A Quick Tour Around New Mexico

Ever wonder what it's really like in New Mexico? This song, written and recorded by the group Richmond, and the accompanying video from the New Mexico Tourism Department, might give you an idea. Just don't all come rushing on down here; we like our big, empty spaces!

Road Trip, Part 7: Back to New Mexico!

Let's get this road trip finished up! After we left Green River, Utah (Crossroads of the West) we headed down through some beautiful country: Red rocks, and even some arches. 

In southern Colorado, there was a cattle herd traffic jam. I took a video because I was trying to capture the sounds of the herd, but you can mainly hear Beez and me chuckling. The cowgirl (the one with the dog) said "Thank y'all" to us for waiting for them to get situated, but we owed the thanks to her and her wonderful herd, heading down the mountain.

                  

And then, suddenly, we were heading down ourselves. From a high of 10,800 feet, we could see down into good old New Mexico. It had been a wonderful trip, but it was so good to be home again!

Photos from The Pintada Kid

If you've never heard of the Pintada Kid, go to the top of this blog, right under the header photo, and click on "The Pintada Kid" tab. There you will find links to the posts on this blog telling his unique life story, starting with growing up in a sheep camp in central New Mexico; and the tale of his life's work, the investigation of one of New Mexico's unsolved murder mysteries, The Heberer-Lorius Case.

The Pintada Kid is a unique New Mexico character; I can't imagine anyone like him anywhere else. He recently sent me some photos, which I am passing on to you. Descriptions of each photo are in his own words (in italics). 

The Pintada Kid at the Historical Indian Writings. 

Note the Big Snake called a Vivoron by the Old People.

The Area of the Longwalk, [known as] the Pintada Trail, the shortest route from Ft Defiance to Ft Sumner. It is also the Playground of the Pintada Kid. 

(Note from ClairZ: You can read about the Navajo "Long Walk" in this article from the Office of the New Mexico State Historian).

My Lady Friend [Rose Keaton] Holding a Big Rattlesnake that was Guarding the Resting Place of the Heberer Lorius People.

Vaughn City Park after a Blizzard Snowstorm

[You can see that PK takes the road less traveled!]

 The Pintada Kid at a Sacred Indian Ground. 

The Old People called these Rocks Los Paragues; the Pintada Kid named them the Mushroom Rocks. 

I named the one on my right shoulder E.T.  

Those Little Whatcha-Call 'Ems

This is our house during our recent big snowstorm. We had hours of fine snowfall, a pretty brisk wind throughout, and temps down in the single digits. The snow started in the afternoon and continued most of the night. Sustained precipitation of any sort is rare, but very welcome, here in the desert. When we woke, we found that the highways in every single direction going out of town were shut down.

In this part of New Mexico we get a bit of snow every winter, but people like to say that it is gone by 10 AM the next day, and that is usually the case. This storm encased our plow-less roads in ice until at least 11:30 AM, but after that, all was well, the sun was out as usual, and the roads were clear and dry. In the meantime, we just put some fragrant piñon logs in the kiva fireplace and had a lovely day.

A fire in the kiva, a glass of wine, and some bread dough rising--what more do we need?

See those little outdoor lights in the first photo? They are the electric equivalent of the holiday lights traditionally made with candles set in sand inside paper bags. Around New Mexico there is a very geographically-based disagreement over what they are called. Up north around Santa Fe they are farolitos; down here in the south they are luminarias. [I'm telling you, I'm struggling with that automatic spellcheck thing, which tried to change the words in that previous sentence to frailties and luminaries!]. Folks in the northern part of the state use the word luminaria to describe the small vigil fires made along the road side during the nine nights of the celebration of Las Posadas, which culminates on Christmas Eve.

We have a very witty friend who believes he has solved the whole controversy by renaming them candle-baggios. We love it, and candle-baggios is what we plan to call them from now on, making a nice new New Mexico Christmas tradition for our friends and family.

Storm Over the Tularosa, for Skywatch

When we drive through the Tularosa Basin on our way from Alamogordo to Las Cruces, New Mexico, we always marvel at the amazing skies. Something is always happening, something that makes me put down my knitting (imagine that!) and gaze up at the miraculousness of it all.

