The Enchanting Land of Enchantment

Riddle me this: what comes to mind when you think of New Mexico? Green Chile? The International Balloon Fiesta? A dry, hot, and dusty desert wasteland, strife with poverty, a Third World state?

Well…yeah, New Mexico is all those things, but there is a reason it's called 'The Land of Enchantment", and it has nothing to do with Walter White's business endeavours.

New Mexico is part of the desert Southwest, but it‘s not all desert; despite three digit temperatures in the summer that has your butt sticking to the seat of your car, dust storms, brush fires, and the occasional drought, green stuff does grow here…you just have to look for it, and there are plenty of hiking trails to take you to, and through, cool and lush forests. New Mexico is also chock-full of ( man made) lakes, there are snow covered mountains in the winter for skiing, the mighty Rio Grande River runs through it…and we actually have all four seasons--they may only last a few days (except summer, that bad boy lasts longer than a few days), but we still have 'em.

Some days (about 350 out of 365) the sky is so blue and so close, that if you were to reach up, you may be able to scrape away blue chalk. The horizon is so vast and limitless that it feels that one can stretch toward every point on the compass and never the once hit an obstacle...there are no tall buildings, no crowds, no big city claustrophobia to impede the view of forever. And, there are days when you can literally taste the colours and the culture--it's actually a physical thing.

If you listen closely, you can hear ancient voices in the wind, feel the heartbeat and soul of New Mexico in the many multi-coloured rock formations that dot the land. Then comes a play on the sense of sight; in one glance it seems as if New Mexico is winding down into extinction, growing older and older...and with the blink of an eye, there's growth and rebirth.

Pretty cool, yeah?

I love living in a state where there are only two speeds--slow and mosey; it's not a lazy thing, it's a hot thing...there's too much heat to go anywhere fast, and if it needs to get done, it will get done, time is illimitable in the Land of Enchantment, for it just stands still. It's also nice living in a state where rush hour on the freeway is five cars and a semi truck.

So, if you're planning a trip to New Mexico, may I say in the many ways of my people: Bienvenido A Nuevo Mexico and Yá ' á t ' é é h.

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