experience I might add.

My last official job was teaching math at an alternative school to pregnant teenage girls and new mothers in Tucson…another humbling experience. It brings tears to my eyes just writing this…talk about your courage, hopes and dreams. They had to have a bucket full of Esperanza just to make it through a day.

Joanne and I have two fabulous kids who have helped us build our own home twice…yes with saws, hammers, drills and the like. The first was in Flagstaff and the other one we still live in today in Mule Creek, NM, right back in Grant County where I was born and near property ranched by my grandparents. I should also acknowledge here that some of our six grandkids have also helped us at our 30-acre place in Mule Creek. It is a very special place once inhabited by Anasazi Indians a 1000 years ago! The Karma is noticeable at night when there is absolutely no sound as you walk among their collapsed ruins. This place is 11 miles down a dirt road, 60 miles from the nearest grocery store, at an altitude of 6500 feet and occupies a special place in my heart. Here is a picture.