Pam's Point of View

Friday, April 24, 2026

Earthship Home near Taos, New Mexico

The summer of 1973 Bob and I started the remodel of an old farmhouse on a small acreage in Larimer County, Colorado, our dream come true. Influenced and enthused by our reading material that included Handmade Houses, by Art Boericke/ Barry Shapiro, Mother Earth News Magazine, Shelter by Shelter Publications out of California, and Peter Rabbit's Drop City Dome book, we decided to build a large addition to the farmhouse in the form of a 5/8, three frequency geodesic dome attached to the story-and-half, sixty-year-old house.

Before we got too far into the project we opted to take a driving vacation with our 5-year-old son, Patrick, to southern Colorado and into New Mexico, to visit alternative housing that interested Bob. We visited Drop City, already a ghost town near Trinidad, Colorado, populated with abandoned domes made from triangles of steel chopped out of car tops, then welded together. We took photos of those structures then continued our trip toward the west, our destination about sixty-five miles from Drop City, up into the mountains near Gardner, Colorado, where the former residents of Drop City were establishing a commune they named Libre. We only spent an afternoon there, mingling with the folks, asking a few questions, before heading back to the interstate and south into New Mexico.

In Taos we rented a motel room and visited the Taos Pueblo the next morning. We three loved that experience immensely and took many photos of the adobe structures built about a thousand years ago. I've written about that and will again.

But this story is about another unique housing development on the outskirts of Taos called Earthship. Bob probably read about it in the Denver Post for it garnered a lot of attention in 1970 and 1971 when the first house was started, the Beer Can House.

The day we drove up to the jobsite two men were working there and were friendly but busy, so we took a few photographs and left them to their project.

It inspired us to consider used construction materials and methods in our own house building project, which we did.

It kept our costs down and added character and fun memories to every aspect.

I found this story about Earthship and its founder, architect Mike Reynolds, and am happy to know it didn't turn to dust like Drop City. In fact, they have a few rentals now so tourists can experience living in an Earthship in Taos, New Mexico!

https://share.google/UknMl8mS9sDerT7X7

Bob thought this form of construction was similar to adobe but with a different inner core. I've read that others tried it with aluminum cans. I wonder how well this beer can house held up to wind and weather. In today's world there is a housing shortage, especially for young people like we were then, needing an affordable place to live. We've seen Tiny Houses designed to fill that need but there are more and more homeless people on our streets and along streams and railroad tracks. I would like to see more developments like Earthship in Taos.

Saturday, April 4, 2026

An Easter to Remember

April 1974, Bob and I made a road trip with our friends Jim and Sue Foster, from Waverly, Colorado, south down I-25 all the way to Taos, New Mexico. Driving a 4-door Ford sedan, provided by my employer Union Mfg and Supply Co., the trip was comfortable with plenty of leg room for us long-legged travelers. Jim and Sue were great traveling companions, easy going, never an argument, and quick to laugh. It was a leasurely drive with plenty of stops along the way, to stretch, fill up the gas tank, and visit the restrooms.

In Taos we rented a two-bedroom motel with a kitchenette where we ate some of our meals, mostly breakfast. We learned quirky things about one another such as how Jim liked hot water on his dry cereal rather than the traditional cold milk.

And they were astounded at how many diet Pepsi’s Bob consumed in a day. Jim was trying out new health-enhancing techniques including hanging upside down every chance he got.

Visiting Taos Pueblo was a cultural experience for us all. This pueblo has been occupied continuously for over 1,000 years.

It is a sovereign nation representing the Tiwa-speaking Taos people.

We ate freshly baked bread from the onsite horno oven and marveled at the structures and ancient cemetery.

At a small grocery store Bob loved the group of dogs gathered at the door, led by a cat. Jim was fascinated at the way the dogs took to Bob right away.

We found a picturesque jewelry store outside the pueblo where silver and turquoise handmade pieces were offered for sale, but we didn’t buy any jewelry.

We met a group of Jim's friends from his college days, artists who invited us to their studio. An eclectic group whose non-traditional art was exciting and inspiring. This photo of Ruth (on the left) and her friend whose name I have forgotten is one of my favorites from the trip. We went out to dinner with them, too, and I remember it well, because I became upset when one of Jim's friends raised his voice in complaint at dinner. I don't remember what his complaint was but he was certainly vocal about it!

On Easter Sunday we attended an outdoor “Blessing of the Animals”, honoring St. Francis of Assissi.

It was chilly and windy that day as we watched the ceremony move along the street, the priest blessing each pet and farm animal brought forward.

Surrounded by children and animals we felt blessed, too, to celebrate Easter this unique way.

On our return trip we detoured to Bent’s Old Fort in southeastern Colorado near LaJunta.

I recently read that the adobe structure is in disrepair and needing serious structural reworking, but in 1973 it was beautiful.

