Strawberry II
After our last fishing trip to Strawberry reservoir a month ago, I arranged to come back up and go again over the Labor Day weekend. So the three of us (I, my son Mike and Mike Rowbury) went again, and we did about as well numerically with 25 fish as we did a month ago. This proved to be a trip for bigger fish at the end of the season, with my first fish over the Strawberry 14 to 22 inch catch and release rule; this one was about 22 1/2 inches and weighed just over 4 pounds.

It was a very relaxing trip with calm water, a fine sunrise and just enough fish to keep things exciting.

Early in the morning, Mike Rowbury caught a 22-incher, and just couldn't stretch it enough to keep; his weight about 3 and a half pounds.

The first fish was a kokanee salmon caught by Mike Griffin; one that was in spawning mode and really red. After the fishing was over we stopped at a facility where the forest service traps spawning kokanee and takes their eggs for breeding. In the spring, the fingerling salmon are released back into the stream to migrate back to the lake.

Burro Alley
This weekend is Indian Market where native-made artistic works are sold all around the Plaza. It is easily the biggest annual event in Santa Fe and the tourists already were jam packed in the town by Thursday. So there was no going in to work to put in extra time this weekend.

There's a narrow little street next to where we work now, called Burro Alley because in the old days, burros with loads of firewood were hitched here for the firewood vendors. All is modern now. The Cafe Paris occupies Burro Alley with outdoor tables in the summer - in winter it is a cold, windy place. A couple years back the City had this metal burro fashioned to highlight the little street.

Spanish Pony Cart
Two years ago, I saw a couple of these Spanish pony carts next to the fence of an outdoor antique shop. They had placed a big pot of flowers inside one and it made a perfect picture for one of my Santa Fe County annual budget covers. The carts are still there - here's another one. The weeds and wildflowers have grown up next to it. I learned from visiting the wagon maker shop in Nauvoo that the iron rim around the wheel was called a tyre because it 'tyed' the sections of the wheel together; now we call them tires on our cars.

The Statue of Guadalupe
The oldest church in Santa Fe, the Sanctuary of Guadalupe had a statue of its Catholic Saint fashioned in Mexico and shipped up here. The local newspaper had a big article on it; dozens of the Catholic faithful carrying this statue to its place next to the church. I walked down to Tomasitas and saw it and decided to go by and take a picture on the way back to the office. The date on the statue by the artist is August 15, 2008.

Birthday Lunch
Every month the office has a lunch to celebrate the birthdays of employees born that month. There are usually one to three each month. Last week the lunch was at Tomasitas, a nice New Mexican restaurant which we had to be at a half hour before regular lunch time because it is so popular. There I am on the left, then Teresa Martinez the finance director, then Sam Montoya and down from him, Sharon Vigil who works for me, who will have her first child in October. The birthday lunch is free for those with a birthday. Next month it is my turn.

Kudus vs. the Tug of Retirement
The County Board of Commissioners had us stand up last week for another certificate. The cause of all this was our attaining the Government Finance Officers Association budget recognition award. Then again, I was thinking how nice it would be back on Strawberry again with a fishing pole in hand, or in the back yard thinning out the squash, or even in Ghana. The tug of retirement is surely there and right now, the absolute latest date is next May when Marolynn retires from Middle School.
From left to right, Manager's henchperson (can't remember who); Roman Abeyta, County Manager; Sharon Vigil-Ramirez (who works for me, 6 months pregnant and not showing a thing -you should see her now); the Old Man (Imagine, I'm the tallest person there); Paul Campos, County Commissioner; Jack Sullivan, County Commissioner.

Strawberry Fishing
Marolynn has been in Utah all week with her mom and I took the opportunity to fly up, go fishing, and drive the car with Marolynn back home. So I and my son Mike and Mike Rowbury took his boat up to Strawberry reservoir yesterday for a morning's worth of fishing.

We launched the boat about 6 a.m. and started trolling into a light north wind shortly thereafter. The last trip that the two Mikes took resulted in only 5 fish, and Rowbury and I figured that the successful Ketchikan salmon trip broke the jinx and so it did; we had 5 fish by the time the sun broke through the clouds at 7 a.m. We didn't rack up the numbers of fish that we did last year, but it was a quite satisfying day with 29 fish brought in.

Fish size limits run from 14" or less to 22" or greater, and the fish that Mike Robury is displaying is quite typical of the fish usually caught; between the keeper limits, so they are released. There are two trout species in Strawberry reservoir; Cutthroat and Rainbow trout, and inter-bred fish which are considered to be Cutthroat (see the red patch under the mouth).

Also in the lake are Kokanee a landlocked salmon of which the limit is one fish. I had the fortune of bringing up my very first Kokanee this trip. When I got the fish up to the surface, Mike Robury got all excited -- "hey there's no spots on that fish; that's a Kokanee! Get it into the boat!"