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Saturday, April 28, 2012 - Caballo Lake State Park, Caballo NM

Rio Grande Riverside Camp, Caballo Lake State Park, Caballo NM, April 24, 2012
Rio Grande Riverside Camp, Caballo Lake State Park, Caballo NM, April 24, 2012

Boondocking by the river

Thought I'd throw in a picture that'll give you a hint of the lay of the land here by the river and my relationship to the cliffs across the river where the Great Horned Owls and bees hang out. The cliff isn't as close to the river as it looks. There's a dirt road between the river and the cliff which puts those owls frustratingly far from my viewfinder.

So far neither the weather nor the owls have cooperated to give me another decent shot at them. It was in the 90s most of the week and the uncharacteristic highs mixed at various times with high winds (and a dust storm) and clouds have dampened my enthusiasm and the birds haven't been hanging out on the cliff before sundown either. But I keep watching and hoping.

Night camp

Riverside - Caballo Lake State Park, Caballo NM

Skepticism is Helpful

If you want to notice things that seem wrong, you'll find a degree of skepticism helpful. I take it as an axiom that we're only achieving 1% of what we could. This helps counteract the rule that gets beaten into our heads as children: that things are the way they are because that is how things have to be. For example, everyone I've talked to while writing this essay felt the same about English classes-- that the whole process seemed pointless. But none of us had the balls at the time to hypothesize that it was, in fact, all a mistake. We all thought there was just something we weren't getting.

The Age of the Essay, Paul Graham, September 2004

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