Bob and I had visited Bent’s Old Fort with our son Patrick in 1972 and fell in love with the place.

We knew Jim and Sue would appreciated it, too, and they certainly did.

Back on I-25 headed north for home we stopped at a rest stop with trees and running water close by. Jim took a photograph of me while Sue walked along the creek gathering stones and bark and other odds and ends which she used to make a charming impromptu arrangement of nature’s bounty.

And then there were several hours of driving, talking, and listening to music on the radio. We were all grateful to the grandparents for keeping our children while we experienced an extraordinary Easter in New Mexico.

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Jim Nance

From age seven Bobby Russell has been fascinated with airplanes and flight. The summer of 1948 he was living with his family on a dryland farm in Weld County, when a crop sprayer landed his Piper Cub on a nearby road, then taxied and took flight while Bobby watched in amazement. At nineteen he left farming and joined the Navy with high hopes of becoming a jet pilot. Here are his words about that time and that decision, “I joined the Navy to fly airplanes. In 1962, if you had a college degree or had completed two years of college and passed a test you went straight to Pensacola. If you had less than two complete years of college but passed the test you went to Boot Camp, then to Pensacola. I was in the last group which meant that I belonged to a Boot Camp company but never attended any classes. My days were spent being a go-fer supposedly getting on-the-job training as to being an officer.”

A few weeks into Boot Camp that plan changed when he attended a lecture given to all Boots by Big Bad Dude, John Melvin "Maxie" Stephenson, Underwater Demolition Teams training unit. “He stood up on the stage in his starched greens and told us he wasn’t interested in making men out of us but if any of us were already men he was willing to talk.” Five days before Class 29 started RD checked into the Boots Barracks on the Naval Amphib Base, where his Navy tour as a UDT water warrior was a drastic change from his dream of Navy jet pilot.

In 1975 RD used his G.I. Bill benefits to attend Colorado Aerotech in Broomfield, Colorado, where he studied Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics. RD bought himself a used VW bug from Mike Sandifer, put a crushed Budweiser can between the engine cover, “trunk lid”, and frame to allow more air flow around the engine, and drove that bug back and forth to Broomfield five days a week for the next year and a half.

It was there he met Jim Nance, about whom this story is written. I was reminded of Jim today when I saw crabapple trees in full bloom in our town, and came home to check on the health of our own crabapple tree, our “Jim Nance” tree, planted when Jim died in the 1980s. Seeing it healthy and blooming I started to reminisce …

Jim Nance was a Texan and an Air Force B-52 bomber pilot in Viet Nam while RD was a Coloradoan and Navy UDT-11 frogman. I imagine they had lots to talk about as they compared experiences and learned to fix airplanes at Aerotech. They had more in common than the military, both loving good food and pretty women.

I recall RD telling me that soon they were a group of five or so students who ate lunch together each day and learned about one another’s lives. Jim and RD graduated at the top of their class in 1976, licensed A&P Mechanics, and good friends.

Soon after graduation Jim moved his family to Fort Collins and became a part of the local airport crowd. He also became friends with our friends Bill West and Jack Archibald. We liked Jim’s wife, Susan, and remember her saying, “I’ve never eaten a bad meal out.”

RD and Jim shared an interest in experimental aircraft and made two trips back east to attend the Experimental Aircraft Association, EAA, annual fly-in, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Jim drove his camper and they had fun adventures going and coming home. On one of those trips a neighbor woman of Jim’s asked if she could hitch a ride to see a relative and he said, “sure”. RD was surprised to arrive at Jim’s and find the woman sitting in the back of the camper on a lawn chair!

And one year on their return to Colorado they stopped at Jim’s sister’s home in Iowa and were treated to a wonderful homecooked meal, a very welcome respite from all the hotdogs in their cooler.

Jim became the Fort Collins Veterans’ Service Officer and helped many veterans with their issues. He was really good at that job. But Jim had a bad heart, and struggled with weight control and high blood pressure. He was planning a big trip to the Gulf where he planned to put in his boat and do some sailing. He was at Poudre Valley Hospital getting his health checked out to make sure “all systems go” prior to his trip, ready to be released, when he suffered a fatal heart attack. I don’t remember the exact year but I know he was too young to go.

Thank you Jim Nance for your friendship. RD and I remember. We hope you are flying high above the clouds. The Navy men say “Fair Winds and Following Seas”. I believe the Air Force men say “Blue Skies and Tailwinds”.

Sunday, October 12, 2025

Fran's Photos in Argentina, 2008 - Alejandra's Family

This is my third and last post about photos my sister Fran took in Argentina in 2008. We were invited to the home of Alejandra's mother, Ana, and also to the home Alejandra's brother Eduardo, where we were welcomed with open arms and fed a delicious home cooked traditional meal. These are my favorites of the photos Fran took during those visits.