Valentine's Day, 2023

Hiking Buddies' couples converged on Ron & Carol's home with gifts of culinary delight prepared by the men of our group for their women! Festivities began with each guest of honor (the ladies) being presented with a menu for the evening in addition to a flute of champagne! An indescribably memorable evening of fellowship!

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IMG_2186

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A better start to 2023—it could not be!

*Celebrating bubblies with our neighbors on New Year's Eve

*Receiving a package in the mail containing a puzzle with a sibling challenge to be the first to put the puzzle together—the puzzle being the famous 2008 reunion picture of 10 siblings with t-shirts saying, “Mummy likes me best!”

*A breathtaking mountain sunrise from our front door in the morning

*First hike of the season with our hiking buddies

*Celebrating 80 years young with Fred (and our hiking buddies)

*Receiving frankincense (just before Epiphany) from our world traveler hiking buddy, Carla

*Volunteering at Camp Hope for Wittara—making lunches for the homeless (demand has doubled with the immigrant influx)

*Spending a Saturday morning at the Market—doing people watching

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Week of March 28, 2022

Arriving on Tuesday at Lou's brother's home, Jean and Cindy greeted us warmly even after our flight had been delayed by three hours; unfortunately, we missed a gathering at sister, Louise's, new condo. 

The following day, Wednesday, was a day of “new residence” hopping--viewing Lou's sisters' new homes in Venice. The day ended with a beautiful dinner coordinated by Jean and Cindy on the wharf overlooking the Intercoastal Waterway. Unfortunately, one of the master planners, Jean's wife, Cindy, felt unwell and stayed home. Upon our return to the “Janelle Manor”,we found out that Cindy had taken herself to the clinic and tested positive for COVID. Jean texted all invited guests (as the reunion was to be at their place) to alert them of the situation. With all activities moved to the lanai, nobody declined the chance to gather. A grand time was had by all—with the exception of Jean's Cindy who helped  direct the reception from her quarantined room. 

THE TIME SPENT WITH FAMILY WAS SO PRECIOUS TO US!

The following day Jean tested positive for COVID. That was Friday, and everyone in residence took a test with negative results. Our flight back to El Paso that same day was a nightmare, missing our connecting flight and having to spend an overnight in Denver with 2 separate connecting flights the following day. Upon our return to Las Cruces Bonnie tested positive to COVID and was quarantined with mild flu symptoms for two days. Thankfully, Lou tested negative.

As the video below suggests, the five sisters--still in Venice--partied on after the reunion with a “sistah” gathering and a traditional canasta game.

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"Sistahs"Can't beat a good game of Canasta.

Many activities planned---but Jake came down with a fever the first full day of vacation, and he wasn't recovered until the very last day. He spent most of the week in bed. However, activities were planned for every day—minus Jake—boo hoo!

IMG_1526 JEJ-102 JEJ-107 JEJ-105 JEJ-106 JEJ-108 JEJ-109 JEJ-121

JEJ-130 JEJ-104 JEJ-103 JEJ-122 IMG_1541 IMG_1546 JEJ-120 IMG_1487 IMG_1537 IMG_1539 IMG_1544 IMG_1545

March, 2022

**The christening of a new camper—originally planned to be at a campground, it became a Champagne christened event in Frank's back yard. We were invited to the christening and toast with Frank & his daugher, Lynda. Marvelous afternoon!

***A movie night where all invitees were to bring a list of their favorite 3 movies + a chick flick—boos, hisses, and hurrahs were welcomed

***A body builder's request for a silhouette so that his daughter could have it put onto a t-shirt which would be worn during competition at Muscle Beach in CA 

***Drone photo shoot of Kathy Morrow's rock art

***Gerry the Giraffe carving completed after 4 months

***Movies of unique attractions taken at the market

****Andele's Dog House---A Mexican restaurant catering to patrons with dogs. Biscuit, Esperana & Ray's beloved pet, was honored in a memoriam and posted as the restaurant's Dog of the Week on FB. 

***Happy St. Patrick's Day

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January, 2022

Beginning our 7^th year in Las Cruces, we still find little things which amaze us—like a sign forbidding swimming in a dry Rio Grande riverbed--or a souped-up Wonder Woman car parked on a side street as we walk to the Saturday Market. 

It was surprising to discover that woodcarver, Johnnie, draws freehand most of the images on his walking sticks —only to find that he sells his hand-drawn and painted Christmas cards very unassumingly from the trunk of his car. “Did you study art in school?,” says I? A vigorous shake of the head and “I just picked it up,” he replies.

The Market never ceases to be of interest. A booth housing “The Society for Creative Anacronism” featured costumed members describing themselves as 'out of sync' with today's modern goings-on. Every Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm at the Field House of NMSU a few will meet for dueling matches (weather permitting). In addition to seeing that 'anacronism', a Saturday morning event for one family (of about 6 guys—all brothers, sons, fathers) was to walk their souped-up remote controlled cars down the Market streets en masse. Instead of a dog on leash (like many), they were “tooling” along the avenue with their remote cars on an electronic leash performing stunts.

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IMG_1258

January 1-2, 2022

We made two stops this trip to Las Cruces. 

1. Especially for our photography friends: Although we enjoyed being a kid again and riding the train through the Indiana Museum in Indianapolis, a very small exhibit of only 20 photographic images created wonder for us. An annual world-wide competition sponsored by Nikon features the winners of photography through the microscope. Some of It's A Small World winners:

   16^th place winner = nylon stocking

12^th place = human hair

2^nd place = embryonic development of a clownfish

1^st place = dorsal view of bones and scales (blue) and lymphatic vessels (orange) of a juvenile clownfish

2. Crystal Bridges, Bentonville, AK

   We little expected to be awed by the projected expansion of the aesthetically beautiful architecture of Crystal Bridges, a museum funded by the widow of Sam Walton (of Walmart fame). The plan is to enlarge its present structure by 65%. In the video the left three buildings are now in existence. We were delighted to find a new attraction: the Bachman-Wilson House constructed in the 1950's by Frank Lloyd Wright—meticulously deconstructed and rebuilt on the grounds. 

   https://crystalbridges.org/architecture/frank-lloyd-wright-bachman-wilson-house/

Road-106 Road-105 Road-104 Road-103 Road-102 Road-101 Road-201 IMG_1212_Live IMG_1228

August 1-7, 2021

*After driving all day we were thankful to arrive safely in Nashua with a swimming pool as a welcome respite for the boys: Jake and friend, Grayson.

*Monday morning brought us to Louise's—visiting Dennis' grave and helping her undo her beds for transport to FL.

*Monday afternoon Marie hosted an outdoor reunion of sisters/spouse (Lou's), nieces, and niece's boys. Frisbee and exploration of Greeley Park for the boys!

*Tuesday--off to Moody Beach, ME where Ben greeted us at Wheels 'n Waves Surf Shop on his 'one wheel'.

*Tuesday afternoon—surfing lesson with Mike. Reunion with David.

*Wednesday—miniature golf and more surfing. Reunion with Jimmy; dinner with Mike, Ben & his girls; go carts with Mike

*Thursday—rainy day, shopping at Kittery Trading Post, veg day/swimming pool

*Friday—Breakfast Lou's siblings; homeward bound

*Saturday—Stop at Glenn H. Curtiss Aviation Museum; safely home

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May, 2021

Excerpts from the chapter entitled, “Mother of Seas”, book:  No High Adobe by Dorothy L Pillsbury, published by The Lightning Tree.

“'You, Senora, must miss that ocean very much in this high dry country.'” Mrs. Apodaca remarks.

The author replies that she doesn't miss the sea:

“The Reason is that I still have a sea.......”

“......Cloud ships ply that overhead sea. Their white sails fill with all the winds as they skim on airy voyages.....At sunset, their mastheads shake out pennants and signal flags, whose code meanings I can only guess......”

“.......Against the soft gauze of northern mountains, a rainbow bridge is constructed in the purple mesa...”

“......Sometimes, at dawn and sunset, dream cities rear their battlements on sky islands. For the overhead sea has no shore line. That is its greatest charm. In spite of its immensity, it has moments when it sags close to earth as if it had a secret it wanted to whisper.......”

“The New Mexican sky is like no other.......It is alive, ever moving, given to dramatic violence and gentle whimsy......”

“......Companionship with the sea overhead grows richer with the years.”

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Four big hikes in one week; most were group hikes taken with our hiking buddies. Soon our snowbird hiking companions will be dispersing until next year--> with anticipation of new discoveries in 2022.

1. LBJ hike to Cloudcroft—8,000 ft+ elevation; the Osha Trail had lots of rocks, but it was a beautiful day—one highlight was the train trestle bridge, but it was a photo op only—hikers were forbidden on the trestle. History: Because of the altitude and abundance of trees making logging so prevalent around the the turn of the 20^th century, a railroad ran from Cloudcroft to Alamogordo. If the loaded train went too fast down the hill, it risked jumping the track; if too slow, the load would slide off. Engineers had to get it right!

2. Sierra Vista Trail—a trail which runs 13 miles from Las Cruces toward El Paso—we did a hike of +/- two miles—group hike thanks to Betsy.

3. Petroglyphs of Rincon—Group hike thanks to Carla and Tom who led us to these petroglyphs in the middle of nowhere, NM. 

4. City of Rocks State Park—Group hike to a park which features “geologic formations made up of large, sculptured rock columns, or pinnacles, rising as high as 40 feet and separated by paths or lanes resembling city streets” (per website).  Of course, we had to end up at the Adobe Deli, a restaurant only to be found in the likes of NM.

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Self-appointed docent of the dam's rock art, Susan takes every opportunity to point out the animals—large and small--created by Kathy Morrow, an artist in her own right. Each morning Kathy Morrow walks to the dam just after sunrise to work on images made from rocks, bottles, broken glass, and tiles. Her collection has taken years to create, and it is constantly in need of “sprucing up” due to vandals or wear and tear.

Below are a few videos taken on the dam walk with Susan, but the Kathy Morrow Studio's website is a much better representation of her extensive work.

Photo: Susan at the base of the lizard—the claws are wine bottles (to give perspective)

Video 1: the head of a bear, head of a ram, a heart

Video 2: a hummingbird, a zia symbol, a hawk

Video 3: a cougar, a lizard

https://www.kathymorrowstudio.com/rock-art---public-art-project.html

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Notice below Lou's capture of sky and clouds here in NM with a new b/w process he tried from an Akron Camera Club presentation by Cole Thompson—stunning sky was the result.

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The Land of Enchantment

In the midst of Coronavirus, New Mexico is still the Land of Enchantment. Diversity is still key to its charm and attraction: Shoshone homage to the land before a hike; homemade Thai egg and spring rolls; Western ballads; tile painting; millions of poppies. Such a plethora of awe!

