From my morning walk with Jessie…

Our house is located in an area where the Pueblo Indians lived when Coronado came through this area in 1540 looking for the Seven Cities of Gold.

Over the years we have found lots of pottery shards in our back lot, but we never found any tools or points. That has changed over the past two weeks.

Two weeks ago, I found what is called an arrow shaft straightener in our back. It is used by rubbing it along the Cottonwood branch over and over. This removes the bark and smooths the branch out. It also straightens it at the same time.

Yesterday morning, Friday, I was walking Jessie up toward the top of the mesa above our house. On the side of the road, I found a broken point… the lower half that goes into a wooden shaft where it was secured with sinew and blood. Once it dried, the point was secured into the shaft. Given it’s size, it was a spear point. It could have been broken while making it or broken while used either hunting or fighting the Spaniards. There’s no way to know.

No matter what, it’s always fascinating to me that I’m touching something that was last touched 600 or more years ago.

The calendar says it’s almost Fall. However, there are several things around us that clearly tell us Fall is nigh.

Chamisa Gold. Chamisa is a wild plant that during the Spring and Summer is all green. Once Fall approaches, Chamisa blooms with hundreds of small yellow-gold flowers producing Chamisa Gold.

Apples, Apples, Apples. We have a neighbor, Carl, who has several apple trees in his front yard and they are delicious.

And the Trumpet sounds. The same apple tree neighbor has several Trumpet vines adorning his fence. In the Fall, the vines produce beautiful red and yellow Trumpet shaped flowers and seed pods.

Fall is my favorite time of year in New Mexico. The weather is pleasant. We have all these hints of Fall from nature. And, the Balloon Fiesta is only three weeks away.

We have several gray squirrels in our area. They would love to get to our bird seed. They can get close, but can’t figure out how to get to the seed.

Also, note the bird on the wall in the lower left. That’s an Eastern Towhee. We only see them in the Spring and Fall when they are passing through.

There are countless numbers of God’s creations from the smallest to the largest. One of the neatest and smallest of his creations are hummingbirds.

When we were in Ohio this summer in Amish country we bought a new hummingbird feeder and they love it.

August through October is Chile roasting time in New Mexico. We have a local family, the Wagners, who have farm property in Corrales and other areas in New Mexico. They raise apples, peaches, beans, tomatos, cucumbers, squash, watermelons, honeydew melons, corn and Chile.

Starting in August you can buy a bushel or 40 lb. bag of mild, medium or HOT Chile. We bought a bushel of medium Chile yesterday, Friday, which have a decent amount of heat, but not enough to make you cry like the HOT.

After bringing the plastic bag full of roasted, steaming Chile home, we let it sit over night in our garage to further steam. The roasting and steaming give the Chile a roasted flavor and also make it easier to get the skins off.

So, here’a short video of our Chile coming from roasting at Wagners to our garage and ultimately to our kitchen this morning where Betty and I spent the morning taking the skins off. Then we had quesadillas with brisket and some of our fresh Chile for lunch. They were delicious.

I wish there was some way to add the smell of the roasting Chiles to the video as it’s a great, unique smell.