El Paso: A Celebration of the Desert

September 2016


On a warm Saturday, I attended the Chihuahua Desert Festival at the Tom Mays Unit in Franklin Mountains State Park.

I bought some cool earrings from a group of high school students who belonged to a club related to desert conservation. These earrings feature Kenya's Tusker beer, with its signature yellow, black, and white palette.

Tusker Beer earrings.

They replace earrings I bought a bajillion years ago in Seattle, also made from Tusker beercaps. Those earrings eventually fell apart over the years.

Prince had died recently, and this young musician gave a tribute performance at the festival, choosing Purple Rain:

Made me think about a whomp-ass, zydeco interpretation of Purple Rain by Corey Ledet at Vermilionville one Sunday afternoon. Unforgettable.


Later, I joined a small group to walk to an old copper mine near the Tom May Unit. We went into the mountain.

Between you and me, the mine itself was rather anti-climactic, but the visuals of climbing in and out of the mine were all very birth-womb-mother-Earthy, which was cool.

El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.

El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.

El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.

El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.

El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.

El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.

El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.

El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.

Above is a good image of the instability of the hiking surface in the Franklin Mountains. As I learned here, even a flat terrain demands some attention.

El Paso: Moonrise

September 2016

Moonrise in El Paso and Juarez, watched from Upper Tom Lea Park.


At 7:30 p.m.

El Paso-Juarez moonrise from Upper Tom Lea Park. September 2016.

El Paso-Juarez moonrise from Upper Tom Lea Park. September 2016.

El Paso-Juarez moonrise from Upper Tom Lea Park. September 2016.

At 7:31 p.m. 

El Paso-Juarez moonrise from Upper Tom Lea Park. September 2016.

El Paso-Juarez moonrise from Upper Tom Lea Park. September 2016.

At 7:32 p.m.

El Paso-Juarez moonrise from Upper Tom Lea Park. September 2016.

El Paso-Juarez moonrise from Upper Tom Lea Park. September 2016.

At 7:33 p.m. 

El Paso-Juarez moonrise from Upper Tom Lea Park. September 2016.

El Paso-Juarez moonrise from Upper Tom Lea Park. September 2016.

At 7:48 p.m.

El Paso-Juarez moonrise from Upper Tom Lea Park. September 2016.

The fireworks in Juarez after:

Fireworks in Juarez after the El Paso-Juarez moonrise from Upper Tom Lea Park. September 2016.

Fireworks in Juarez after the El Paso-Juarez moonrise from Upper Tom Lea Park. September 2016.

Oh. My. 

El Paso: My First El Paso Hike

Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

September 2016 

There are several hiking groups for the El Paso - Southern New Mexico area on meetup.com. Also, during Celebration of the Mountains, which had begun when I arrived in El Paso, there are even more group hiking opportunities. 

A vibrant woman named Judy, a military veteran who is active in El Paso's quality-of-life issues, led this morning's hike, which was just behind (above) a residential neighborhood. The trail head began at the end of a neighborhood street.

Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

Some observations from this first experience

• The area terrain is scrabbly, slippy-slidey, tumble-y rocks, which makes hiking more treacherous than I've experienced in the past. This is where I learned that "easy" in one area of the country might be quite different from "easy" in another part, such as South Louisiana, where you can ride (or stand on) a horse with a beer in your hand while following a trailer with a full-on barbecue grill and stereo sound system. The elevation and obstacles on this El Paso hike were easy. Being ever-mindful of the instability of the small rocks beneath one's feet required vigilance.

• Gosh darn, there were some wicked-smart, engaging fellow hikers! Knowledgeable about the flora, fauna, or geology, and so generous about sharing the interesting stuff they know. It made for much more than a simple walk. 

• Franklin Mountains State Park is the "largest urban park in the nation lying completely within city limits, covering 24,247.56 acres.. "

Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

Mexico: Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua: Revisited

Abandoned building. Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico. September 2016.

September 2016

Brother4 dropped by El Paso to visit with me for the weekend. Posts here and here and here about same.

We drove out to Columbus, New Mexico, via Highway 9, and popped over to Puerto Palomas for a quick look-see. (Here are related posts about Columbus and Palomas in 2013.)


Back in 2013, a grand maison, incomplete, drew my attention and my imagination. So close to the border wall and so lovely in its lines and color, yet obviously abandoned - what was it to have been? What stopped its completion?

The word I heard then was that it had been meant to be a casino, but its construction ended due to the cartel wars.

Here's what I wrote then:

I felt particularly attracted to an abandoned .. what? Mansion? Hotel? Restaurant? It was intended to be grand, and I was later told that it was to have been a casino, but construction ceased as soon as the drug cartels moved their violent stage to Puerto Palomas for a time. 

If it had opened, how many people would it have employed directly? How many people would have been employed by suppliers? How many others would have derived indirect economic benefits?

For now, doves are the only evident residents of the empty, beautiful building.   

However, on this trip with Brother4, we had occasion to speak to the person who'd actually owned and built on the property. She told us that there was a time when the US and Mexico intended to move the port of entry right next to this property, and the Mexican government claimed it under eminent domain. I don't recall how she and any co-owners were compensated, but the end result was an abandoned building. The original plan was for it to be a shopping complex; a destination for American tourists to buy Mexican goods.