Kayla's Shoshone homage: Before a hike to Soledad Canyon, Kayla, who is ½ Shoshone, explained that any Shoshone woman going out would wear a skirt—she wore one over her tights. A Shoshone woman would also wear moccasins—she wore hiking boots. After taking out a pouch of tobacco from her backpack she asked each of us to take a pinch of it. Then, she pulled a conch shell out from which she had whittled a hole. As we turned in each of the four compass direction points, she blew the conch. A moment of silent mediation was then offered up by each of us privately, and the tobacco brought down and placed onto the earth.

Wittara's homemade Thai egg and spring rolls: A bundle of energy is Wittara. If not serving at the local soup kitchen or learning painting/woodcarving/knitting, she is cooking. Luckily for us, we are the recipients of her generosity. The egg rolls—all ingredients freshly chopped—were the best we have tasted. The spring rolls were a dish never to be seen in any Thai restaurants we frequented. Served cold each one is mixture of greens, mushrooms, carrots, cooked chopped Thai rice noodles, and meat wrapped in an edible gelatinous, clear covering similar to the texture of saran wrap.

Dan, a neighbor on our street, travels a circuit throughout the USA entertaining 3-4 year-olds with his songs. His band, featured in the day-long Pat Garrett Festival, performed his original ballads and was a huge hit.

Esperanza's tile painting: Common ordinary white ceramic tiles are transformed into ones with amazing designs by layering different-colored mixtures of acrylics, glycerin, and floetrol.

Baylor Canyon--eye candy right now with millions of tiny poppies decorating the mountainsides. A hike there is indescribably delicious!

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February 15-22

2 weekends in a row—three big hikes! At a glance one would scan the Chihuahuan Desert and say,
“Ain't nothin' out there!” Oh, but there is SO much out there.

Hike #1, 2/15/20, Prehistoric Trackways National Monument—a second visit for us to this site within three years, and it is still just as fascinating to see history at our feet. The tracks of sea creatures identified by Colin Dunn, archaeologist, were readily visible as we walked the path within the monument. Unbeknownst to us all, there was the added entertainment of a parading off-road rally with souped-up 4-wheel drive vehicles rolling along our path; they maneuvered the path with their highly visible (and needed) shock absorbers. As bystanders we marveled their rides as similar to being inside a cement mixer or a carnival ride.

Hike #2, 2/16/20, Slot Canyon, Robledo Mts—a hike done once and never to be repeated with boulders to traverse 3 ft. high! To get to the hike, the Rio Grande River had to be traversed. Plastic bags over shoes didn't cut it. Thank goodness for extra footwear and strong arms to aid in some of the ascents. A challenge by all means!

Hike #3, 2/22/20, Lucero Wash Petroglyphs—Victory! Over the past 2+ years Lou has adopted the moniker of “Moses” because on at least ½ dozen occasions he has led varied subsets of our hiking buddies into the desert in search of the elusive Radium Springs petroglyphs—undiscovered by us until 2/22/20. Hooray to the dedicated!

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Three Rivers Petroglyph Site

Third time is the charm, and yesterday's third consecutive weekend hike with our hiking buddies was “icing on the cake”. When Fred sent a photo he had snapped of Lou at work with the remark “Can't wait to see your photos”, it was obvious that more than our usual 4-5 photos had to be posted.

What a blessing our hiking buddies are! Somebody pops up with an idea for a weekend hike, sends a global text, and all of a sudden a bunch of us are exploring a new trail with many wishing to conquer the heights of the knolls, mesas, and outcroppings of rock formations. Of course, as a culmination, there is always the question, as Tom so aptly states, “I'm starved; where are we going to eat?”

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Pena Blanca—our first hiking buddies' outing!

No pictures? Well, none of our own. Neither Lou nor I brought phones or cameras to record, but between all our hiking buddies, we have accumulated an anthology of the hike. At the tip of the Organ Mountains, this little gem—Pena Blanca—is tucked away in the middle of nowhere (like many hidden gems).

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VLA---Magdalena, NM

Off the radar until our very last overnight stay in a motel in Socorro, we glimpsed an attraction that made us stand up and take notice. About an hour out of our way to the west was the installation of a radio telescope array of 27 dish antennas in an interconnected Y-shape which sends signals back to Earth from deep space. The information is gathered and then sent to the Etscorn Observatory on the campus of NM Tech in Socorro for interpretation by astronomers from around the world. What we know about new galaxies, black holes, and other mysteries of deep space have been gleaned through a handful of installations of this type throughout the US. The VLA (Very Large Array) is in the middle of the desert far away from civilization in a bowl surrounded by a mountain range. It is an ideal location because it is dry (moisture can negatively affect the reception); there are no competing human electronic waves to interfere with reception; and the mountain “bowl” cuts off ambient distracting waves allowing the dishes to zero in on deep-space radio waves.

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Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

Millions of birds! Migration from the Northern Canadian Rockies has been taking place since October. We saw thousands of snow geese and Sandhill cranes congregated on fields and lakes, feeding by day in the fields and protected from predators while they slept on the water at night.

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“Angels' share”, “slurry”, “pigmash”, “rickhouse”! Were we entering a foreign land with a foreign language? Yep, it seemed so! It is bourbon country, and when our guide described the world's largest “steeel”, it took a minute or two before it sunk in that he was describing a still. Barton's 1792 Distillery—the name's history would fill this page, but somewhere along the way, the “1792” was tagged on to it because it was in that year that Kentucky became a state!

From the land of bourbon we traveled to the land of solitude, the Abbey of Gethsemani—serenity plus. One Day, a film in the Visitor Center depicting a day in the life of a Trappist monk, evoked the comment, “They sure do pray a lot” from Lou. Richly active from 3:00 am to evening, the monks' products line the shelves of the gift shop. We left the Abbey with their homemade fruitcake and homemade bourbon pecan fudge.

Throwing hot rolls across the room by a server to hungry guests whose hands are raised waiting for the catch; sashaying servers with soup pots of fried okra, or fried potatoes, or macaroni and tomatoes......etc. These are the additional complements to the hearty menu items served at Lambert's in Sikeston, Mo. Bonnie ordered a light item, a chef salad! Ha! She took home enough for 2 more meals.

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July 24, 2019

The last 30 years of the 19^th century in Wyoming were lawless years. Butch Cassidy, oldest of 13 children and raised in a loving Mormon family, was taught to use a gun by a neighbor for whom he worked. Cowhand work was plentiful at that time on the range until one frigid winter killed off a good percentage of each rancher's herds. Cowhands were jobless and began rustling the large conglomerates which had swooped down to confiscate bankrupt small-time ranchers and force sales of their properties. Butch Cassidy was one of the rustlers, and he was imprisoned for that crime for nearly two years in the Wyoming Territorial Prison. After his release he became a Robin Hood of sorts—robbing from the banks and big bosses but leaving the little guy alone. He organized the Wild Bunch, a group of outlaws he selected to run the Outlaw Trail with him, a trail that reached from Montana south through Wyoming and Utah. Butch Cassidy was never caught for his many crimes of bank robbing and raids on large ranches. He escaped to live in South America until his death.

The prison was always in need of food stuffs, supplies and cash. Therefore, its inmates worked from morning til supper on various endeavors to bring in currency. The most successful industry was broom making.

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July 23, 2019

Passing through the Tetons!

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July 21-23

Rustic! That's the way to describe the Old Faithful Inn With violin or piano performers playing on the 2^nd floor inside veranda every evening, tunes wafted throughout the three-story log behemoth built at the birth of the 20^th century. The rooms are dormitory style with bathroom/shower facilities at the end of the hall. Jake would have none of it, but Bonnie reminisced the days of college antics when the floor plan was the same, and an unsuspecting shower goer would have a bucket of cold water dumped onto her from the stall next door. Rising early morning and perching on the outside veranda to view Old Faithful erupting faithfully every 90 minutes was a treat that will be long remembered.

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July 20, 2019

Every summer evening in Cody, WY a rodeo attracts hundreds of people. It was refreshing to have the announcer start the evening with a prayer followed by a patriotic poem, and lastly by singing the Star Spangled Banner. The rodeo was surely a family event with a hilarious clown and announcer interacting all evening; midway through the evening all the children were called down to the rodeo ring to attempt to pull the flag from two calves let loose once all children were assembled on the field.

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July 19, 2019

After leaving Keystone (Road Scholar) we made our way northwest toward Devil's Tower, WY. Stopping along Spearfish Canyon's deep-walled trail access, we hiked its pristine mountain stream spotting trout at every turn. There were two very different falls to view—Roughneck and Spearfish. A short drive west from Spearfish brought us to Devil's Tower. Our original intent was to hike around its perimeter, but we were thoroughly entertained by Jake's dogged determination to climb as high on the boulder field as the park allowed.

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July 18, 2019/Day 4

Mammoth Hot Springs & Evans Plunge

• Active archeological dig at Mammoth Hot Springs—ancient deep watering hole beckoned mammoths (Columbian & Wooly), but they lost their balance, slipped in, then were trapped and drowned due to steep sides. All bones are real, not fabricated, and in the place of their discovery. Tour was followed by a junior paleo excavation.

• Evan's Plunge—enjoyed an indoor/outdoor waterpark supplied by underground hot (really just warm) underground springs.

• Farewell Banquet—the girls in the Road Scholar program decided they wanted a group photo with Jake.

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July 17, 2019/Day 3

Badlands & Robert Yellowhawk

*Exploring the Badlands

*Wall Drug—offering free water and 5-cent coffee in the 1930's rocketed this mega-store to a modern

tourist haven. Free bumper stickers help, too!

*Journey Museum, Rapid City—our group was divided into two entities and had to imagine we were packing our conestoga wagon with necessities for the trip out West and survival after we arrived.

*An evening with Robert Yellowhawk—stories, songs, and dance—can you believe that it took him and his wife a year to make his dance outfit? Needing to be a registered member of a Native American Tribe (his is Dakota Sioux) he could apply to the government for an eagle. After a 5- year wait it was shipped to him frozen.

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July 16, 2019/Day 2

Mt. Rushmore/Crazy Horse

*Viewing Mt. Rushmore

*Alpine Slide

*Viewing Crazy Horse

*Enjoying the evening sky outside our resort

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July 15, 2019/Day 1

Exploring Custer State Park--Iron Mountain Road

*Climbing the rocks to get good views of Mt. Rushmore

*Stopping at the Peter Norbeck Outdoor Educational Center in Custer State Park to learn how the Lakota/Dakota peoples used buffalo parts for their everyday existence

*Buffalo, prairie dog, and wild burro sightings

*Horseback Riding

*Exercise on “scaling” (drawing to scale) Mt. Rushmore

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Sturgis:

Passing through Sturgis we had to take a photograph or two! Banners lined the main street greeting bikers in preparation for Bike Week in August.

