A teen on the Navajo Reservation (one of the most drop dead gorgeous places on earth) has invented an oven that runs off the one thing New Mexico has a TON of: the sun. Meanwhile, the wildfire sweeping the reservation is mostly contained for now.

Wildfires are a huge problem every summer out here in the west. This week leading up to Independence Day is always a good time to go over some basic fire prevention tips.  

On that note, a little trivia; only one person in the history of the U.S. has ever been successfully prosecuted by the Feds for starting a wildfire. His name: Johnny Cash.

Finally, something near and dear to me: regional burrito styles. Of course, the Juarense/El Paso style burrito is my favorite. It’s also allegedly the original burrito from which all other burritos sprung.

What I’m Listening To

This week I’m listening to Western FM, which is an internet radio station started up by Rodney Hayden as a home of sorts for his great podcast. It focuses on cowboy music and poetry without ever getting too cute or faux-folksy (fauxlksy?)  What it really sounds like is riding shotgun in my Dad’s truck. Who doesn’t like that? The iPhone app is free, although it hasn’t “officially” launched yet.

What I’m Drinking

I stashed away a couple of  these from the last Shiner Family Reunion 12 pack I bought. The fruit of the prickly pear, a tuna in Spanish, has a sweet, medicinal taste, almost like cough syrup. It’s brewed in lager style beer that is corn sweet (like High Life or any other American beer made with corn) but not overbearingly so. Surprisingly, it works by balancing out all the sweet syrupy flavors with some hoppiness. I thought it would be a train wreck or an amusing novelty at best but I actually enjoyed drinking this more than, say…Ruby Redbird, which is made with Grapefruit. I’m biased towards liking this because I’m a fan of all things prickly pear, but if you can find one of these, it’s worth trying.