One tends to think big thoughts in the Tularosa.

For more skies and the thoughts they inspire, please be sure to visit Skywatch Friday.

*****

Klaus Peter, 1960-2011

 Today's Skywatch is dedicated to the memory of Klaus Peter. According to the Skywatch site, "he was an active participant, supporter, and eventually owner/maintainer of Skywatch and the founder of That's My World." He will be missed by so many, although we may not have met him in person.

Take a Look Around

Sunset from our porch

It's no secret: New Mexico is a photogenic place. Photographers love the early morning and the evening light; and the mountains, skies, rivers, and the desert all provide amazing scenery.

I hope you will check out New Mexico Magazine's online photo tours. They are featuring some delicious chile photos from the harvest that is taking place right now (I can see the local pickers across the road as I type this), the winners from their annual photo contest; and tours of Native American ruins and petroglyphs, historical spots like El Rancho de Las Golondrinas, and ranches that will give you a glimpse at modern-day cowboy life. The show starts here. Prepare to spend some time clicking and oohing and aahing!

Sun, silence, and adobe - that is New Mexico in three words.

~Charles F. Lummis, in The Land of Poco Tiempo, 1928

What's Not to Love, for Skywatch

Here in southern New Mexico, land of 

little rain 

big sky 

and sizzling green chile

We love our water

We love our blue skies

And we love our chile fields

When we see all three together

We stop and take pictures 

*****

See beloved skies all over the world at Skywatch Friday. 

Smoky Sunrise, for Skywatch

Oh, how I grieve for the birds and animals and people of Arizona, with those horrid fires all over. New Mexico has its share this year, too, but nothing like the size of the fires in our neighboring state to the west.

We are experiencing some smoke down here in the southern part of New Mexico, but I understand that the smoke is so heavy in the central part of the state, up around Albuquerque, that it makes it hard to see and breathe.

This was our rather smoky sunrise a couple of days ago. For skies, both clear and otherwise, all around the world, please visit Skywatch Friday.

Dark Skies for Skywatch

February 2011: Dark skies, New Mexico style

Nothing says Old Mesilla like the texture of thick adobe walls, dried strings of red chiles, old brick sidewalks, and that dark blue New Mexican sky. For skies of every color all around the world, please visit Skywatch Friday.

Happy New Year! But First...

Here is just one more thing that I would like to share with you about Christmas as we experienced it in New Mexico this year. We have a wonderful blend of cultures and traditions, and I think that this video expresses the diversity and experience quite beautifully. The Hispanic Las Posadas, the indigenous Matachines dances, and the procession of the Virgen de Guadalupe are all shown and explained here. Take a few moments to learn a bit about the unique holiday decorations, foods, and songs found here in New Mexico.

Aguirre Spring

We've always meant to go to Aguirre Spring, but somehow never did. Now that we've been there, we'll be going back again and again. Run by the Bureau of Land Management, it is located on the opposite (east) side of the Organ Mountains from Las Cruces. 

We look at the mountains from the other side every day. We have passed by the turnoff the the campground/picnic area many, many times. I am so glad we took the time to drive in and do a little exploration. 

The air was so clean, it was absolutely delicious. It was quiet, except for birdsong. The plants and trees were varied--sotol (see below) and alligator juniper were a couple that I recognized. 

The back side of the Organ Mountains

This is the view down toward the Tularosa Basin. You can see part of the White Sands Missile Range to the right.

There were little trees growing way up there between the rocky outcrops

I loved the way the light was shining through these sotol leaves

Nice!

The Pintada Kid on the Case: A Little Background

The Pintada Kid is a unique New Mexican character who has appeared on this blog before (see the Pintada Kid Stories, Tales of Living History from the Center of New Mexico). He has spent a lot of his life exploring many parts of New Mexico and believes that he knows the location of the murdered tourists in the Heberer-Lorius case.

Before we read about his investigation, I asked him to give us a little background on his own life. Here, as always, in an almost exact transcription of the Kid's own words, is what he had to say:

*****

THE PINTADA KID was born in Pintada, N.M. and he remembers his life going back to when he was 2 or 3 years old. [His family lived in a] two room rock and adobe house which still stands in ruin today. 