Deadwood:

The atmosphere is of late 1800's Wild West, but two Starbucks Coffee stores within a few blocks belie the thirst for tourist dollars. Taking Boothill Tours we were treated to the lore of the town which began in a gulch and sprung to boast a population of 12,000 almost overnight. Of course, brought to legend by the dime novels--so popular at that time--Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane were rocketed to stardom. Contrary to rumor that Jane was his lover, Wild Bill was dedicated to his wife. Never wearing a holster, he held his guns butt first in a sash around his waist. His first tombstone was pilfered; his second made of wood has pieces/parts pilfered; his present one of bronze is encased within a fence.

Lead:

Lead (pronounced "leed") is the home to the Homestake Mine which made George Hearst (William Randolph Hearst's father/Patty Hearst's grandfather) filthy rich. The mine, which closed in 2002, is now the home of the Sanford Lab, a renowned research center. Today, the town of Lead prides itself on its history and its research. Jake panned for gold prior to our extremely interesting tour of the Black Hills Mining Museum.

What was your favorite part of the day, Jake?

“Gold panning”

What was your favorite part of the day, Lou?

“Gold panning”

What was your favorite part of the day, Bonnie?

“Gold panning”

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Rapid City, SD

July 12, 2019

Jake's favorite: The Skydome's hundreds of snake lairs—we did that circuit TWICE —his favorite was the venomous green mamba: Green Mamba Snake

Lou's favorite: The flower gardens which reminded him of Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC.

Bonnie's favorite: The alligator show.

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Route 240 near Rapid City, SD

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July 9-10

Pipestone National Monument

This area is a sacred site to the Dakota and Lakota Peoples. The pipestone quarried here was used by ancestors to make pipes used in ceremonies offering prayers up through the smoke. Native families today join in quarrying the elusive catlinite pipestone which is buried under layers and layers of quartzite. Per the ranger, Lou's Boy Scout ceremonial pipestone may not be catlinite but a different type of pipestone quarried in Ohio.

Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village

This is an active archeological site. Students spend their summers meticulously seeking secrets of the past.

Corn Palace

Simply an amazing endeavor!

Roadside Rest—Gift to Dakotas

The inscription on this huge statue is entitled  “Dignity—of Land and Water” and overlooks the Missouri River.

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July 7-8, 2019

Wow! Wisconsin's summer playground is here in Wisconsin Dells. A combination of the glitz of Niagara Falls' main street and Myrtle Beach's sprawling resorts, every type of entertainment is available in this summertime mecca. We may have experienced 1/1,000^th of the offerings.

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Studebaker National Museum

South Bend, Indiana

What a boon the Studebaker brothers contributed to the growth of South Bend, Indiana! Starting out as blacksmiths; evolving into carriage makers; and then finally becoming car manufacturers—the company exuded high quality conveyances throughout its 1852-1966 reign. Renowned for its quality Presidential carriages, many presidents in the mid 1800's used Studebaker carriages (including President Lincoln) for transport from one location to another. In the Muppet Movie it was a Studebaker whose trunk was altered creating a hidden steering column so that it looked like the Muppets were driving instead of a human. What a quality museum! What a proud history!

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Green Bay, WS

April 12-13, 2019

On with the show! “Theater” was the theme of this wedding with the bride and groom being married on stage in a movie theater repleate with popcorn, drinks, and candy laid out in the lobby for guests to grab as they entered and to munch during the “I do's”.

The rehearsal dinner became a birthday party for the newlywed's 1-year-old son. So unique.

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Week of April 7, 2019

Lou loves to hike! So......at Bosque del Apache we hiked; at Garden of the Gods we hiked; at Taos Pueblo we walked!

Near Albuquerque at Bosque del Apache we expected to see wetlands—Rio Grande wetlands—and we did—but not right away. The Canyon Trail hike at Bosque was much like all our desert hikes with one exception—mining bees. Because it was a hot day, Bonnie asked Lou to stand in the shade of the cliff so she could get a picture of all the holes in its wallface. Close enough to blow into a hole, Lou darted away after swatting at an insect and hearing Bonnie read the guide stating that the holes were the homes of myriads of bees. Hmmmm! The highlight of our hike was the rising in elevation until we reached its summit and saw the vista—the entire preserve laid in front of us as far as the eye could see. Eye candy!

Taos Pueblo—so unique! It is a community of registered Native Americans electing to live the way their ancestors did 400 years ago—that is to say without running water or electricity (their water source is a mountain stream which runs through the middle of the pueblo). They also make their own adobe bricks which includes constantly repairing their homes; they bake in hornos; and they live a hunter/gatherer lifestyle. About 150 members live in the pueblo and about 30 children call Taos Pueblo their home. The pueblo school goes up to 6^th grade. Other Native Americans living in the surrounding area around the pueblo are not considered pueblo residents because they have modern conveniences. The pueblo is an elective community with its members choosing to live with their ancestoral customs, governing hierarchy, and religious rites.

Garden of the Gods—Colorado Springs, CO—red rocks of sandstone and white rocks of limestone lie side by side—mountain climbers challenge the rock faces—crazy rock formations are at every turn. How did the Garden of the Gods get its name? Two early explorers who first laid their eyes on the site made comments: 1). “I think a beer garden should be set up here.” 2.) “This place is fit for the gods.” Hence the name Garden of the Gods stuck!

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April 5, 2019

By the time we left Las Cruces three different woodcarvers including Lou eagerly wondered, “Will Ed be in attendance today?,” but en route home we were shocked and saddened to discover that his kind instruction would never be an element of our Wednesday/Friday gatherings again.

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April 7, 2019

Until next year... We will miss you!

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March 23, 2019

“I wonder what the green clumps of foliage are on the trees”, Lou asked as we walked along the dry Rio Grande River in early January. We got the answer to that question three months later on a ranger-led hike of Camp Robledo. On that hike we discovered that Camp Robledo is not and never was a camp at all. Rather, it is an ecological plot of land restored to the natural state it was in during a period of time when the Camino Real was the only pathway into the wilds—when Onate brought wagonloads full of Spanish settlers from Mexico into a new territory. Standing there looking over the endless prairie grass and native plants of the time, we thought......”Hmmm, this is what they saw for miles and miles as they traveled.....we could do that!” Realistically, could we? “No, not really”!

What Lou, Pat, Susan, and Bonnie learned from Alex Mares, our ranger, on the 4-hour hike:

1. 1. 1. Camp Robledo is the only ecological site in the Southwest which is in its native state and looks like it did when the settlers were driving through,

      2. Salt cedar trees, decorative shrubs imported from overseas, have wreaked havoc to the natural habitat salinating the ground and choking out natural undergrowth,

      3. The control of the Rio Grande has been a death knell to the many native poplar trees which relied on the flooding to restore nutrition,

      4. Tumbleweed was imported from Russia as type of winter wheat to hold the soil along the Rio Grande from erosion; it multiplied and multiplied.

      5. The clumps of green, of which Lou wondered, are a parasitic growth which will only grow on weak trees, and this parasite, the mistletoe, sucks the life out these trees. Mistletoe growing on a tree is a sign that it is dying.

So, you wouldn't think that mistletoe, a winter icon, and tumbleweed, a desert icon, would be together in New Mexico---but they are living side by side.

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March 26, 2019

“You're in the Army now!” Not really, but we felt like it. Susan gave us the moniker of “Three Potato Heads” as we walked toward our vehicles after a morning of bagging potatoes—hundreds of potatoes—thousands of potatoes. This month it was potatoes; last month it was zucchini, and in January it was kiwi. It's always a mystery as to what is going to be delivered by the semi tractor trailer, which deposits food in bulk from a food bank monthly at the Eastside Senior Center for distribution to the needy.

With 5 senior citizen centers in Las Cruces and each one hosting one such food give-away a month, that's a lot of food! 10-15 regular volunteers show up to organize, distribute, or “walk” a cart with each person eligible. For the past three months Betsy, Susan, and Bonnie have spent a morning a month distributing food—or should we say “bagging groceries”, or walking carts, or handing out delicious fresh foods.

How do we feel afterward? As delicious as the food we distribute!

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THE HILLS ARE ALIVE ... not with the Sound of Music, but with the view of poppies. Millions of them are in bloom and line the desert lands near the Organ Mountains along Baylor Canyon Road.

Plus, he didn't realize the reels were turning and recording when he tried his daring stone stepping to the waterfall on our hike at Fillmore Canyon!

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Zuhl Museum

March 13, 2019

We have been wintering in Las Cruces for four years now and had never visited this place until now.

http://zuhlmuseum.nmsu.edu/about-the-zuhls/ 

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March 10, 2019

In the middle of No-wheres-ville, NM in the middle of the desert on a seemingly deserted road stands the Adobe Deli—with a full parking lot, by the way. A mini “House on the Rock” (https://www.thehouseontherock.com/exhibits/)with a menu suitable to “The Unique”, this place is another stand-out for local color. Movie stars the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Johnny Depp during movie shoots have spent an evening shooting the breeze with locals while sitting on a battered leather couch in a room chock full of antiques from floor to ceiling. Its evolution from a school to a post office to its current Adobe Deli is thanks to a Norwegian entrepreneur who saw a vision of what it could be.

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Weekend of February 24, 2019

Saturday, 2/24: “I would like to take my D3s camera with my wide-angle lens back to Slot Canyon,” said Lou, and away we went on another road trip toward the town of Hatch. You would think that we had a pretty good idea of navigating the trail, but as we age, both our senses of direction are beginning to diminish.. How we ended up back in Slot Canyon going down (which was much more challenging than going up) is anyone's guess, but we managed to find our way back to the truck.

Our next stop was a return to Hatch, NM, Chile Capital of the World. Supposedly the best chile peppers in the world are grown around this area. On this trip Sparky's, a notorious restaurant for the best chile cheeseburger, was open. This restaurant has a reputation. It has accumulated many discarded statues from defunct establishments with the statues mounted atop its roof and abreast the sidewalk across the street. A walk along the sidewalks of Hatch feature a plethora of small shops displaying ristras of chile peppers and Mexican knickknacks.

