New Mexico seven
shades of brown and Ohio has 16 shades of green
When mom and Dad
was in New Mexico I spent about thirty days out there in Roswell, New Mexico
around the month of February. I was able to get a chance to see how winter was
in Roswell, as compared to Ohio where they were having freezing rain and all
kinds of other weather problems after I left. I took bud my German shepherd I had
for 18 years and who was always a close companion having received him as a
throw away dog. Anyhow the two of us
made a trip across the country travelling as straight a shot towards New Mexico
as we could, stopping every couple of
hundred miles when Bud was restless and needed to go to the little doggies’
room.
The reason I headed
out there was to help Mom and Dad as they were both down at the same time and
had to rely on a neighbor to come in and help them get by as our family was all
back here in Ohio. I was able to come and help at the time and looked forward
to the opportunity to visit. By the time I arrived both Mom and Dad were on the
mend and really needed no help, so I just spent thirty days getting to know the
area and visiting with them. Some places I would drive and some I would walk to.
Daily I would take Bud for a walk out to the old airport; this was the city
airport and not the one where the aliens were brought back to. Sage brush and
weeds and cactus flourished in the cracks of the abandoned cracked tarmac where
taxi runways used to be. A derelict woven wire fence contained the area and
offered a harbor of safe haven for a growth of weeds due to the shade offered by
old fence. Trash doesn’t ever seem to disintegrate or rot in the desert sun
there; in fact it has a tendency to stay in almost pristine condition. Meaning if
you drop something or are guilty of carelessly throwing of anything onto the ground, it could
be there for years as opposed to Ohio where weeds will soon take over most
anything and obscure it and rot it in comparison blinding it from your view. Bud
would kick up these big jack rabbits and it was weird hearing them take off as
they are quite big and when they start to run the sound of their feet hitting
the ground is unique as they actually thump , again, and again, and you know it
is them as it builds in intensity as their speed builds. Bud didn’t have a
chance of getting one as they are quite fast, I would call him back fearing he
would get bit by a rattlesnake or something not knowing the animals out there.
Moisture in the
soil was nonexistent except under pavement or in the case of the old tarmac ,
where minimal rains would run underneath and be protected by the blaring sun
harboring and storing moisture for later use in the blaring sun. Seeds blowing
across the sun parched soil would lodge into these cracks and life would
flourish where there was no life before. Tire tracks and damage from wheels is
ever present in the desert as you can see where people drove for a long time. There is no rain to wash the soil back into
the tracks and due to the heat, and once desert flora is damaged, it may take
years before the damage is finally reversed due to the slow growth of plants in
this desert climate. Tumble weeds skitter to and fro across the desert longing
for a fence or an obstruction to pile up against, and at times flattening with
their weight anything in their path. In some places the wind would cut through
you at times, and with the grit of countless open spaces offering up their
bounty of free flowing particles, would blast your senses with its dusty
offering, getting into your hair and eyes and eventually into your soul with
its relentless pursuit, letting you be thankful for the water to wash it all
off in the end of the day.
Mom and Dad
owned a little ranch adobe and it was one level with an adobe courtyard wall surrounding
the house and actually sported a green lawn. This was unusual and mostly
practiced by the well to do, as it required watering and by the local standard
was too much of a pain in the butt for most to worry about. Instead they allowed
their lawns to be natural desert , a place to park vehicles close to the house,
or right in front of the door making the transition from air conditioning in
the car to the house a lot more comfortable and less of a task. At night when
and if it would cool, then the locals would exit their house and would sit on
their stoop and drink beer. At times they would break bottles of beer over someone’s
head or as a weapon, or some would just accidentally just drop and break,
nonetheless, this was as evidenced by the brown and green glass fragments
adorning the ground in a sort of synthetic grass way and it seemed as if it
will always be there forever.
Old late
model cars and trucks are everywhere as the bodies last forever but the paint
fades quickly under the sun. Although rust appears it has very little effect on
the degradation of a vehicle as it is here in Ohio. As long as the engine and
drive train is good and the vehicle hasn’t been banged up it may last for years.
I saw a 56 Chevy for sale, offered dirt cheap and was being used around town to
get groceries as I saw it several times while I was there. It smoked but would
have been a heck of a deal for someone looking to fix one up. Just one example
of the many there is out there in the junk yards. I was envious of the junk
yards I would see out there.
Sadly I must
say the sun was bright 29 of the 30 days I was there and that was a little hard
for an Ohioan to take. Normally seeing the sun shine in Ohio is something we
look forward to and hardly take for granted, scouring the weather reports
waiting for that period of dryness to plan on drying hay having a picnic, etc..
And what Ohioan hasn’t had his plans at one time or another dashed by bad
weather? This is something that never happens in New Mexico. No snow days, no mudslides,
no thunder storm watch, or major flooding to worry about. Never being snowed in
or having to detour because of high water is hardly ever an option in the
desert and something I am not used to. Well after a couple of days of nice
weather and accomplishing most of the tasks I set out to do while I was there I
began making new plans and could quickly realize that due to nice weather all
of the time one needed to just take a break from planning and do nothing,
except keep cool as I am sure most of the natives do.
The white portion
of the population is an eclectic bunch of sundried farmers and ranchers, along
with oil and gas men and women who are definitely a minority in this part of
the country. The Hispanic portion of the population lends one to believe there
may be a reason as to why Roswell could easily be called the illegal alien
capital of the world for more than one reason. Roswell’s brush with fame came
when a UFO was reported to have crash landed and then disappeared just as
quickly as the government rushed in haste to reject all news reporting of the
incident hinting at a cover-up that still surfaces its head even to this day. Having
already read the Roswell incident and about all news clippings and stories
relating to aliens at Roswell, I still needed to visit the UFO museum, as it is
touristy thing to do while there. It was interesting and supposedly based on
facts but still lacks the smoking gun to make it seem credulous to believe. But
so we exist here on earth, there is no reason why life shouldn’t exist
elsewhere in the cosmos waiting patiently for ET to call home. He would if he wasn’t
in a freezer in hanger 17. Something went on out there but due to the close
proximity of the White Sands Air force base and other military installations it
could easily be anyone’s guess as to what happened. Only the government knows
their part and what they did or didn’t do for sure and they haven’t said
anymore for now.
Well I didn’t
think I would have enough material to write much about the differences between
here and there but I guess I was wrong as I am near my limit for one day and
will choose to finish this blog tomorrow. As I cover subjects like a visit to
an oasis in the middle of the desert, types of houses both adobe and modern, as
well the farming and industry that
dominates the area including agriculture and how water is the key to cities
like Roswell ‘s existence, will all be the subject of tomorrow’s blog
No comments:
Post a Comment