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You are here: Home / New Mexico / Pip in Winter

Pip in Winter

December 9th, 2018 by Sallie Bingham in New Mexico Leave a Comment

Pip in WinterMy black dog Pip, now three and a half years old, fears not cold, snow or rain. For him it is all an adventure. The only thing he doesn’t like is sitting inside with me while I work. I have to admonish him, “Be a good writer dog, Pip,” which he seems in a limited way to understand.

Friday morning we went on a walk by Tesuque Creek where the first snow of the season is melting. It seems that cold and snow bring out all kinds of delicious scents on the trail—what creature passed here during the night? Coyote? Bear? Mountain Lion? Bob Cat? All but the coyote are seldom found this close to Santa Fe, although a mountain lion was discovered a week ago at a more remote trail feasting on a dead cow—and then on someone’s little dog.

The best thing about the Little Tesuque Trail, from my point of view and from Pip’s, is that it is one of the few trails here where he can go off-leash. I love his transport of happiness as he flies down the trail in front of me, using some of the energy that makes him so restless at home. He stops to look back for me at every curve or intersection, and he’s pretty good about coming back when I shout, “Come, Pip!”… most of the time.

He met a challenge this morning in the shape of a small vicious dog—the small ones are always the worst—with a larger dog (and two dogs are always more problematic than one) both off leash coming down the trail toward us. The small vicious dog jumped on Pip, snarling, while the big dog played backup. But Pip is a realist, and he knew there was nothing he could do in the face of two dogs. He stood absolutely still, frozen, while the woman screamed at her dogs ad apologized. And we walked on.

My black dog Pip, now three and a half years old, fears not cold, snow or rain. For him it is all an adventure.

What a good example he sets for me in this veil of tears. Love the moment, and avoid small vicious beings.

Pip in Winter

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In New Mexico Black Pip Hiking

A long and fruitful career as a writer began in 1960 with the publication of Sallie Bingham's novel, After Such Knowledge. This was followed by 15 collections of short stories in addition to novels, memoirs and plays, as well as the 2020 biography The Silver Swan: In Search of Doris Duke.

Her latest book, Taken by the Shawnee, is a work of historical fiction published by Turtle Point Press in June of 2024. Her previous memoir, Little Brother, was published by Sarabande Books in 2022. Her short story, "What I Learned From Fat Annie" won the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize in 2023 and the story "How Daddy Lost His Ear," from her forthcoming short story collection How Daddy Lost His Ear and Other Stories (September 23, 2025), received second prize in the 2023 Sean O’Faolain Short Story Competition.

She is an active and involved feminist, working for women’s empowerment, who founded the Kentucky Foundation for Women, which gives grants to Kentucky artists and writers who are feminists, The Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture at Duke University, and the Women’s Project and Productions in New York City. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Sallie's complete biography is available here.

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Watch Sallie

Taken By The Shawnee

Taken By The Shawnee

July 6th, 2025
Sallie Bingham introduces and reads from her latest work, Taken by the Shawnee.
Visiting Linda Stein

Visiting Linda Stein

March 3rd, 2025
Back on October 28th, 2008, I visited artist Linda Stein's studio in New York City and tried on a few of her handmade suits of armor.

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Rebecca Reynolds & Salie Bingham at SOMOS

Rebecca Reynolds & Salie Bingham at SOMOS

November 8th, 2024
This event was recorded November 1, 2024 in Taos, NM at SOMOS Salon & Bookshop by KCEI Radio, Red River/Taos and broadcast on November 8, 2024.
Taken by the Shawnee Reading

Taken by the Shawnee Reading

September 1st, 2024
This reading took place at The Church of the Holy Faith in Santa Fe, New Mexico in August of 2024.

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Pasatiempo, The Santa Fe New Mexican

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