Sunday, 2/25: So, after an earlier off-hand conversation about arrowheads with Tom, one of our hiking buddies who is an avid collector and sells memorabilia at card shows in CA and Vegas, we found ourselves visiting David, a long-time resident of Las Cruces who has a number of found arrowhead collections. Needless to say, after the visit we all loaded into the SUV and tooled over to the west mesa sand dunes outside Las Cruces looking for arrowheads. Spending about 2 hours and having gathered pocketfuls of anticipated rock treasures, we presented them to David. He let us know, ”They are just rocks”. However, the one treasure which was truly a treasure was found by Tom, our collector. He found an ancient mano but only half of it. If you look at the link below and pinpoint the round mano, it is exactly what Tom found cut in half--a wonderful afternoon in the desert.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mano_(stone)

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First hike of the season with our hiking buddies

February 18, 2018

Hmmm. The cars are parked by the road; people are walking on the trail, but the gate is locked with barbed wire fencing running along either side. To be baptized onto the Slot Canyon Trail, those embarking must climb the gate. All eight of us 65+ year-olds scampered over the gate without hazard. Unlike most desert hikes, this one was truly unique. Instead of normal desert landscape we encountered the cool walls of a deep canyon. Easily with a backpack you rubbed its sides. Once through the canyon, our men bushwhacked us through the desert scrub to our vehicles. First hike—a huge success!

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WOOD CARVING 6 WEEKS IN!

Our Wednesday and Friday mornings at wood carving got a slow start mainly because many mornings were spent socializing and catching up on a year's worth of news with our carving friends. Lou is working on his “little men”. He brought three cut-outs with him, the first of which is as cute as can be, but he is not happy with the arms/hands. His second one has arms which he feels are more realistic, but he accidentally cut off the little guy's nose (oh well, what little guy doesn't get a broken nose sometime throughout his life?). Bonnie took quite some time drawing her symbols and carving out different shadow areas, but now that wood burning has begun, every spare moment is spent perfecting the art on her pedestal kachina. Next comes adding color!

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It's Not Santa Fe, But.........

http://www.kathymorrowstudio.com/

Click on the above link, and you will see the works of an artist in residence living in Las Cruces down the street from the home of our “hiking buddies”, Pat and Susan. This delightful couple took us for a walk last night along the levee across from their home. Kathy Morrow, who is the owner of the link above, showers the edges of that levee path with scene after scene of her rock art....created and maintained as she walks her dog daily. What a hidden gem! Unlike the works of art she has for sale on her website, this rock art is artistic talent freely given to the walkers who frequent the path! Do you see a wolf, a bear on a feather, a butterfly, and an owl face?

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National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

Oklahoma City, OK

We got lost in here! Literally. How do we find the exit? Each gallery led to another and another and another! To describe the plethora of memorabilia from the REAL West to the fantasized (of the movies) West would be a weak attempt. For example, there was an entire gallery of barbed wire types. Think of this gallery as a huge kitchen with vertical thin cupboards. Pull out the hand pull, and you are looking at one of 1,300 different types of barbed wire. Talk about detail! Within the museum was a fabricated town from the frontier days. How could we not take a picture of the photo studio?

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The City Museum of St. Louis

What gives the impression that this is going to be an unique experience? Could it be that the bannisters of the staircase are made of painted auto shock absorbers? This museum is one of found objects. Buildings long gone and torn down but their artistic architecture are saved on its walls. Walls made of bottles, printers' die cuts, mirrors, muffin tins, warming dishes, and old photographic slides. By the way the entire museum is a child's playground including the roof. Unique!

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The Ark Encounter

Williamstown, KY

Massive, impressive, probing, mission driven—that's the Ark. The displays are a wonder in themselves, and they are numerous. To think that the myriad lines of cages holding life-size extinct species are all made from styrofoam gives the mind pause especially viewing the final product with fur, hair, whiskers, eyes. Much to see and much to process!

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“The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth”

July 11-12

Attendance at the Calgary Stampede for Summer 2018 = 1.27 million over a 10-day period! Yes, it is the biggest rodeo in the world. 17,000 people pack the grandstand daily for each afternoon rodeo show and another 17,000 for the evening chuck wagon races followed by the grandstand show and fireworks. Not only do the grounds house the grandstand, but a midway with rides and concessions which rival the Ohio State Fair lure old and young alike. Pavilions house dog and horse shows; musical entertainment abounds; and the Indian Village which has been an integral part of the Stampede since its inception in 1912 is vibrant with demonstrations and performances. The Young Canadians, a group of youths ranging in age from 11-18, are featured performers of synchronized routines throughout the grandstand show. The Calgary Grandstand Show is full of glitz and talent, and it rivals many Vegas shows we have seen on the Strip. Cowboy boots and hats abound at this venue!

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July 7-9

Millions of conifers, powder blue streams, and emerald green lakes fill Banff National Park. Through the knowledge of Hugh Southee, one of our guides, we discovered that the different water colors are from the tiny granules of quartzite silt, and that water color—whether powder blue or emerald green—was determined by the swiftness of water movement. The slower the movement--> more green the water; the faster the movelemt--> the more powder blue. We also learned that the beauty of these mountains comes from their origins as sedimentary rocks turned metamorphic.

From glaciers, visible along road travel, to thundering canyons to emerald-green lakes to majestic mountains to lady slippers and orchids, the scenery was eye candy.

Can you believe that the park has overhead bridges for the animals to cross the road? Do the Canadians think of everything? In order to keep the animals from getting hit, fences line the the highway, and the bridges are a means for animals to cross from one side of the highway to the other.

At Lake Louise a young, third generation traveler (mother/daughter/granddaughter) within our group brought out her ukulele and played a melody echoing her voice through the beauty of the scene before us.

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Banff

It all started with a hole in the ground. Three prospectors in the 1800's worried if they should attempt to explore that dark, smelly hole. What a boon they found! Hot water! Enter the railroad which saw $$$ if it chose this place as stop-over for the newly planned Canadian transcontinental railroad where it would place a hotel and offer hot springs' baths to its travelers. Endangered snails found only in Banff find their homes in these sulfuric hot springs, but tropical fish (mollies) deposited here by a gentleman who tired of his aquarium thrive throughout the frigid winters and can be seen in the flats.

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Santa Fe, NM

March 11, 2018

A week ago today we spent an exhilarating morning at Meow Wolf's House of Eternal Return.  We met Bonnie's college roommate the day prior, and spent an afternoon with her at the Georgia O'Keefe Museum.  Both museums represent creators who were "out of the box" for their time; both reinforced the notion that it is ok to be wild once in awhile and to follow your heart.  

When we arrived at opening at Meow Wolf there was a line; when we left, the line was twice as long.  Moral of the story:  if you plan to go, get there at opening.  

The best part of the weekend was spent being with Bonnie's former college roommate, Lynn.

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The Holy Spirit of God rested upon our two months in Las Cruces.

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March, 2018

We met Anthe Ruth last year! At that time we saw her at Woodcarvers every session we attended. At the end of our stay she gave us oven towels she had made—the ones which hang from an oven or refrigerator handle. This year we discovered the wonderful relationship she has with her son.

Travel back in time 50 years. Macrame was the fad. Anthe and her son published a book of phenomenal macrame creations, each one he had designed and built. Traveling forward in time she and her son started a venture of photographing melting flowers after having been frozen in a pail of water. The photographs were sold in a Santa Fe shop. Today, her son is a doctor. Today, Anthe continues her art in the form of wood carving.

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March 1, 2018

From Bonnie:

It all started when David brought turquoise rocks into Woodcarvers and made them available to anyone present. Israel took a hammer to one big piece, and I became the recipient of a topper for my wizard walking stick. The problem was that the piece I took was too big to fit into the carved-out hole atop the stick. “Our grandson has a tumbler”, says I. Many warnings came after that statement--with a suggestion that I take the turquoise to the main senior center, the Munson Center, where it could be ground down by someone in the lapidary lab. That is where I met Jim.

“Oh no,” said Jim. “If you put this turquoise into a tumbler, it will be mud when you take it out. Thus began a lesson on rocks. He showed me a thunder egg. “A thunder egg?,” said I. “Yes,” replied Jim, “it got that name from the Native Americans. After a heavy thunderstorm and rain, the Native Americans would find these rocks in the desert, and believed that that gods had thrown them down from the sky.”

Enthralled by the story and his explanation of the rock's contents, I immediately thought of Jake and his rock collection. “Would you be willing to sell that rock to me so that that I can give it to our grandson?”, said I. He handed it to me and told me it was mine.

“We don't do money here,” said he. We trade. I owe him a wood carving next year.

Lapidary Jim

David's Living Museum

It's his home, but it is a museum. There is a story behind every treasure in David's house, and the story is as treasured as the piece he shows us. “The children came here—from the school—the bus brought them,” he told us. Why? His home is a living heritage which comes alive through his telling.

One story is as follows: David received a cold call from a Native American who discovered that David had accumulated over the years quite a collection of arrowheads from the desert; David accomplished this by looking for their sheen on the walls of arroyos after a wind storm. This Native American's objective was to obtain an arrowhead for a deceased loved one. Inside the coffin would be placed 2 jars—one for drink and one for meal as nourishment for the journey to the hereafter. The arrowhead would be placed in the folded hands of the deceased for use on the hunt along his journey.

As a result of the phone call, three Native American strangers knocked on David's door. As he welcomed them into his home, two of the men took interest in viewing the arrowheads right away, but one sat quietly not saying a word but visibly agitated. Time passed, and David kept glancing at the solemn, seated gentleman becoming increasingly aware of the discomfort he displayed. Finally, the man approached David with an inquiry about his house. He was particularly interested in a feeling he was experiencing from the back portion of it—an area unbeknownst to the visitor which can be considered David's display room. Giving the man permission to go into the back room, David waited with the others in the living room. After quite some time, the stranger emerged from the back room and approached David asking David permission to bless his house. Sure. The man moved from room to room bestowing a blessing upon each, and then ended by blessing David. David was honored.

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Roxanna

On Tuesday, March 6, Roxanna presents her 7 ft + rattlesnake carving to the local high school. Her offer to the school was, “In return for foraging the school grounds for wood, I'll do a carving and donate it to the school for its display case.” One piece was the perfect size to carve as a rattlesnake, the school's mascot.

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Border Patrol

“Illegals from Mexico” immediately comes to mind when the term “Border Patrol” is used, but every state in the union has a Border Patrol region which has agents working within it—a fact shocking to us. What is also striking is that per the Bracero Program initiated in 1942 and ending in the late '60's, the US warmly welcomed Mexicans into this country as laborers. This information and much more is housed in the Border Patrol Museum, a stop we made on a personalized tour by hiking buddies, Pat and Susan. They spent the day showing us the sights of El Paso and sharing first-hand stories told by their son who is a Border Patrol agent. At a look-out point at the southern tip of the Franklin Mountains, El Paso and adjacent Juarez, Mexico, span as far as the eye can see. However, what stands out on the near horizon of Juarez is a huge red, red, red “X” or “La Equis” sculpture designed by Sebastian. It is a symbol using two intersecting towers merging in an “X” shape to represent the merging of 2 cultures of Mexico: the indigenous Aztecs and the Spanish. After a full day of sight seeing, Lou and Susan agreed that the rellenos (stuffed Mexican peppers) were the best at the Sabertooth restaurant in El Paso. Bonnie and Pat stuck with milder fares. A fantastically informative day spent with friends!

