Las Cruces NM 2019: The Jump

Rusty arthropod, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Friend Drake's dad, Beck, lives in the casita immediately behind Drake's house.

The first time I walked through the passageway between the two, I saw the enormous, segmented exoskeleton of the arthropod above, and I jumped like a cat surprised by a cucumber.

Ai, pendejo!!!!

Oh.

It's a screw.

Rusty arthropod, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Goddammit.


This experience reminds me of three others:

• Las Cruces, NM (2013): Arthropod Museum
• New Mexico (2012): Roaches and Other Unpretty Neighbors
• Ethiopia: Nazret (2011): Saturday in Nazret

Las Cruces NM 2019: Hovering Cloud

Hovering cloud over Organ Mountains, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

One evening in Las Cruces, a long, low cloud hovered over the Organ Mountains.

Hovering cloud over Organ Mountains, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

It appeared sentient.

Hovering cloud over Organ Mountains, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Hovering cloud over Organ Mountains, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

I pulled over to capture it.

Las Cruces NM 2019: Temporary Home

Las Cruces, New Mexico, temporary home. March 2019.

In my month-to-month amble from Missouri to Tucson, it has looked like this:

Opelousas, Louisiana
El Paso, Texas


... and then Las Cruces, New Mexico.

As with the El Paso hang-out, my Las Cruces pad resulted from the power of networking. In this case, I met my host back when I lived in El Paso. We both attended a music-related Meetup at one of El Paso's Al Fresco Fridays.

"Drake" has a sharp wit that he uses mostly for good. Sometimes evil. One has to stay on one's toes around him.

Drake's dad, "Beck," lives with him in a DIY assisted-living arrangement.

Drake loves to get out and travel; Beck needs someone on site to support his semi-independence.

While still in Missouri, I thought, heyyyyyyy ..... what would it be like if I were to spend a month in Las Cruces at Drake's house in an arrangement where I could step in to support Beck's at-home independence and Drake could disappear to some global dot for awhile? If Beck, whom I'd previously met, was amenable, it could be a win-win-win!

I called Drake, proposed the idea, he said ..... Yeah!

And six or so months later .....

A roadrunner greeted me upon my arrival at Drake's house!

Las Cruces, New Mexico, temporary home. March 2019.

... and so did a relative of Drake and Beck's, "Susie," who is a newish nomad herself. Susie was hanging out in Las Cruces waiting for Montana to warm up some more. Thus she was my housemate for the month. Good news for Beck, as he now had two "minders," as he called us, to support his independent living.

Drake had already departed on his semi-plotted road trip when I arrived, which meant that I enjoyed: 


Another comfy bed, vast room, and a wicked-good shower due to its ample size and exhilarating water pressure.

Las Cruces, New Mexico, temporary home. March 2019.

A nice space for my portable office.

Las Cruces, New Mexico, temporary home. March 2019.

Las Cruces, New Mexico, temporary home. March 2019.

 A view of the wrinkly Organ Mountains that I love, with extravagant sunrises thrown in for free.

Las Cruces, New Mexico, temporary home. March 2019.

I am reminded of my early rootlessness, when I was the grateful guest at My Exclusive Vacation Homes on the Missouri Riviera.

Las Cruces NM 2019: Poppies

Poppies near San Agustin Pass, Highway 70, New Mexico. March 2019.

On the way back to Las Cruces from our field trip, we stopped for poppies. The "we" included me, Beck, and Susie. We'd already been to White Sands here and here, plus Rockin Zs for their green chile burger, and up to Cloudcroft for the high view.

Poppies near San Agustin Pass, Highway 70, New Mexico. March 2019.

Poppies near San Agustin Pass, Highway 70, New Mexico. March 2019.

Poppies near San Agustin Pass, Highway 70, New Mexico. March 2019.

Poppies near San Agustin Pass, Highway 70, New Mexico. March 2019.

Poppies near San Agustin Pass, Highway 70, New Mexico. March 2019.

Poppies near San Agustin Pass, Highway 70, New Mexico. March 2019.

A satisfying day.

Las Cruces NM 2019: White Sands: Dead Moth

Dead moth, White Sands, New Mexico. March 2019.

My Las Cruces housemates, Beck and Susie, were my travel companions to White Sands the other day.

Dead moth, White Sands, New Mexico. March 2019.

Susie noticed this exquisite moth, sadly dead. She picked it up, held it for awhile, appreciating its beauty, handed it to me.

Dead moth, White Sands, New Mexico. March 2019.

I admired it, too.

Dead moth, White Sands, New Mexico. March 2019.

I laid it in various spots on the sand, tenderly. 

Dead moth, White Sands, New Mexico. March 2019.

