Garden of New Mexico Audubon, Santa Fe

Yesterday I saw a man walking his dog. In his right hand, he held a battered umbrella to shield himself from the hot New Mexico afternoon. “Why is a man carrying an umbrella?” Half-formed thoughts tumbled through my head. “Men wear hats," to protect themselves from the sun. That man wore a hat as well. I pray to be that man.

A Quilt by Laverne Brackens

Ms. Brackens, an African-American textile artist from Fairfield, Texas,
was named a 2011 NEA National Heritage Fellow. I bought this fanciful quilt,
rendered in red and blue on white, in Ms. Brackens' home several years ago.

Camera Shy, Not

Orange Dragonfly, Albuquerque, August 10, 2012

Among Native American cultures, dragonflies are considered a symbol of purity, said to eat "from the wind itself".

Happy travelers "makin' good time"

Friend Judy and I headed to New Mexico in June 2007

One of my favorite reads is the writing of Jim Moore, who lives in Austin, TX. He is a very accomplished man, but what I know about his accomplishments are his insightful commentaries on matters important, including politics and other life events that we likely should be paying attention to. Sometimes what he has to say strikes a deep chord relating to my own journey, even growing up in Texas, in the south.

Today, Jim writes about 'makin' good time', which most of us probably know is all about getting from one place to another. When I read his tale for today, it brought to mind the only real vacation trip our family ever took. I think the year was 1953, the month July, I was just shy of my 10th birthday, and we were driving in a car with no air conditioning (of course, it was 1953) across west Texas and eastern New Mexico.

Here's a link to Jim's website:

http://www.moorethink.com/2012/08/02/makin-good-time/

Here's what I had to say, from New Meixco:

As a native Texan, a southerner, and from a family of modest means that didn't go on vacations, your tale makes me want to "sit down and cry", another expression that can convey either delight or the opposite of delight over some set of circumstances, news, experience, etc.  Our one long trip was from northwest Harris County to Santa Fe,NM, in 1953, in a 1952 2-door Chevy. My daddy's mother, was one of 7 passengers, which also included 4 kids, aged 9 to 16, Daddy and Mother.

We drove all the way. The only stops I remember were Muleshoe, to look at the mule of course, and Sweetwater, where it was early morning, the air was way nicer than what we had closer to the Gulf, and we had fresh baked bread, still warm, and butter (or something butter like from 1953) from a local bakery. I guess the bakery was directly on or near our route. We made good time, I guess, although I don't remember any conversation about 'makin' good time'. I just know that our daddy, then a month or so away from his 42nd birthday, did all the driving. This trip to northern New Mexico was huge for me in ways that began to reveal themselves when I reached young adulthood. So any way I look at it, we made good time.

A light in the forest

Sandia Crest Woodlands

Sandia Crest Woodlands

Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma) butterfly