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hosted by the Southwest Environmental Center

A 40-minute drive to the border wall between Mexico and the US on a windy, winter day initiated a feeling of desolation in about 20 of us huddled around Kevin Bixby, our leader, as we absorbed the magnitude of initiating the building of a border wall spanning the entire border. We witnessed both vehicle walls and mesh and bollard pedestrian walls. We learned of the hazards regarding migration amongst the myriads of animals which roam the desert landscape (including jaguars, deer, long-horned sheep to name only a few). New Mexicans are staunchly opposed to the wall for that reason and for the disregard of all of the protectionist legislations which are waived in order to build this wall; they are not opposed to ending illegal crossings but are in favor of a stronger Border Patrol presence and other methods of detecting illegals from entering. Presently, Congress has funding to build 20 miles of new wall—a site we visited where its construction is slated to begin March, 2018, but the present administration wants $25 billion to complete the wall along the entire border. If granted more funding, the first construction will be a 3-mile stretch which spans the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, a bird sanctuary. Pedestrian walls are now 18 ft tall, but the proposed new walls will be 30 ft high. “One injustice does not justify another”, Kevin Bixby said as he related how Washington is holding hostage the “dreamers” in return for a border wall.

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Las Cruces New Mexico Pastimes

Cracking Nuts: Las Cruces is pecan country, and groves of pecan trees spread throughout the valleys. It's not unusual to see flooded groves during the growing season or to see smoke rise on the horizon from the fires burning off the trimmed branches and detritus during the off season. Hulling the nuts from the shells is no easy task regardless of whether or not they are commercially cracked at a local pecan factory or not.

Rolling on the River: When it rains, huge ponds form on the dry Rio Grande River, and the weekend warriors bring their trucks, jeeps, and SUV's for meet-ups. What do they do? They rev their motors and put the pedal to the metal to splash through those ponds just as kids ride their bikes full speed through rain puddles. Remember when? Imagine it in a jeep, and magnify the water puddle a thousand times!

New shelling pecans Hulling pecans

New rolling on the river

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February 16, 2018

Meet Ray. He has never had an art course in his life, but he can draw nearly anything—and the result looks real. Growing up in a neighborhood with problems, his mother disallowed her boys from “hanging out”. Rather she provided them with a workshop and the tools to make models. Today, Ray makes the most intricate dioramas, draws and paints the most realistic pictures, and can create or re-create anything shown to him. Check out Ray's WWII diorama: Link to Dioramas

Drawings Painting rhino scratch building

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Texas

February 8, 2018

Hueco means “hollow”, and this state park is filled with huecos which fill when it rains (tanks). This habitat is so unusual for the desert with the existence of live oaks, salamanders, and frogs (seasonal) in addition to cacti, mesquite, and amaranth, one of the most nutritious grains to be found in the world . It's no wonder that after 200 shovel digs, archeologists have found life 90 cm under the paths we walked to arrive at sites of pictographs and petroglyphs. Wondering what the difference was between a pictograph and petroglyph, we were told by Alex Mares, our ½ Navajo guide, that a pictograph is painted, but a petroglyph is carved. Looking at the walls of rock, our first thought was that graffiti was covering the ancient artwork, but we were informed that a date prior to 1906 (National Park System) and 1945 (Texas State Parks) is not considered graffiti because it is a part of history and may have been carved by Texas rangers, stage coach passengers, or Pony Express riders. At the beginning of our hike we were humbled when told we were entering sacred ground; prior to his introduction Alex had privately asked a blessing upon all of us (which he said every Navajo is expected to do prior to entering sacred ground). “What makes this sacred ground?” He responded with an analogy: a judge was asked, “How do you define pornography?”; answer: “I know it when I see it.”

huecos Hueco Tanks vegetation _DSC1161 Pictographs & petroglyphs masks crash pads

February 9, 2018

Wood Carvers

Wittara and Ki are huddled together working on some type of project. What's happening? Ki explains, “I'm showing Wittara how to make a dream catcher from a devil's claw. These devil's claw grow outside my backyard and are growing wild throughout the desert. They propagate not by the wind taking their seeds but by hoofed horses or cattle entangling a devil's claw on its hoof and carrying it distances before it drops away.”

Devil's Claw

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February 3, 2018

Leasburg State Park

The Native Americans knew! The settlers didn't. By subtle changes in the color of the landscape or plant growth, those eyes of the Native Americans could gauge how to travel through the desert without succumbing to thirst. It helps that the water table is high which answers the question, “Why is there water in the Rio Grande when it is dammed?” The river above the dam has NO water at all, but below the dam it does. Why is that? Explained to us by Alex Mares, ½ Navajo ranger guide, the water you see below the dam is not river water at all but ground water seeping through the mud.

Water in the desert

Flower Making

Hugs! Lou and I shared smiles and warm hugs with Ray and Esperanza. Sharing in the woodcarving experience with them last year, we finally met up with them a week into our stay in Las Cruces. This couple has more talent in their little fingers than Lou and I have in our entire bodies collectively.

Esperanza's latest venture is flower making, an art she learned from her cousin who took classes in Mexico. She offered to show how the procedure is followed, and after one morning of observation, the product was a stunning arrangement of colorful flowers which NEVER fade.

Welcome back pasta fransesa Drying leaves and flowers Arrangement Completed Arrangements

Meet Teresa

Upon entering Woodcarvers early in our sojourn here in Las Cruces, we were awed by the detail Teresa put into the cross she carved. Each quadrant of the cross had a beautiful carving upon it. Because she was one of the last to leave today we were aware that David had left her a kachina. With David being so generous with his carvings, we asked if he had given it to her. The answer was that she commissioned him to carve the kachina. She said that this same kachina if sold in Santa Fe would have a price tag of $1,000 and in Albuquerque about $700. “With the detail you put into your cross, you could carve the same.” She humbly smiled. Earlier in the morning David informed us that he had started and finished the carving on Superbowl Sunday. Asking, “How did you do the feathers?” The answer: “popsicle sticks.”

Teresa Teresa's cross Detail on cross David's kachina

February 2, 2018

Lesson 201: Kachinas. The first person we meet when we walk into Woodcarvers is Jim. We smile appreciatively at his completed corn maiden kachina. “The face is wrong; I have to sand it down, and repaint it,” he tells us. “What do you mean when you say it is wrong?,” we query. It looked good to us. “She has a mouth, and kachinas need to have a mask,” he replies. This is what he is says as he shows us David's corn maiden kachina which does have a mask. It just so happens that Manny is working on a clothespin sun kachina. He made this kachina from a clothespin, beverage stirrer sticks, a couple wooden discs from Hobby Lobby, a piece of leather, and small dowels. Wonder—does his kachina have a mask? It looks like it has a mouth. “No, he tells us; that is not a mouth; it is a nose.”

Insert from Wikipedia:

Many Pueblo Indians, particularly the Hopi and Zuni, have ceremonies in which masked men, called kachinas, play an important role. Masked members of the tribe dress up as kachinas for religious ceremonies that take place many times throughout the year. These ceremonies are social occasions for the village, where friends and relatives are able to come from neighboring towns to see the "dance" and partake in the feasts that are always prepared. When a Hopi man places a mask upon his head and wears the appropriate costume and body paint, he believes that he has lost his personal identity and has received the spirit of the kachina he is supposed to represent. Besides the male kachinas are many female kachinas called kachin-manas, but women never take the part of male and female kachinas.

For more on the legend of the corn maiden kachina:

https://www.palmstrading.com/corn-maiden/

http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/Blue_Corn_Maiden_And_The_Coming_Of_Winter-Hopi.html

corn maiden kachina sun kachina

“Once in a Blue Moon”

Google saves the day again! “What IS a blue moon?” Ahhh, Google answers that it is a full moon twice in one month. Looking out our picture window a couple days ago we were awed by the sight of the first full moon rising over the Organ Mountains. Drat the luck; we weren't ready to catch that magical moment on film! However, with news of a blue moon occurring the next night, we were revved to wait for a moonrise over the Organ Mountains. With Lou's telephoto and Bonnie's split-toning, and most importantly, God's natural beauty as a subject, we have results.

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Wednesday, January 31, 2018

What a fascinating day it was today at Woodcarvers! First of all, David brought in a “talking stick” and explained that he carved and burned it for a school counselor—the talking stick is held by only one person, and that person is the only one allowed to speak in the room. When a student is given the talking stick, only that student speaks until he/she hands the stick to somebody else. Secondly, Bob brought us a completed metal hummingbird sculpture we requested he make for one of our hanging baskets at home. His home-made vice is another daily reminder to us of his creativity. It rivals any vice we have ever seen.

Lesson 101 (upon arrival a couple weeks ago): “For your wood burner, make a stand using plywood and nails,” instructs David and shows us his model of scrap plywood, nails protruding diagonally from the wood, holding an idle, harmless, hot burner. Lou made a similar stand last week with a few nails he found around the house. Today, David brought in a wood burner stand—“For you” he said, “I make these all the time for people.” I think we will trash the first one! Wouldn't you say?

Meet Ki. Her most recent walking stick has no carving at all but is all done with a wood burner. To achieve the shading, she uses an extremely tiny burner tip.

Talking Stick Hummingbirds Bobs vice burner stand Ki IMG_1961

January 28, 2018—Mesilla, NM

Imagine this! We are on a Sunday afternoon walk along a trail hugging the Rio Grande River hiking a gentle path from Mesilla to Las Cruces. It's sunny; the temps are about 65 degrees—nothing special—just an afternoon hike! The Rio Grande is nearly dry this time of year, but it has pockets of thigh-high water. We come upon a thicket of reeds and mesquites where a young couple is beating bushes and their surrounding waters with sticks. Here the water is deep but not above their waders. We have NO idea what is going on. We walk on. Upon our return after about 20 minutes we notice that the man is walking in the middle of the water with a compound bow, and the woman is recording the event. This snapshot in time is worth a stop! We wait patiently but eagerly to see whether there will be action. I'm ready to pull out the camera, but both of us won't let our eyes stray; we have them glued on the man wading slowly—oh, so slowly—through the water with his bow at his side and arrow arranged loosely in it niche. Suddenly, he zips around, pulls the bow taught, and shoots into the water behind him. The arrow speeds into the Rio Grande waters with a neon green strap following in its wake. It's a hit. The man reels in the green strap like a fishing pole reel, and a huge carp at arrow's end splashes out of the water squirming to release itself from the the arrow's barbs. The man holds up a 5-lb. carp, and we cheer. “We have caught four more,” says he, as he and his mate hold up 5 huge fish to pose for a Kodak moment. “What will you do with them?,” yell we! “We take them to the state park next to us, and they are fed to the animals.” An unusual hiking story, wouldn't you say? Or, should we call this post a “fish” story?