As a toddler he used to follow the old people into the hills and dark mesas that surrounded his home while they dug up plants for remedies for different ailments or hunted for food. He remembers going on long walks with his dad and a single shot rifle that his dad would shoot rabbits or jackrabbits with for food. When he killed a jackrabbit his dad would take it home and the Kid's sister, older by a couple of years, would skin the rabbits while the Pintada Kid watched. Sometimes the wind carrying a fluff of fur would float into his face or mouth. After the Rabbit was cleaned the Pintada Kid's mom would cook the meat and make a Red chili stew and that would be everyones' supper.

The Pintada Kid's toy was an old car fan that his dad left lying around in the yard. His dad was a mechanic and this fan was perfect for spinning around but if [he] went off balance it would hit the dirt and scrape his small hands against the dirt, which was very painful. The ants all over the yard were constantly biting him, but the insects and grasshoppers were his toys, and the whole landscape for miles was his playground. 

Because he had quick hands, one of his favorite games was to catch a fly and clap his hands together and daze the fly. Then he would walk up to the wall of his Rock Adobe house and find the biggest spider web he could find and throw the fly on the web. Seconds later a big black spider would come out and start eating the fly or covering it up with its web, which was a fun game for the Pintada Kid, along with following his dad out hunting.

When the Pintada Kid was about 6 years old he moved to Santa Rosa, New Mexico where he was enrolled in Saint Rose Catholic School. At the time he didn't know very much English because all he [had spoken] with the old people was Spanish. However, he managed to make his First Holy Communion in the first grade with the Sisters of Saint Rose, which takes lots of studying and lots of Prayers to Memorize. The First grade is also the time his father died and so the Kid was left with his Mom and two sisters, one younger and one older than him. 

The sisters at the Catholic School were very strict and mean but they were very good teachers and the Pintada Kid made it to Fourth grade which was the year that his mom died in a Bad Car Accident with some other people in the car that went head on into a Semi Truck late at night back in '58 or '59. At the Funeral they didn't show his mom because she was buried with all kinds of other peoples body parts and it took the Pintada Kid a few years to finally believe that his mom was gone. 

The Ranch out in the Middle of nowhere where he and his two sisters went to live with his grandparents was a big change from what he was used to in the city. The only things his mom and dad left him were a Guitar and Violin and he would get up on top of this big old barn every night with his guitar and sing and play to all the Wild Animals below; to the horses and cattle; and to the Stars, the Planets, and the Moon; and he Swore he was gonna be the best guitar player and singer that ever was. And today he has now been playing over a half century and he considers himself as good or better than the best at playing guitar and singing in both English and Spanish.

For a couple of years after his mom died the Pintada Kid would stare at the Road into town about a dozen miles way hoping he could spot a glimpse of his mom coming down the road to pick him and his two sisters up and take them back home, but she never showed up.

Ranch work was hard work but it made the Pintada Kid strong and by the time he graduated from High School he had put 8 or 9 years of hard work. After graduation he took on all kinds of jobs in Restaurants, Gas Stations, Motels, Truckstops, and Vocational schools, but he loved being out in the Mountains exploring. Of course, his guitar was always with him wherever he went, and everywhere he went people wanted to hear him play and sing. 

[Some of his friends] loved treasure hunting and exploring New Mexico. They [told] the Kid about a friend who had seen some skeletons in a cave out in the Pintada Canyon area and gave the him Directions to the area. The Pintada Kid [knew] that area well and thought he could probably find [the location] but it wasn't as easy as he thought. Years later he talked to his brother-in-law, who convinced him that if he found that cave with skeletons he would probably end up solving the Heberer Lorius case, one of the Ten Greatest Unsolved Mysteries in the United States. Although it took years to find the right area of the Heberer Lorius peoples' resting place, the Pintada Kid feels sure he has found [both] the right area and important evidence to solve a Great Mystery rivaling [those of] Amelia Earhart and the Lindbergh Baby.

Starting tomorrow: The beginning of the Pintada Kid's 10-part Story on the Heberer Lorius case in his own words.

We're Not Part of Mexico!

