Sep 29 2008
Fire on the Mountain…
The “Fire on the Mountain” that I’m familiar with is a fiction book based on a true story by Edward Abbey.
Abbey based his plot around actual events in which a New Mexico rancher named John Prather who fought government attempts to confiscate his land to make it part of the White Sands Missle Range. Considering the time when this book was written, following the era of McCarthyism and the onset of the Cold War, Abbey was especially bold in putting forth the philosophical preposition that an individual has a moral and ethical responsibilty to protect the land against its despoilers, whether corporate entities or even the US government.
Check it out sometime - it’s an excellent read.
The onset on autumn has been a busy time for me. I just printed, spray mounted, and matted twenty photos to enter in the Southern New Mexico State Fair. The cost incurred was much more than I would ever recoup if I even won, but it’s a great learning experience to “take your photo” all the way through the process. I’m also working on submitting a few photos to the annual New Mexico Magazine Photo Contest.
Saturday evening, I attended a gallery opening of an El Paso Photo group entitled “Megapixels.” As I stepped from my car to go the the little coffee shop where the exhibit was, “Fire on the Mountain” is what I saw. A few minutes earlier I was driving over Transmountain Road, (a faster shortcut to get to the other side of town) and stopped and photographed the twilight sun over the city. I wanted to stay longer and get the sunset, but I had somewhere to be.
Sometimes, I get so wrapped up in my job and personal “trauma” that I forget how beautiful life is - if only we have “eyes to see.”
The current tragedy is that my teenage nephew in Indianapolis was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. I’m not going to lie, my youngest brother and I are like “oil and water.” We disagree on many issues, and just don’t see “eye to eye.” However, I’m so sad that he as a father has to see his son go through this trauma. Still, he’s my brother and in our own private ways, I know we care about each other. Please say a prayer or send positive thoughts for my nephew J. I think he’s going to need them for the battle he’s facing ahead.




















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