Fishing_1 fishing_2 LBJ_Rio Grande

After nearly two weeks in Las Cruces we finally feel “settled in”. The first two weeks' meetings with the Dona Ana Woodcarvers was more social than productive, but we must adhere to the important things first, right? It is simply amazing to see the artistic ability of these amazing individuals who attend simply for the love of the morning whittling/carving exercise (their works to be posted on a later blog). However, we have begun our journey down the lane of would-be wood carving: our focus has been on  gnomes and Santas.

Dona Ana County, of which Las Cruces is a part, is a big pecan-producing region. We were fortunate enough to acquire a shopping bag full of pecans. Now, while watching the PBS Newshour in the evening, we will probably be shelling pecans instead of finding puzzle pieces (the only time we do puzzles is in Las Cruces).

gnomes Nuts puzzle

Las Cruces, New Mexico

The Soledad Canyon Gang

“My meditation today was 'Relax, I am in control'”, Susan told us as we six paused along the trail to Soledad Canyon. After witnessing what just happened, that phrase must become our daily mantra, and here is the story of why that is so.

After settling into our Hess Terrace rental, our first order of business was to get on the hiking trails after unpacking, shopping, and, of course, taking care of the birds. As we exited the truck to begin our first hike of the season, who should pull into the lot almost next to us but our hiking buddies from last year! This was NOT a planned rendezvous, and what makes it more extraordinary is that the exact same thing happened in 2017 at Dripping Springs. An unplanned rendezvous with these four on our first hike of the season—two years in a row? This was NO accident. Yes, the daily mantra must be: Relax; He is in control.

Soledad Canyon Gang 1045 Hess Terrace

Watering the birdsBird sanctuary in the back yard.

Santa Fe, NM

Amarillo and a 7-hour drive to Las Cruces. Where should we stop? We remembered the story from friends of the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe and decided to make it our destination. The legend is just as interesting as the staircase:

https://www.lorettochapel.com/info/staircase

Santa Fe did not disappoint. The unique shops are exquisite, and Bonnie, who is not a buyer, did buy.

Chapel Outside Loretto Chapel Staircase Santa Fe Square

Sunshine, Red Rocks, and Hiking

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Panhandle of Texas

Dubbed the second largest canyon in North America, the majesty of the Grand Canyon falls a little short here at Palo Duro, but it's hard to believe that such a small fork of the Red River could cut a swathe 277 miles, 18 miles wide, and 6,000 ft. deep over the millennia. Most importantly, we enjoyed the hike, the sun, the 50-degree weather as we hiked its floor. Home for the winter in the sun until March.

Palo Duro Canyon Floor cowboy dugout ccc

Museum of Osteology, Oklahoma City, OK

Skulls Unlimited

What? A privately-owned industry which culls the skin, muscle, tendons, and brains from bones of the tiniest to the largest of animals and then re-assembles the skeletons. All skeletons are legally acquired.

Who? Jay Villenmarette started the evolution of Skulls Inc when at the age of 7 in 1972 he found a dog skull. Fascinated by it, he was encouraged by his father to collect skulls. Today, he and his family of six along with a handful of knowledgable employees clean and re-string bones into skeletons (about 20,000/yr) for museums, schools, and private collectors who want them as trophies. A myriad of skeletons are on display next door at his privately-owned Museum of Osteology.

Where? The factory is in Oklahoma City, but there are two of his unique museums—Orlando and Oklahoma City. No factory tours allowed though—the blood, guts, and smells would turn anyone's stomach!

How? The cleaning begins with cutting and sometimes boiling detritus from the bones, but the stars of the show are the millions of free laborers: carrion beetles whose job it is to finish the cleaning of the bones. Scores of terrariums house these busy workers which remove every bit of anything NOT bone. Lastly, the bones are bathed in a hydrogen peroxide bath.

http://skeletonmuseum.com/

skulls Siamese calf

A Sideways Glance at the William J Clinton Presidential Library and Museum

Sometimes known as Billy Blythe, Bill Clinton never laid eyes on his biological father who died before Clinton's birth. Our 42^nd president formally adopted the surname, Clinton, last name of the only father he ever knew.

The library itself is filled with all types of President Clinton's memorabilia and also promotes the work of the Clinton Foundation. A modern cantilevered structure symbolizing a bridge to the 21^st century overlooks the Arkansas River in downtown Little Rock and mimics the form of a bridge to ?????

We were awed by the Mandela exhibit, took note of the sacredness of the Anne Frank Garden, took whimsical license in the two White House replica rooms, and noted that both Bill and Hillary experienced similar childhoods to many of us who grew up in the '40's and '50's.

Anne Frank Garden Bill's drawing Hillary Prison Wall Mandela Presidential Lou

“Bats in the Belfry”

Here we are in Louisville, KY at the Louisville Sluggers Factory. Because the factory floor is a union shop photos were not allowed during the actual production of the bats which we saw. However, with CNC automation, specialty bats can be produced to perfection as ordered by pro and minor league players. Production of a bat takes 30 seconds. Upon our exit there were walls of template-burned-in signatures which had graced personal bats of notable major league players from past years. How did the factory get its name? In 1887 a baseball player by the name of Pete Browning and known as the “Louisville Slugger” broke his bat, and upon doing so, went to the Hillerich family shop. The proprietor accommodated Pete by hand crafting a new bat. Because of the quality of Browning's bat, subsequent players ordered “Louisville Slugger's” bats—thence the name, Louisville Slugger.

Bats in Belfry Slugger exterior Machining the log Signature Wall

Leaving Las Cruces

“Boo hoo!” Good bye to the beautiful Organ Mountains, the constant sun, the desert hikes, but more importantly to the “warmth” emanating from the people we have met here. The twice-weekly meetings of the Dona Ana Wood Carvers became an integral part of our month in Las Cruces. We looked forward to our Wednesday and Friday mornings like a kid anticipating Christmas morning. Until we meet again next year, Las Cruces, we have “warm fuzzies” in the pit of our stomaches. We will miss you!

Teacher David Billy Bob Esperanza Joe Johnny Manny Maria_Elena Raul Ray Rick Roxanna Ruth Sandra

Week 3 Las Cruces, NM

Hiking

Our goal this week was to conquer the “A” Mountain—named such because of a big white-washed “A” at the top. It is also referred to as the Tortugas Mountain because in Spanish the word means “turtle”, and from the air, the form of the mountain looks like a turtle. By conquering the mountain we mean finding the “right” trail among the myriad branch trails to circumnavigate the mountain! From our earliest attempts when the altitude caused us to be winded within 15 minutes to our latter attempts when the trail took us into the desert, we finally made it around the 4-mile trail on our 4^th attempt. What a victory! https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/1185553/a-mountain-tortuga-trail

However, our most interesting hike was a paleontologist-led hike into the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument. This is a hidden gem, and quite frankly it is pretty inaccessible. Viewing the fossil tracks from 280 million years ago was pretty phenomenal. Thanks to Pat and Susan who suggested this hike and to their friends, Fred and Betsy—all of whom have become our hiking buddies—we learned a lot from Colin Dunn, one of the few paleontologists assigned to this region. The discovery site doesn't have fossil bones but only contains rocks with fossil tracks. It just so happened there is an entire story about the man who discovered this out-of-the-way site. As a matter of fact, these hills were being mined prior to their protection as a national monument, and its thanks for saving of the discovery site is credited to an avid rock hound, Jerry MacDonald, who had been seeking fossils for 15 years prior to his find in the mid 1980's. At that time he brought Trackways' rocks to a local museum which denied their authenticity, but he was persistent and pursued authentication with the Smithsonian which verified those Trackways fossils as “the real deal”. The site was protected as a national monument in 2009. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Trackways_National_Monument

Was it by chance that Jerry MacDonald's son, Noah, visiting from out of state was on this hike? Wow!

Our hike to Dripping Springs just outside Las Cruces always fascinates. It is the site and has ruins of an old resort/hotel which flourished in the 1890's and early 1900's and then became a tuberculosis sanitarium a couple decades later. Ruins of those two buildings exist but are in disrepair and look like a ghost town.

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Week 2 Las Cruces, NM

Extreme Fetishes

LOU: People-watching at the market is one of Lou's favorites. He tries to capture on film the unique!

LOU & BONNIE: Puzzle week! We now know what addiction feels like. Bringing a puzzle from home, we thought it would fill empty moments. However, we found ourselves gravitating toward the puzzle every time we walked in the door looking for “the piece”.

BONNIE: Although our generation has calmed a great deal, emotions ran high for us young baby boomers: a constant threat of nuclear war when we were children; race riots when we were in our teens; Vietnam demonstrations and flag burnings in our 20's. (Have things really changed that much?) Enter: Neil Diamond, a lyricist who captured our hearts and put into words an era. Attending a Neil Diamond Tribute band concert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP1mN7N8KXg this week showed a very different audience from the audience down Memory Lane. The youngest people at the concert were the ones on stage—by a long shot! Heart strings were plucked though; rewind from today back 38 years. Jeremy, aged 4, asks, “Mom, can I pick your flowers?” Bonnie knows where this is going! “Yes!” Jeremy disappears. Proudly, he returns holding out a handful of favorite flowers for acceptance. In the background is playing one of many of Bonnie's Neil Diamond albums:

“And baby, I remember
All the things you taught me
I learned how to laugh
And I learned how to cry
Well I learned how to love
Even learned how to lie
You'd think I could learn
How to tell you goodbye
'Cause you don't bring me flowers anymore”

Neil Diamond

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Week 1 Las Cruces, NM

We love this sunshine. Days begin on the cold side with temperatures falling into the 30's or 40's at night, but most afternoon temperatures rise to the mid-to-high 60's or even higher. Being at 4,000 ft. above sea level, the Chihuahuan Desert is a mecca for hiking. We would have to hike daily (which we try to do) this month to cover all the trails nearby.  Fortunate enough to meet a couple who introduced us to hiking the Chihuahuan Nature Center at the foot of the Dona Ana Mountains, we were exposed to a whole new set of trails as yet unexplored by us.  This mountain range is a sister range to Las Cruces' crowned jewels, the Organ Mountains.

A reunion for Bonnie and an introduction of Lou to David, our woodcarving guru, proved a fascinating experience. He was working on a cradle doll to hang on the wall of a baby's room when we saw him last Wednesday.  At the wood carvers' next meeting David brought us each a yucca stick so that we could begin. Every Wednesday and Friday morning this month we will be carving, wood burning, and painting. At the end of our first session David surprised Lou by GIVING him a walking stick he had recently made. What a tremendously thoughtful man David is!

