The Top 10 Reasons to Live in New Mexico

Tuesday, November 14, 2017 to Wednesday, November 22, 2017

I’m sure it is possible to feel terrible in any place, but that has yet to happen to me in New Mexico. It is one of the places we are considering settling once we’ve traveled around for a while.

Here are the top 10 reasons why starting with number 10…

10. Red or green? It’s my favorite question largely because it means I’m eating my favorite food: New Mexican tacos or enchiladas or huevos rancheros with red or green chile. There’s a third answer: Christmas. That’s what you say when you want half a serving of both. I love chiles and there is nowhere I’ve been that chile sauces have tasted richer than in New Mexico.

Hot sopapillas served with or after a meal are heavenly pillows of pastry. I don’t usually enjoy the strong taste of honey added to breads, but the balance of flavors works perfectly.

There is attention to cooking well in New Mexican cuisine. Chicken and pork are slow-cooked and it shows in the tenderness. If you like pork, the green chile stew, made with potatoes, is tremendous.

Piñon is a kind of pine tree that grows in New Mexico and its tasty, mild fruits/seeds are eaten like nuts, shelled and unshelled. They’re small, so you gently unshell them between your teeth. Piñon coffee has a light nutty flavor without being sweet that’s great after dinner. If you don’t like strong bitter coffees and you’re looking for something light with a slightly nutty flavor, not sweet, order New Mexican Piñon Coffee on Amazon and give it a try.

 

The moment you step into El Potrero Trading Post right next to El Sanctuario de Chimayo, you are infused with the aroma of rich, red chile. Just walking into the store is an experience.

 

9. The architecture is beautiful and natural. In Santa Fe, virtually all of the buildings, homes, and churches are adobe style. True adobe is made of mud and straw and often accompanied by vibrant turquoise, blue or yellow doors and windows. Ristras of red chiles hang from the upper alcoves of many of the buildings. There are rounded kiva fireplaces in shops and homes and the smells of burning wood and sage waft wherever you go. During the Christmas season, candlelit bags called luminarias or farolitos line walls and roofs and roads. It’s very beautiful all of the time in New Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Native American culture is all around. There are 19 pueblo tribes in New Mexico. Each pueblo is a sovereign nation. I had the privilege to visit Taos Pueblo on Christmas Eve in 2012. Bonfires that were 20 to 30 feet high were lit. This time, we stayed near Isleta Pueblo, so we visited the quiet village that has been around since the 14th century. We had the opportunity to step into St. Augustine Church. Established in 1613, it is the centerpiece of the pueblo. I am eager to visit Zuni Pueblo one day because I am drawn Zuni art. I wear the Zuni Sunface in my left ear in honor of my desire to find out more about the people and culture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Wonders, both natural and manmade, are everywhere. And they are diverse: from surreal White Sands, endless Carlsbad Caverns, the mountain forests of Red River, the ruins of a Spanish mission from the 1600s at Jemez, stunning Ghost Ranch and Pedernal, humble and mystical Chimayo, Santa Fe, the miraculous staircase at Loretto Chapel, the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site just north of Tularosa, the ancient city of multi-story cave dwellings in the tuff at Bandelier National Monument, the Rio Grande Gorge, Chaco Canyon. Endless beauty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sand is made of gypsum and calcium carbonate, so it is cool to the touch. In the hottest part of the summer, the top can feel a bit hot, but just dig your toes in and it is cool.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset is a popular time to visit White Sands. The road into the area closes just before sunset and opens at sunrise. We made it just a few minutes after it closed. Here’s the stunning sunset from the entrance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were so many shapes at Carlsbad Caverns. I thought most shapes looked like sea creatures, which is ironic when you think that the formation of the caverns was due to the whole area being a sea a very long time ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mounds of rocks are up high on the hills. With everything so open and bare, the wind made a lot of sound. There was a sense that the places had a mystical meaning to the people who lived in the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New areas were created since we’d last visited to enable people from all over the world to put up crosses, photographs, and request prayers.

 

 

 

 

 

6. The people are kind, friendly, and tend to be unhurried. Driving was not as stressful for Dan in New Mexico as in other places.

 

 

5. Art is valued and prevalent. There are opportunities to sing in choirs and act in community theaters and hear a symphony orchestra. There is a historic hotel in Santa Fe with its own art curator, Sara Eyestone, who happened to be inspired by my great grandmother as a child.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Yuma, Arizona, we stopped first in Silver City in southwestern New Mexico, which was beautiful and very devoted to the arts. Local musicians play in the coffee shops. There are poetry readings and open mikes. There was a community dinner theater show happening the weekend after we visited.

 

 

Tranquil Buzz Coffee has live music and poetry readings and is a very comfortable place for great food, coffee, conversation, and to read or write.

 

 

 

 

4. New Mexico has a good climate for Kiva with opportunities to be a ranch dog. There is a lot of sun in New Mexico. Most places have four seasons. If you’re missing warmth or snow, you can possibly drive to either on the same winter day.

3. New Mexico would be a good placed for Dan to have a photography studio along with a sales area that I could work each day that could have a kiva fireplace.

 

 

2. It would be a great place for people to visit.

1. Many of my great grandmother’s masterpiece sun paintings are of places and scenes in New Mexico. It is in my mind to find a beautiful space where her story could be told and where her work could be seen by those traveling through or living in New Mexico.

 

Sara Eyestone said that Doodlet’s was one of the places that Pansy Stockton had her work for sale years and years ago. It’s now a tourist shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Guadelupe Mountains just outside of El Paso, Texas were formed by the waters of the same sea that shaped the wonder that is Carlsbad Caverns.

 

 

The drive to Chimayo is beautiful. Soon after this we turned onto the High Road to Taos, a twisting scenic byway in northern New Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To get to Sandia Crest, you can drive up and hike its trails, or you can take the Sandia Peak Tramway. There is a restaurant at the top.