Letters... We Get Letters... (And MORE Pissin' & Moanin')

One of the greatest things about blogging... mebbe even the BEST thing, aside from the "unburdening"...  is the people ya meet and the friends ya make.  Every once in a while a total stranger will take the time to write and say nice things and those moments really DO brighten a blogger's day.  Like this:

Dear MSgt. Buck,

It is a pleasure to write to you for the first time.  My name is Michael and I am from Atlanta, GA.  The reason I am writing is because I just visited your blog "Exile in Portales" today.  It was my first time doing so and I am darn glad I did!!  To tell you the truth, I was mucking about on Google searching for cigar-related items and it directed me to your blog.  So far I have not had time to read all your postings but hopefully I will soon.

I understand you are an Air Force vet and that your sons are in the "family business."  One of my uncles served in Vietnam with the Army and my granduncle was in the Pacific during WWII so my colors run deep.  I just want to say "thanks" for serving our country and I truly mean it.

Now back to cigars -- I am a fellow cigar man myself and have done so for eleven years.  My granduncle loved cigars and when he visited my late aunt he would always have one in his mouth.  I finally had my first one when I was eighteen and so far I LOVE it!!  Every time I have a good cigar I always think of him.

Thank you for your attention and I wish you a good day.

Isn't that nice?  (And I've been known to accept bribes, too)

―:☺:―

Now about that "unburdening"... there's this from an exchange I just had with an Occasional Correspondent:

I'd take a day or three of your rain and so would everyone here on THPoNM.  We are drier than dry and lost another 45K acres to wildfires this weekend.  It's getting beyond obnoxious.

On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 9:54 AM, (Occasional Correspondent) wrote:

(me, quoted) Happy Monday!  I'm ready to kill someone or break something... the damned wind, like that dog, just won't QUIT.  Note: (snipped)

You just made me really laugh.  Out loud.  I’d almost trade you some wind for the rain that Just Will Not Stop.  I think I’m starting to grow webs between my toes.

I exaggerated the size of this weekend's fire... it was only 25K acres.  From our local rag:

Officials estimate a fire Saturday on the Curry and Quay county line burned 20,000 to 25,000 acres.

Karen Burns with the Clovis Fire Department said the number is a rough estimate and officials will get a better figure in daylight.

Five structures were burned but there were no injuries, she said, with 22 fire departments fighting the blaze from Curry, Quay and Roosevelt counties and West Texas.

[...]

While the blaze was at its peak, with vortexes that rose as high as 40 feet, Jones said officials closed State Roads 268, which runs north of Melrose, and 288 which runs east and west to intersect with State Road 209.

Still, 20~25K acres and a home or two ain't no small potatoes.  We continue to labor under these same conditions today, i.e., high winds, high temps, and low humidity...

I know: bitch, bitch, bitch.

(CNJ staff photo: Sharna Johnson)