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Johnson Space Center, Houston Texas

“Houston, we have a problem” = message the crew of Apollo 13 relayed to Houston Control when it malfunctioned. “Houston, we have a problem” was the message to AAA when our battery went dead in Lafayette, LA. Apollo 13 and Lou and Bonnie were rescued from disaster. We did make it to the Johnson Space Center. Once inside its gates, we were amazed that the place looked like a college campus—deserted on a Sunday—but still it had squat buildings where you knew brains were working hard within—but maybe not on a Sunday. Saturn V rockets—17 of them (and maybe more) took off during our lifetime with human payload aboard. Other than Neil Armstrong walking on the moon during Apollo 11, those take-offs became everyday occurrences in our lives. Little did we novices know how amazing was the technology—we took them for granted. Every one of them was valuable, as is the international space station, because experiments there and here were and are preparing for the 6-month eventual, manned trip to Mars; its mission is called Orion. That WILL be as amazing as landing on the moon.

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Saturn V rocket stage 1 (out of 3) thrusters. Houston-111

Saturn V rocket ... 342 feet long.

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Road Scholar Cajun Experience in Music, Food, Dance Day 4, Lafayette, LA

We all became honorary Cajuns with certificates to prove it! The one requirement to achieve this honorarium was to try boudin. Not only did Patti, our leader/teacher/coordinator, plan this special treat, but she also bought us a king cake for dessert one night, toted Satsuma mandarin oranges from her tree at home to share with us, supplied us with scarves/gloves for our boat trip, and provided chocolates on our numerous field trips. Being Cajun by birth, she was knowledgable; she thought ahead; and she could even dance the two-step.

Image-1.j1Thank you Dennis for identifying everyone!

Thank you Dennis for identifying everyone!

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Road Scholar Cajun Experience in Music, Food, Dance Day 3, Lafayette, LA

Food! Food has been a key part of each day during our adventure—not just any food, but Cajun food! Crawfish, ettoufee, jambalaya, dirty rice—these are all terms we knew. File, roux, the trinity, corn macque choux, and boudin were all revelations to us.

Music! What a special beat Cajun music has! From enjoying a story-telling fiddler to listening to accordion virtuosos to learning the Cajun Waltz and the two-step, music was a big part of this program. We had the opportunity to try our newly-learned steps to the lively beat of a Cajun band, and it was a hoot to watch the REAL pros—the natives—get up and show us how it was really done. Of course, we had two left feet but toward the end we were finally feeling the beat—yes, feeling the beat but not always stepping to it.

Field Trips! How invigorating it was to see the wildlife on Lake Martin! Although this may have been a favorite, we also took other field trips to absorb the culture of Cajun Country—Shadows on the Teche mansion, McIlhenny Company (Avery Island—tabasco factory), and the folk life village. We were immersed in the culture of the region.

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Road Scholar Cajun Experience in Music, Food, Dance Day 2, Lafayette, LA

Live oaks—abundant especially on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette—have a society of their own. The oldest member of the Live Oak Society is the president, and the only human privy to the organization is its honorary chairman charged with record keeping. The dues per year are 25 acorns. We stopped to view the second vice president of the Society—the St. John Cathedral Live Oak. It was majestic!

Later in the day we took a field trip to Martin Accordion, a family-owned accordion factory and repair shop, and there we were entertained by three generations of Martin musicians who played lively (very lively) Cajun music.

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Road Scholar Cajun Experience in Music, Food, Dance Day 1, Lafayette, LA

Multiple choice question: Choose the best answer for the term:

Make groceries

a. Cook a meal

b. Throw up

c. Grocery shop

There were 10 of these Cajun terms, and we had to guess their meanings. It's obvious from OUR answers we don't know Cajun! It's just like the Cajun words to the accordion player's tune in the video below. Believe me, if you can't understand them, it's not the speaker on your computer/phone. We couldn't understand them either. I think he was speaking English with a Cajun accent, but we are not really sure.

A delightfully sunny day was spent at the Jean LaFitte Cultural Center and the Folk Life Village in Vermillionville. The Village was a living history of what life was like for the Cajuns and other immigrants landing in Louisiana in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries.

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Silver & Gold Revisited

On our Florida trip in 2012 our blog entry was,

“Running through the tapestry of our entire trip, we have weaved memories which can hardly be duplicated. The greatest highlights have been sharing experiences with our family and friends. They are truly the silver and gold which make our tapestry shimmer with life.”

This trip has been no different; it surely is the relationships, the stories, and the love that bind the tapestry together which has covered our entire essence with warmth. Friends and family---they are the best!

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Lake Lucero

White Sands National Monument

It happens once a month and only once a month. Traveling through the restricted grounds of the White Sands Missile Range, a ranger leads a caravan of cars to Lake Lucero and hikes them ¾ mile into the site of a dry lakebed. During the rainy season in July and August, this Lake Lucero fills, but in February it is a dry gypsum bed. Selenite crystals spike up as shards in and along the lakebed. Selenite is a transparent mineral which looks like mica and which chips easily away from the larger crystal into clear gypsum sheets. Those transparent sheets then deteriorate into the gypsum sand we know as White Sands National Monument.

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Gila Cliff Dwellings

Gila National Forest

It's a forty-four mile drive from Silver City to Gila Cliff Dwellings, but it took 1 ¾ hour with hair-pin turns throughout the Gila National Forest. Didn't we do this three weeks ago in a snowstorm driving to Silver City? YES! At least today it was sunny and warm.

Archeologists can only guess about the 40-60 ancient peoples who inhabited these six caves; they only spent about one generation in these dwellings from approximately 1280-1300 AD. Adolph Bandelier, an early archeologist, reported in 1884 that the caves had already been looted and vandalized leaving little evidence of how the people lived and how the dwelling rooms were used. It is believed that due to a drought around 1280. the ancient Mogollon (mo-go-y'on) people migrated from the north to this fertile valley where three forks of the Gila River converge, and thus water was plentiful. Can you imagine raising a toddler at these heights? No wonder they moved on after only one generation.

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Silver City, New Mexico

What's the buzz about Silver City? It started out like any other boom town in New Mexico in the late 1800's. The town grew up overnight as soon as silver was discovered in the vast mineral-rich Gila Forest region of New Mexico. Why did Silver City thrive and the other towns die? The town fathers planned Main Street in an arroyo making it a target for spring and summer floods ultimately wiping away the entire commerce district of the community. That couldn't be the reason. Could it be that early town fathers made the town safe from the Apaches? Well, the founder of Silver City was killed at the age of 24 by Apaches in 1883, and the judge and his wife were massacred by a band of Geronimo's Apaches, their 6-year old son being kidnapped and taken to Mexico. So, no, it was a not a safe place.

The speculation is that the establishment of Western New Mexico State University is the reason this settlement survived, and all the others became ghost towns. That's a huge factor because the economy here is based on the premise that this is a mecca for western culture. Yet other university towns across the US are also cultural icons.

Why is Silver City such a draw? It's probably because Silver City has marketed itself as being a tourist destination. It is a hub of the history of this area, but more than that! The city publishes a booklet of driving tours each one having significance from the historic '49'ers gold rush days, Gila's cliff dwellings, and forts to recreational birding, scenery, and biking to economic mining. All of the driving tours are mapped out and have descriptors of minute details giving the viewer a snapshot of the historic moment in time. However, tourism and culture are not the only reasons Silver City is still a “boom town”! Jobs are plentiful here because on the outskirts of town is an active copper mining site. Yes, the Santa Rita Mine is one of the largest open-pit copper mining sites in the US.

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Las Cruces Weekend

“Everything happens on the weekends,” said one of the women at Silver Sneakers, and this weekend was jam packed. Friday evening was a cabaret show by Gone Girls featuring songs from the 40's-60's especially the Andrews Sisters, and the theme was valentines https://www.facebook.com/gonegirlsnm/.

Saturday was a regional rocket competition in Alamogordo—memories from when Lou and Jeremy built rockets and shot them off in the field behind our place in Wooster. Saturday afternoon was the Gem & Mineral Show at the Ranch and Farm Museum.

Sunday afternoon was Spanish Market featuring lectures, demonstrations, vendors, and entertainment.

Of course, every Saturday is The Market, a weekly draw for us!

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Las Cruces, NM

Camp Hope

A visit to Camp Hope is an eye-opener! This is an extremely well-organized homeless tent city on government land surrounded by social services buildings such as a soup kitchen, health clinic, food bank, jobs' office, laundry and shower facilities, and daycare for dependents of the homeless. Camp Hope receives no governmental assistance—only run by private donations—and is purely transitional for those awaiting funding for housing or job placement.

Meet Debbie! Manning the “sign-in” table, she is sitting with a four-pronged cane at her side; her ample bulk is overlooked by her welcoming smile and the pink, knitted Tami atop her fair head. When she takes off her sunglasses, her face belies white raccoon rings which daily sun exposure creates. Her clothes look neatly pressed. She is a resident of this tent city, and a talker she is! Here is the gist of her story:

“I've been here 7 months, and this place has saved me. At 59 I can't believe this has happened to me. None of my friends know I am here (except my very best friend). My boys in CA won't take me in. I led a charmed life growing up with all the privileges of a suburban CA lifestyles. I have a college education; my IQ is 155; and my career seemed secure. When I graduated from college I went into the newspaper business working everyday, saving, and enjoying an affluent middle-class lifestyle. I married a managing newspaper editor, and back in the '70's (the hey-day of newspapers), he made $25/hour. When I recently fell and broke my ribs, the newspaper let me go. I used up all my savings, lost my house, and I had nothing to my name. I was referred here. Although I have a pension, I'm not able to receive it until I'm 65. The social services office here helped me apply for SSI, but it has taken 7 months to go through; so, staying in a tent here was my only option for housing until funding was approved. As a part of my “rent”, I must look for a job. It is so hard at my age; nobody wants to hire me especially when I give the address of residence as Camp Hope.”  

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Las Cruces, NM

This is the second day that I, Bonnie, have gone to witness the woodcarvers, a group of seniors who meet every Wednesday and Friday from 8:00 am till Noon. The description says "Free; join anytime"....and people do! It's a loose group of carvers, but there is always a teacher or veteran woodcarver there to get people started or answer questions.

My first experience was meeting David. With little introduction he gave me a walking stick and explained all the symbols which he had carved into it. When I offered to pay him, he refused saying, "If you offer me money, I will take it back; this is a gift. I love to carve, and I love to share."

