(AP News Wire Service)
POSTHOLE, NM - Raccoons took to living in the Mayor's flue, which we viewed a good omen, seeing as how they keep the hornets out in the summer. Raccoons make a hissing sound, especially when the dogs are trying to get at them. The hissing aggravated the dogs even more, but still it was good luck. That was until fall came. Posthole is at 12000', about 1500 feet above the tree line. So fall is the season when we need fire to warm the dogs. Hence, the annual communal journey down from the plateau to warmer climes where there is wood. We lose a few of our population each year in the is journey. They fake some excuse ... typical lies like "we don't need the Wood Journey if we live where it is warmer".

Superstition dies hard, and we may have been wrong about the raccoons. As the fire warmed the dogs (coyotes actually, we just call them dogs), six terrified hissing raccoons dropped into the flames. Mayor Joe watched in horror as three dogs and six raccoons on fire locked in a battle of survival among the flying red hot cinders. In the chaos, the house burned. The dogs went down and found dens at the tree line. The two surviving raccoons stay with Joe and warm him at night under the open sky.

[Editor's Note: Joe is really more a Chieftain than a Mayor, he was never really elected].