Incredible Valentine!!

As you're no doubt aware, modern science, while ignoring the fact that there are already plenty of people here, has pursued techniques for adding to the population when the usual method is unsuccessful.

Choosing as I did (TMI TMI alert!) to get vasectomized at age 22, I'm prone to the gimlet eye when confronted with the holiday snapshots of the 40-50 people that now constitute some of the "families." Many have had several children, often with a series of wives, and their children carry on the tradition: a tradition of FAMILY VALUES (It's okay as long as the relationships are serial, dontchyuhknow? Polyamory still falls under the "queer" rubric, though.) and lack of social conscience. Thank god there are some who aren't opposed to supporting other peoples' offspring.

So it was with astonishment that after years-long attempts by a friend's daughter and her husband to become pregnant I felt my eyes fill with tears as I read the text announcing the heard heartbeat heralding the successful in vitro fertilization. At least I know, unlike many of the children I met when I had my business providing after-school programs, this one will be loved.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Birds & Vasectomy

Used to be they posted a bird count of the geese and cranes on an 8.5 x 11 sheet in the foyer of the Bosque Del Apache Visitors' Center. No more. A "staff decision" leaves one at the mercy of an electronic kiosk that -- if it worked -- would provide a count of nearly every bird this side of the Mississippi that was seen and/or is present. But it wasn't working. And the volunteer had obviously been briefed to NOT give any hint of counts other than to say (enthusiastically!) there were thousands. "And lots of ducks!"

Used to be we could hear the cranes flying over our hovel near Candelaria & Eubank in Albuquerque. I'm gonna say it's been fifteen years. I'm not that big on birds but the "count" in my (alleged) mind is a reflection of habitat. If there's no habitat (spawning/fledging grounds) elsewhere, there aren't gonna be many birds here.

The volunteer said if I wanted to see a bunch there was a goodly amount on the first pond to the north. And so there were. But a friend who lives further south, where they used to congregate by the hundreds of thousands on Lake Cabballo, said he hasn't seen 'em flying over for a number of years.

It's an inverse equation. As our numbers increase, theirs decrease.

It's something to keep it in mind: encouraging your son(s) to get a vasectomy. I've never understood why women are expected to undergo major surgery when men can take care of the problem with a 15-minute procedure. And cheap too!