Even though New Mexico is the 5th largest state in the U.S.--area-wise, not population-wise; for population, we are ranked 36th--we are often thought to be part of a foreign country. You can read New Mexico Magazine's monthly column, One of Our Fifty is Missing, for true stories of how this plays out. New Mexicans are congratulated for being able to speak English so well, are told that their catalog orders "can't be shipped to a foreign country," and are asked for their passports with alarming regularity by fellow Americans who hear "Mexico" rather than "New Mexico," or who just plain never heard that we are a state, located between Arizona and Texas.

You can read a fun discussion here on common misconceptions about our state; it's always a hundred degrees here, we are crawling with rattlesnakes, no one speaks English, and this one:

Airlines Representative: "Sorry, Ma'am, but we cannot fly your cats on an international flight".

Me: "Which state is international? Maine or New Mexico?"

As long as we are in video mode, if you would like to take a quick but very lovely tour of parts of New Mexico, please visit Becky's Blog to watch her slideshow.

Tomorrow: A video that probably should have stayed in the Zee family archives!

A Little Bit More About Reptiles and Amphibians in Our Part of the Desert

Leave Las Cruces and cross these mountains to get to WSMR

I am learning more about this part of the Chihuahuan Desert all the time. When we went to Night in the Desert last week we met a lot of experts, one of whom was Doug Burkett. I've been reading his book, Amphibians and Reptiles of White Sands Missile Range; Field Guide 2008* and would like to share some facts from the book with you.

The White Sands Missile Range (often referred to as WSMR) is located on the other side of the San Andres, San Augustin, and Organ Mountains from Las Cruces, where I live. I had no idea that the range was such a huge tract of land! It has over 2.2 million acres, and within its borders contains White Sands National Monument and the San Andres National Wildlife Refuge.

Coming through the pass toward the Tularosa Basin and WSMR

Quoting from the book: Seven species of amphibians and 47 species of reptiles, representing 3 orders and 12 families have been documented on WSMR. There are six species of toads (3 spadefoot toads and 3 true toads), 1 salamander, 1 turtle, 19 lizards, and 27 snakes. Five rattlesnake species occur on WSMR and bites from all are potentially lethal. All other snakes occurring on WSMR are either nonvenomous or mildly venomous and are not dangerous to humans.

Here are some interesting facts I came across while reading the same book:

• The color of the Southern Plateau Lizard (Sceloporus cowlesi) "ranges from white on gypsum dunes (found at the White Sands National Monument) to nearly black on lava flows," such as the one near Carrizozo.

Gypsum dunes at White Sands National Monument

• A population of Trans-Pecos Ratsnakes (Bogertophis subocularis) from the Carrizozo Lava Flow is consistently darker than the same kind of snake living in other areas of WSMR.
• Hog-nosed Snakes (Heterodon nasicus) "do not constrict prey, but sometimes grasp lizards in their mouth and repeatedly roll over to help subdue the prey before swallowing."
• A Night Snake (Hypsigiena torquata) "in captivity bit and paralyzed a Gray Banded Kingsnake (Lampropeltis alterna) nearly twice its weight and attempted to consume it. After a forced release, the kingsnake revived within 20 minutes."
• "A Great Plains Ratsnake [Pantherophis emoryi] in captivity ate an adult Hog-nosed Snake after sharing a tank for 5 years."

*****

*About obtaining a copy of the book: I got my copy of Mr. Burkett's book directly from the author and have been unable to find this book online. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of your own, you might try writing to:

U.S. Army Garrison - White Sands

Directorate of Public Works

Environment Division

White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico 88002

~or you could try contacting the White Sands Missile Range online.

Some Wonderful Smithsonian Photos of New Mexico

The photos on this post are mine and have nothing to do with the post itself. I just thought it was time for us to look at some roses and dream. These pictures were both taken at Cochiti Lake, New Mexico in the public garden there that is maintained by community volunteers.

One of my favorite websites is that of the New Mexico Office of the State Historian. It's one of those sites that just goes on and on and is added to frequently, so that when you explore it you have that satisfying feeling that you will never run out of new experiences.

If you would like to see some really fine photos of New Mexico, taken by Annie Sahlin for the American Museum of American History's exhibit on New Mexico (open to the public 1992-2004), go to the Featured Projects page of the website and click on The Smithsonian's Exhibit of New Mexico. There are photo collections about pueblo feast days, re-plastering an adobe church, and the Santa Fe Indian Market.