Dead moth, White Sands, New Mexico. March 2019.

Dead moth, White Sands, New Mexico. March 2019.

An addition to the carcass collection in the slide show below:

Las Cruces NM 2019: White Sands Study

 

My new vehicular mate at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. March 2019.

I've established a home base for a month at friend Drake's house. Neither Beck nor Susie, my housemates, had yet been to White Sands.

White Sands Study 2019, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. March 2019.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure to take us on a field trip to White Sands, Alamogordo (at Beck's recommendation for lunch at what he and Drake believe to be the best green chile cheeseburger in the land, notwithstanding this establishment's claim to same), and to Cloudcroft.

White Sands Study 2019, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. March 2019.

On one level, you get to White Sands, and you think, huh, a whole lotta white sand. Then, it begins to creep on you. A whole lotta white sand in the middle of the desert. No beaches. No ocean, no sea, no lake.

White Sands Study 2019, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. March 2019.

From a distance, it gleams.

When the wind comes, the sand lifts up and swirls like a figure skater executing a graceful double axel.

A slide show of our March 2019 visit below:

A plethora of White Sands posts here, sheesh, going back to 2011.


And my cumulative collection of White Sands photos in the slide show here.

Las Cruces NM 2019: Jazz 3

Willie Green Project, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

On Monday, a local brewery hosted a pre-Mardi Gras kickoff with a mostly-jazz band from New Orleans: The Willie Green Project.

Willie Green Project, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

My housemates, Susie and Beck, accompanied me. We sat at a small square table close to the stage, on hard-seated chairs, the discomfort of which would delight even the sternest of Calvinist preachers.

Willie Green Project, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

It is not uncommon for alcohol-selling venues in the area to allow customers to bring their own food. Little Toad Creek Brewery and Distillery, which presented Willie Green, is an example of such a place. I brought my dinner with me: tomato sandwich, some roast chicken breast, a sweet potato, and a sliced red pepper. Susie bought a quesadilla from the food truck that parked behind the brewery, while Beck abstained.

Willie Green Project, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

The band included a sax/clarinet player, keyboardist, drummer, and a double bass musician. The drummer is the band leader, Willie Green.

Good sound in the room and huge, complicated jazz energy.

A long drink of the jazz below, with the drum highlight beginning around minute 6:30:

Some sips of other tunes here and here.

Willie Green Project, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Willie Green Project, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

An interesting dynamic, though, when the drummer is the leader and you've got a sax player with a lot of presence at center stage.

If you're the drummer and the band leader, you better have a lot of stage presence of your own because you've got to compete with heavier-weights under the lights, such as sax or string players. Willie Green doesn't have this .... yet. 

On one hand, I'm thinking, "Willie Green, you've got some big chutzpah to head up your own band - including gathering Grade A musical talent around you. Whew, good on you!"

On the other hand, I'm thinking, "Willie Green, you've got to grow some voice because I can't hear you in the background."

Willie Green Project, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Las Cruces NM 2019: Sunrise Sequence

Sunrise over the Organ Mountains 1, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

What is it that fascinates us so by sunrises and sunsets, that we never seem to tire of them? Is it the colors of red, orange, yellow, indigo blue which attract us? The intensity of the colors?

Sunrise over the Organ Mountains 2, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Perhaps so, just like a hummingbird is equally attracted to my brightly-flowered tablecloth as it is to authentic blooms?

Sunrise over the Organ Mountains 3, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Sunrise over the Organ Mountains 4, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Sunrise over the Organ Mountains 5, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Sunrise over the Organ Mountains 6, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Sunrise over the Organ Mountains 7, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Sunrise over the Organ Mountains 8, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Sunrise over the Organ Mountains 9, Las Cruces, New Mexico. March 2019.

Las Cruces NM 2019: Jazz 2

Jazz jam at Mom's Coffee, Las Cruces, New Mexico. February 2019.

I invited friend Beck to join me at Mom's Coffee for an evening of jazz jamming.

Jazz jam at Mom's Coffee, Las Cruces, New Mexico. February 2019.

Super close to the university campus, Mom's Coffee attracts students, of course, and on this evening, a range of elders-in-age, including parents and aunts and uncles of student jazz jammers.

Jazz jam at Mom's Coffee, Las Cruces, New Mexico. February 2019.

Mom's decor vibrates with color and cheer, which the staff enhance with their own cheery selves. 

Jazz jam at Mom's Coffee, Las Cruces, New Mexico. February 2019.

Beck pointed out that the sax player was also a member of the Canyon Quintet, which played at the February Mesilla Valley Jazz and Blues Society meeting.

Jazz jam at Mom's Coffee, Las Cruces, New Mexico. February 2019.

Check out a tune here: