Puppy

Last week, I found the tiniest puppy incisor on the floor. The tooth was the size of a rice kernel. Opal’s baby teeth are falling out, and adult teeth are coming in! During this teething phase, she’s in a mood, shall we say? Our sweet puppy has an ornery alter ego. As of this newsletter, she’s 20 weeks old and growing, although still smaller than her siblings.

After living with a very quiet Lab, we’ve got a surprisingly vocal Smooth Collie. Surprising to us, not to other Collie patrons. Opal emotes adorable squeaks when she wakes up and when stretching out for a nap. If she needs to go out in the middle of the night, she manages a quiet, single “woof.” She has a lovely deeper bark that she rarely uses.

Opal also has a high shriek bark she uses frequently—to ask to go out during the day, to alert me that the garbage and recycling have been picked up by the trucks, to tell us her gums hurt, and to DEMAND attention or a treat. This high-pitched bark is ear-splitting at times. We pray she will outgrow it.

We are fortunate that Opal doesn’t bark at those who ring the doorbell. Once visitors enter, however, they’ll likely hear an excited high shriek or twenty, but they will also get lots of affection. We’re working on stopping the jumping up on people. Light a candle for us, please?

Be prepared. A dog is adorable and noble.
A dog is a true and loving friend. A dog
is also a hedonist.

Excerpt From
“The Wicked Smile,” Dog Songs, Mary Oliver, The Penguin Press, 2013, ISBN 978-1-101-63873-6

Puppy trivia: By 8 weeks of age, the baby teeth are in with a total of 28 teeth. Around 3 months of age, puppies begin to lose baby teeth. By 7 months of age, Opal will have 42 adult teeth, with 20 teeth on top and 22 on bottom. Cross your fingers we survive.

Pedernal Mountain

Of a famous New Mexico landmark, Cerro Pedernal, it's believed artist Georgia O’Keeffe said, "God told me if I painted it often enough I could have it." O'Keeffe rose each morning to the view of that iconic mesa and said goodnight to it at the end of the day, claiming it as her own private mountain.

Pedernal is, of course, no one's private mountain. While many refer to the Santa Fe/Abiquiu/Taos area as "O'Keeffe Country," Pueblo people would like you to understand it's Tewa Country. Tewa is a shared culture among six Pueblos north of Santa Fe: Nambé, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, Ohkay, Santa Clara, and Tesuque. Pueblo Indians have lived in the area far longer than Anglos and Hispanics. Today, New Mexico is still home to 19 different Pueblos. Pueblo people are believed to be the descendants of the Anasazi.

Cerro Pedernal, meaning flint hill, was the name given by Spanish colonialists. "O'Keeffe's Mountain," so named by Anglos. The Tewa name for the mountain is Tsip’, which means obsidian mountain.

O’Keeffe’s ashes were strewn over Pedernal. I wonder if permission was asked for and granted?

One of the great hallmarks of New Mexico is that our state is graced with a unique blend of cultures—some centuries old, some more recent.

Reading

In 2025, I read 72 books—everything from thrillers, poetry, to literary fiction. I loved many of them, but these 12 stayed with me long after reading:

The above graphic fails to show you the title of the 2nd-to-last book on the bottom row—No Other Business Here: A Haiku Correspondence, by John Brandi and Steve Sanfield. The two poets shared letters as haiku for several years. I sent that book to a dear friend who believes we should leave artifacts with each other. Sometimes he sends me newspaper clippings, a short note, or a funny token. After sending him this book, I sent him a haiku inviting him to write three lines or so back, in whatever form he was comfortable with. Over 2025, we shared 37 index cards and 1 letter-sized paper. Some missives are funny, some nonsensical, some moving, and some informative about a particular moment in time. I hope we will continue this practice in 2026. (MBH, I know you’re reading this newsletter!)

When I’m writing, fiction tends to go by the wayside. There’s a need inside me to create story, and when I read a great story by someone else, the desire to create tends to drop. Not out of insecurity, but whatever that creation urge is, sometimes it gets satisfied or quenched by someone else’s wonderful storytelling. Consequently, non-fiction tends to dominate my reading material. I read a lot of poetry, too, but a person should always read a lot of poetry!

Last year, I was determined to read more novels. Most of what I read was recommended by friends, someone’s newsletter, librarians, and booksellers. Considering that 62.5% of my 2025 books were novels (thank you, Goodreads, for keeping track of the list), last year was a success! The rest included 11 non-fiction, and 16 books of poetry.

Stay caring and curious, friends. See you anon.—JD

Currently

• Drinking: 2018 Mojun Jing Dian Qing Huan fuzhuan

• Inked: Aurora Plutone 88 filled with Aurora Turquoise ink

• Reading: The Poetry of Chiyo-ni, The Life and Art of Japan’s Most Celebrated Woman Haiku Master, Patricia Donegan and Yoshie Ishibashi, Tuttle Publishing, 2025, ISBN 878-4-6053-1866-9