In the meantime, let's just dream on a bit about roses...

Meanwhile... for Skywatch

Last week for Skywatch I posted photos of the Big Lenticular Sunset. It was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. However, as I mentioned in that post, when I turned away from the lenticular clouds over the Organ Mountains, I was greeted with another stunning sunset show--just a little more subtle.

Be sure to click on the photos for a better look.

Looking toward Picacho Peak

It looked like the pecan trees were ablaze

For sky photos taken at all times of the day and all around the world, please visit Skywatch Friday.

Acequias

Click to enlarge

The acequias of New Mexico are communal irrigation canals; a way to share water for agriculture in a dry land. Their history stretches back over 400 years to when Spanish laws were applied to the irrigation systems that had been hand dug by the native Americans for perhaps hundreds of years before that. The system is a way to give equal shares of water to users in both wet and dry years.

Acequia associations, led by the mayordomo (the ditch boss, or overseer), were often considered "the first governmental entities of their communities."

In New Mexico, by state statute, acequias as registered bodies must have three commissioners and a mayordomo. Irrigation and conservation districts typically have their own version of mayordomos, usually referred to as "ditch riders" by members of the districts. From Ask.com, definition of acequia.

The main canal, called the mother ditch, is dug starting at the river, and flows gently downhill from there, with a series of smaller ditches, or laterals, bringing water to specific fields. If you click on the illustration above, from The Mother Ditch, by Oliver LaFarge (1954), you will see how a series of gates and some judicious moves with hand-held hoes direct the flowing water right to the individual plants and trees.

As we walk around our new neighborhood, we see ditches, large and small, all around the pecan orchards and chile fields. I've seen the truck from the irrigation district coming around in the middle of the night; I can make out the man in his headlights, turning the wheels that raise the gates to let the water into the waiting canal. I hope to figure out the schedule so that I can take some photos of our local ditches when they are full.

Resources:

Answers.com: Definition and historical background for "acequia"

An Irrigation Ditch Runs Through It, by Peter Fish for Sunset Magazine, 1997. This article discusses Stanley Crawford, who moved to northern New Mexico and eventually became the mayordomo of his acequia association, writing about his experiences in farming and community in his classic book, Mayordomo, winner of the 1988 Western States Book Award fro Creative Nonfiction.

The Mother Ditch, by Oliver LaFarge (1954). Originally written as a children's book, LaFarge's work is rich in detail about the working of the acequia system in both good and bad water years. I am lucky enough to have an old copy that was being discarded from a library years ago.

New Mexico Acequia Association (Official Website and Blog). Did you know that there is even a radio program "exploring the richness of the acequia culture?"

Will Impending State Regulations Undermine Local Acequia Management? Article by Katey Byrd, written for Periodistacostilla.org.

So Why DO We Live in New Mexico?

Last week, my post called What We Tell the Tourists brought this response from JC:

My question is .. why did you move to New Mexico ?

I've been there 3 times. Always while driving to see Carlsbad Caverns .. nice to visit but I wouldn't want to stay.

Do you live in a big city ? I've heard that some of them are nice.

Inquiring ... people who have driven thru .. minds .. want to know?

I promised to write a post about why we chose to live here, but I had to think about it for a bit. First of all, to clear up a couple of JC's specific points:

My favorite part of the state is the northern half, so I understand JC's thoughts about the southeastern part where Carlsbad Caverns are located. I wouldn't want to live there either.

I live in a small city of about 32,000 in eastern New Mexico ("Little Texas") on the High Plains. It is way too conservative here for us and we have plans to move closer to Santa Fe.

For the rest of the reasons why we chose New Mexico (or why it chose us), here are my answers.

We came for:

The scenery and open spaces

The incredible skies and weather

The different cultures--ancient and not-so-ancient

The adobe (and faux adobe) architecture

The folk art

Virgin Mary, by David Martinez

The amazing wildlife

... and the food, starting with green chiles

Put all of these things together and add the indefinable "enchantment of New Mexico" with a bit of "mañana" attitude, lack of traffic, sunny days, and I think you'll start to get the picture. At least I hope so, but if you have more questions, please ask away.