In addition to the photo at the top of this post, here is how the building looks in 2016:

Abandoned building. Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico. September 2016.

Abandoned building. Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico. September 2016.

Abandoned building. Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico. September 2016.

The resident doves have been joined by human roommates, who try to keep things a little organized with this public hygiene sign:

Abandoned building. Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico. September 2016.

"Gentlemen: For the health and well-being of all, piss and defecate over there."

We gave a nod to the Mexican Revolution and the role that Columbus and Puerto Palomas played in it:

Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico. September 2016.

Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico. September 2016.

New Mexico: Highway 9: Addition to Carcass Collection

Dead jackalope, Highway 9, New Mexico. September 2016.

Brother4 dropped by El Paso to visit with me for the weekend. Posts here and here about same.

We drove out to Columbus, New Mexico, via Highway 9, with the plan to pop over to Palomas for a quick look-see. (Here are related posts about Columbus and Palomas in 2013.)


En route, we saw a dead jackalope.

Dead jackalope, Highway 9, New Mexico. September 2016.

And also the remains of some hapless creature, with nothing much left but fur and ..... is it possible that there is an intact eye within there? And maybe the outline of an ear?

Dead furry creature, Highway 9, New Mexico. September 2016.

 

Dead furry creature, Highway 9, New Mexico. September 2016.

I've added them to the Carcass Collection:

New Mexico: Highway 9: Lunch on the Road

September 2016


Brother4 spent a weekend with me in El Paso.

After considering the nearby options for touristy things to do in his short time here, we decided to take Highway 9 to Columbus, New Mexico, then walk over to Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico.


We stopped and had lunch on the road.

Lunch on the road, Highway 9, New Mexico. September 2016.

Literally.

Lunch on the road, Highway 9, New Mexico. September 2016.

Well, it was the road next to the road. 

This reminds me of other lunch spots past in New Mexico: 

• With sparrows and a raven in City of Rocks State Park
• At the end of the line at Antelope Wells border crossing
• With blooms and hummingbirds at Leasburg Dam State Park
• With a crowd, consisting of grasshoppers, a lizard, a hawk, and chipmunks off the Jemez Springs Trail

New Mexico: Highway 9: Bathing Birds

Ibis on Highway 9, east of Columbus, New Mexico. September 2016.

September 2016

Brother 4 came to visit and we pondered what to do with an entire day. So many ideas to consider:

1. Go for a hike in the Franklin Mountains? 
2. Take a grand tour up to Cloudcroft, New Mexico, and nearby sweet spots, then swing over to White Sands National Monument, maybe even stopping en route at one of the natural areas that hug the Organ Mountains? 
3. Or just focus on one of the grand tour destinations? 
4. Step into Mexico at one of the various border crossings close by? 
5. Hit up some El Paso museums? 

We decided to go simple and low-key --> a lil' road trip to Columbus, New Mexico, and Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Ibis on Highway 9, east of Columbus, New Mexico. September 2016.

More on some of that later. The focus of this post is on the birds we saw at a watery stretch along Highway 9 just east of Columbus.

One of three shaky videos I took here:

Best I can tell, these were white-faced ibis. At first, the wing spreading made me think of anhinga, but the bills here are longer and curved. I'm not at confident about my identification.

Ibis on Highway 9, east of Columbus, New Mexico. September 2016.

There's never a bad time to look at and appreciate birds, but it felt especially nice for me on this day because it took me back in spirit to South Louisiana.

El Paso: UTEP: Flowers on a Ledge

September flowers on a ledge, UTEP campus. El Paso, TX. 2016.

September 2016

On my way to a musical performance by some of UTEP's music faculty the other evening, the flamboyant mauv-y cactus called out to me. Its orange and burnt sienna neighbor, albeit quieter, was the perfect companion.

September flowers on a ledge, UTEP campus. El Paso, TX. 2016.

September flowers on a ledge, UTEP campus. El Paso, TX. 2016.

September flowers on a ledge, UTEP campus. El Paso, TX. 2016.

September flowers on a ledge, UTEP campus. El Paso, TX. 2016.

El Paso: UTEP: Evening on the Campus

September 2016 


I sauntered over to the UTEP campus for a UTEP faculty recital; this one called Baroque Gems. The bassoon was featured. What an odd instrument. Call me lowbrow, but I am underwhelmed by its presumed charms. Not the artistry of the musician, mind you, the instrument.

Nevertheless, here's a video from one of the composers highlighted in the performance, J.D. Zelenka. I quite like the combined sound of the instruments:

(Mmmm. During times such as these, in the midst of a vicious presidential campaign, classical music soothes like a hot, sudsy bath.)

It was light on my way to the concert, and dark when I left.

Some campus scenes on my way home. There was a beautiful moon:

UTEP campus, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

UTEP campus, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

 

UTEP campus, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

UTEP campus, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

Enshrined toilet, Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall, UTEP, El Paso, Texas.

Wait, before you go, "hanh?" I took the photo of the enshrined toilet because it made me think of an art installation. Being on a university campus and in an arts building and all. See lowbrow reference at the top of this post.