My second experience was meeting with many carvers but especially spending time with Evelyn and Raul. Evelyn is the veteran; Raul the beginner. Their life stories are very different, but they meet here for their love of carving. Evelyn not only carves, but at home she has other artistic endeavors one of which is writing a biography entitled, Will He Make It To First Base? When I told her that I felt I had discovered a hidden treasure in this room, she said, “escondo”! The word, she explained, means “hidden”, and she goes by the moniker, Evelyn's Escando Art.

The Woodcarvers=a true hidden gem!

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Ruidoso, NM

Billy the Kid Trail

Road trip today through Lincoln County, NM—scene of the Lincoln County Wars and the Billy the Kid Trail. Yes, the county was named after Abraham Lincoln and encompasses a large area running through the Lincoln National Forest. One word to describe this county is diverse.

After leaving the high desert, we began climbing and drove through the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Feeling the independence of a very proud nation, we viewed small modest homes with one or two horses pastured on adjacent plots. Just imagine the Apache coming home, saddling his mount, and galloping along these mountain trails and passes. These Native Americans have not lost their land and their allegiance to it. However, as a reminder of their entry into modern society, we also saw casinos on the edges of their reservation.

The Hondo Valley, within the triangular 65 miles of the Billy the Kid National Scenic Byway, is rich farmland due to its proximity to mountain water run-off—a perfect place for livestock and farming. This abundance of resources drew settlers who staked claim to the Indian lands causing heated conflicts between the Indians and settlers.

At the same time that settlers were establishing claims surrounding Apache lands, a monopoly (Murphy & Dolan) of entrepreneurs was established in Lincoln County having a tremendous amount of power and influencing the law, politics, and economics of the county. Enter a foreigner who wanted a piece of the pie (Dunstall)! He opened his own store and partnered with a lawyer (Sweeney); the store gave unwanted competition to the establishment. Where the gun was the law of the land, animosity led to skirmishes between the rivals, and then murders and more murders; ultimately a war between the two factions caused bloodshed right and left. Murphy & Dolan's Sheriff Brady hired thugs who ruled with a heavy hand. On the side of the Dunstall were a group of loyal supporters called the Regulators of which Billy the Kid was one. Early victims of the war were Sheriff Brady on one side and Dunstall on the other; scores more followed. To end the conflict Colonel Dudley, who supported Murphy/Dolan, led his troops from Fort Stanton to Lincoln. Troops did end the war, but Billy with a few other Regulators escaped the carnage. However, Pat Garrett, who was appointed sheriff in the aftermath, vowed to apprehend Billy along with the other renegade Regulators. He did so, and Billy was sent to Santa Fe for trial. Convicted for the murder of Sheriff Brady, Billy was transported back to Lincoln County by Pat Garrett to be hanged there. He escaped from the second floor jail in the Murphy Store and overpowered guards, killing them, and escaping. Pat Garrett hunted him down and shot him according to official records. Many movies have been created depicting the Lincoln County Wars. The most recent was Young Guns; another was Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. How appropriate was it that Bonnie found a rocking horse at an antique store in Lincoln that nearly replicated her own childhood rocker bringing back memories of riding Black Beauty dressed in her cowgirl outfit, hat, boots, and six guns while watching the Lone Ranger on TV.

Driving from Fort Stanton to Ruidoso and dining at an Irish Pub, we couldn't help but wonder at the diversity here—for a few moments we felt like we were driving through New England with its pines, valleys, hills, and quaint little town storefronts sporting ski supplies, but when we saw the cowboy hats, boots, and life-sized stuffed bears, we knew we were not in New England anymore. Notwithstanding, the Apache Ski Resort in the Lincoln National Forest is a popular destination for vacationers from around the state and outside it, too—adding to the diversity of the county.     

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A Tale of Two Forts

Fort Selden, Radium Springs—17 miles NW of Las Cruces

Fort Stanton, Lincoln County—136 miles NE of Las Cruces

Two forts! Both were built to protect settlers from Indians and outlaws during the second half of the 19^th century. One is in ruins, and the other has buildings. It's ironic that the one in ruins is the original footprint of Fort Selden; the one with buildings has only the foundations of the original Fort Stanton. Every building seen at Fort Stanton has been built on the foundation (and only the foundation) of its original buildings. The exception is the stables; today those look as they did then because they were made using stone instead of adobe.

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Organ Mountains

Leaving at dusk, we traveled to our destination---a deserted canyon road toward the Organ Mountains. Below is Lou's first attempt of star trails over the Organs.

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Lest I forget the details of Billy the Kid's break-in at San Elizario, here within, is as I recall it according to Manuel, the city sheriff (a fellow who is hired to man the San Elizario Jail Museum and who participates in re-enactments)

Back in the early days when Billy roamed this area (late 1870s), the law would hang a man for murder, stealing a horse, or stealing cattle. The courthouse, a room within the jail house in San Elizario, was convenient; the outlaw could be tried one hour and be hung the same day that the trial took place. If a cattle rustler was caught on the open range, the rancher could take justice into his own hands and string up the offender. However, if that rustler was wanted by the sheriff, there would be no reward for the renegade hangman.

Billy the Kid had a girlfriend in Mesilla near Las Cruces. The girlfriend's father was quite influential in the area, and it was a member of this father's household who had been arrested and was being held in the San Elizario Jail. Billy's girlfriend implored him to save the man in jail. Billy and another friend traveled from Mesilla the 73 miles to arrive in San Elizario tired and hungry. They were fed and rested in a nearby farmhouse. About 3:00 am they began their break-in! How were they going to break INTO a jail? Billy hatched a plan that worked. He banged on the jail door and yelled, “I am a Texas Ranger and have a wanted man to put in your jail.” The Spanish guard opened the peep hole, but it was too dark to see much of anything other than the star Billy had in his possession. When the Spanish guard opened the door after repeated bangings by Billy, the guard was welcomed by a .44. The guard was locked in the cell after Billy's friend was released from it.

Here is where there are conflicting outcomes. According to one legend, Billy escaped to New Mexico with his friends. Because that influential father was so grateful to Billy for saving his family member, he gave Billy money and told him to disappear--which many think Billy did--never to appear again in the public eye. However, on the flip side, here is the other legendary outcome. Prior to this jail break Billy was a wanted man for his role in the Lincoln County Wars, him being one of the Regulators. Upon Billy's escape from pursuit with other Regulators, Pat Garrett vowed to hunt Billy down and kill him which according to record he did, and Billy is buried at Fort Sumner, NM. However, was that Billy? Recently a man living in the East claimed to be a relative of Billy the Kid and wanted an exhumation of bones to get a DNA sample. Upon exhumation there were no bones. ?????     

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Mission Trail

El Paso, Texas

Road trip today! Three towns with their respective churches along the Mission Trail—San Elizario, Socorro, and Ysleta—had rich stories of the genuine West! Our favorite stop was San Elizario. Recently, this town has made every effort to portray itself “as the West really was”. First of all, the preferred language here IS Spanish. We witnessed it in the Spanish-speaking, singing priest who spoke just as much with his hands as his mouth during today's Ash Wednesday mass. We tasted it when we ate genuine Mexican fare at Sophia's while drinking horchata (rice milk) and eating machaca (shredded beef & scrambled eggs). We saw it when Sheriff Manny swaggered down the pueblo garrison boardwalk (actually art shops) with a sheriff's badge pinned to his shirt, his cowboy hat resting squarely on his head, his cowboy boots clacking along the boardwalk, and his 6-shooter on his hip. He proceeded to take us to the authentic cell and sheriff's office where Billy the Kid broke into jail.  That story, abbreviated in the above link, came to life with Manny's detailed descriptions of the interrelationships involved in Billy's life. Manny's drawl, accent, and his slow Texan manner took about a half hour to tell. San Elizario was the highlight of our day!  

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White Sands Missile Range Museum

Security is high!

Talk about adventure. Today was an adventure in and of itself just getting into the White Sands Missile Range Museum. Needed for entry were picture ID's, vehicle registration, and proof of vehicle insurance. We knew that! What we didn't know is that signs were nearly non-existent once we entered the missile range—therefore, we were unsure if we were traveling in a prohibited area or if we were on the right road. The registration center was somewhat hidden by tree growth. Luckily, we hobbled into the correct parking lot. What met us upon opening the doors made us smile. Remember that this is a military base! A man wearing a t-shirt and ball cap sporting Christian slogans with a gold cross around his neck welcomed us as he put down the Bible he was reading. It was a breath of fresh air to hear him talk freely and leisurely about his faith. Then, it was down to business! Registration! The second thing we didn't know is that a background check on both of us had to be run. Just like a visit to the BMV, our pictures were taken and appeared on a one-day pass print-out for us to sign. Lastly, what we didn't know is that once we got our visitor pass print-out, we had to stop at the gate, present the guard with all of the above documentation, pop the hood of truck, open the tailgate, open the glove compartment, and get out of the truck while the guard did a vehicle inspection. We passed the test and gained entry but were told only to take pictures of the missile park so that our images faced the Organ Mts. and not the missile range itself and also not to take pictures of the entry/exit booth. We never saw anything like that egress with its zig-zag barriers around which we had to maneuver to exit. Talk about local color! By the way, the museum and missile field were very, very interesting. However, what we will remember most is our very courteous but militarized entry and exit to a museum!

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White Sands National Monument (Revisited)

Last year we were delighted to feel like Lawrence of Arabia walking the Alkali Flats Trail in White Sands National Monument. Today, we repeated our trek. However, on our way to the trail we noticed a sign along the 16-mile loop park road which read, “Removal of sand prohibited”. Now, we never purposefully removed sand from the park, but whoever visits can't help but do so—it's done by the sand sticking in clumps (almost like mud) onto their vehicles and by the grains of sand oozing into their shoes.

This sand is no common ordinary sand; it is pure gypsum. Its origin has such a unique history that the saying “all the planets had to be aligned perfectly for it to happen!” applies here. Amazing! Here is the story: http://www.rozylowicz.com/retirement/whitesands/whitesands.html#form Those selenite crystals, part of the sand evolution process, can be viewed once a month on a ranger-led tour; otherwise Lake Lucero—site of the selenite crystals—is closed to the public.

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City of Rocks State Park

Between Silver City & Deming, NM

Only slightly over an hour's drive from Las Cruces is City of Rocks State Park. It was formed millions of years ago as volcanic eruptions cracked and fissured after a long cooling period. For more: http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/cityofrocksstatepark.htm

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Elephant Butte Lake State Park

Truth or Consequences, NM

“What's the difference between a butte, mesa, and plateau?”, was the topic of our conversation on the way to Truth or Consequences. By the way, yes, the city was renamed in the '50's after the popular television show of the same name. Here is what we discovered about buttes, mesas, and plateaus thanks to our handy dandy phone! http://seethesouthwest.com/903/the-difference-between-a-butte-mesa-and-plateau/

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