Our neighbors invited the kids and their houseguests over yesterday afternoon to visit with their pot-bellied pig Otis. Otis is a charming and rather shy pig, but a box of Nilla wafers is an excellent icebreaker!

For the most part, the day hummed along in the key of C. Dennis, who'd just returned from what sounds like a harrowing week in D.C., cleaned the pasture with the tractor and watered his orchard, content to be himself again in his old Stetson, wranglers and cowboy boots. (He did take a Stetson to Washington with him this time, where I'm sure he looks mighty exotic to those Easterners.) The girls and I rode horses while the boys continued modifications on what is turning out to be an epic fort out on the back forty. And then we had our social engagement with Otis.

All the while the New Mexico sky was a deep, cerulean blue. It's hard to find a sky much larger than this. Or a day better.

Music: Key of C from Tried, True and Tested by Tim Ryan.