Over the Borderline

Chile rellenos are one of the more underrated, underappreciated Mexican dishes around. Long a staple of Mexican cuisine, the rellenos found in most average Mexican restaurants range from bland to gooey, with mushy breading on the outside, hastily thrown together because they aren't ordered often. This is no indictment on deep fried, cheese filled rellenos, which will always have a place in my heart, literally. Rather, this is about discovering the traditional relleno -- a dish straight from the Mexican garden -- in all its healthy glory. Think of nopales (cactus paddles), chiles of all sorts, volcanic soil, burning mesquite wood, fresh tomatoes and cilantro, lime wedges, and a simple pot of beans, all in a shady garden setting with the sounds of Mexico (children playing, traffic and chatter, guitars and drums) as the background soundtrack. While all this doesn't capture the simple relleno it does embody the memories I have of special places I've been in Mexico . ...

Former U of A Wildcat Sean Rooks died of a heart attack , as have several former NBA big men over the last couple years. There's growing interest as to why former NBA players are suffering cardiac events, but I see it as an issue with many layers. Former Oakland Athletic Tony Phillips died suddenly of a heart attack a few months ago. The drummer from Megadeath recently died of a heart attack while performing. My opinion is that the American diet, reckless use of drugs and alcohol, stress, and heredity, among other things, are to blame. Although, in the case of 7-foot men running like gazelles in the open court game after game, one has to wonder if the human body of that size just isn't cut out for that much stress. Makes me reminisce about all the basketball my friends and I used to play, pounding our knees, feet and ankles, and probably our hearts as well. Inevitably, seeing these supreme athletes die, people who had the best medical care in the world available to them, re...

It's true, I'm a bean-aholic! I'll admit it, and I'll never enter a 12 step program to cure myself. I love all kinds of beans; pinto beans, black beans, navy bean, any and all heirloom beans. Lately, I've been making black beans in the crockpot more often, so simple and the results are perfect every time. Not only are they cheap and healthy - full of amino acids, fiber, and protein - but so versatile as well. I like them served with chopped onions, a squeeze of lime, a little pinch of oregano, a stack of corn tortillas, maybe some cotija cheese...it's a meal unto itself. I also like to throw them in pico de gallo, salads, and mixed in with brown rice. If you're adventurous (I am), you can put them in a blender and make an incredible dish called enfrijolades, for which there are many great vegan or vegetarian recipes available on that thing called the "internets." So, instead of opening up a can, fire up the crockpot...the aroma in your ...

The other day I found an old T-shirt in the bottom of a box in the closet,  a 3XL anti-British Petroleum shirt that fits like a tent now (6 years and 80lbs ago).  It brought back a lot of memories of living in the Florida Panhandle during the tragic oil spill of 2010. Six years have passed since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that dumped 210 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. So much has changed since then. I was living in Panama City, Fl at the time of the spill, it was my first summer there as a resident. While we all had fears of our beautiful beaches being inundated with oil, we all saw and felt the economic downturn that occurred even without oil on the beaches.  The T-shirt I'm wearing in this picture was purchased to benefit coastal communities and raise awareness for the BP oil spill of 2010.  It was a summer of discontent. Millions of gallons of oil lurked offshore, somewhere off in the distance, prone to the Gulfstream and th...

Intermountain High In a Hemingwayesque trope I write of the Intermountain West From the basin and range To the Trans Mexican Volcanic belt Of the Great Basin And the Colorado Plateau The Continental Divide Or Sonoran desert snow Intermontane sky islands bereft Of city dwelling criminals and theft Upper range thrust In geologic striations I trust From the steppes to the Shrub land biome Seeking open range And a place to call home Subduction zones and shifting plates Life along the Ring of Fire Pacific Ocean burning Pushing Andes higher Coast of Chile churning Massive land forms I desire Escarpments come to mind Although Death Valley is fine Slot canyons beckon We are so small in their presence And that's the thing, I reckon I feel shallow between every fault Feel uplifted by every rift The Grand Staircase to the Painted Desert From Volcan del Fuego to the mighty Sierra  Pico de Orizabe to my own backyard Lo...

Christmas Across the Border A Christmas trip to Arizona Laughing and joking our way Across the desert on a bus A happy and joyous affair Would soon turn into a nightmare Tucson lights at night Sinaloa so long ago It seems... But only the day before Our broken navidad dreams A lone toddler’s shoe Sits on the roadside A single sad sole That tells the tale Of a hurried escape Just ahead of the law With sirens screaming And searchlight beams That blind and shatter Our holiday dreams Broken down bus Southbound lanes La migra licking their chops The officer frowns The cruiser slows down And quickly comes to a stop Checking our papers He lets out a sigh His face is blurred Through my only good eye A scar runs down my cheek From hairline to chin The officer thinks I'm a freak I can tell from his ugly grin My wife carries our son Almost the age of three Born with only one arm A...

Farwestern  Photo by Gregg M. Erickson Mexico '78 Yuma dust storm Middle of the night Mexicali dirty pool Somehow a welcome sight Bursting bottles of Jarritos Back of a Ford pick-up truck 400 more miles of heat “Sorry kids you’re out of luck” Very soon the Sea of Cortez Port of Guaymas noxious fumes Diesel and dead fish The coast of Baja… Seems like a distant wish Load the truck on the ferry In several disorderly lines Ignoring our query “Why is it taking so much time?” Then the rough seas Belching ferry stack A sneering squad of MP’s A mid-meal vomit attack Santa Rosalia Starch white buildings Quiet and clean White hot streets Baja beaches gleam Playa Santispac A collision of desert and sea Primitive campsite No place we’d rather be Nights spent under starlight Days on our own private beach The cabana a beautiful sight Rest of the world out of reach Powerful childhood memories Don’t seem so...