Las Cruces, New Mexico: Scenes from the Farmers and Crafts Market

Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market with the Organ Mountains backdrop. January 2023. Credit: Mzuriana.

 

During my current sojourn in Las Cruces, I go downtown on Saturdays to the Farmers and Craft Market. I go for the kettle corn, mainly. It's not often I'm living in a place where I can get it in the wild, regularly. 

Las Cruces seems to have three kettle corn drug dealers. There's Uncle Banjo, Southwest, and a third one, as yet unseen and untried by me. 

My preference is Southwest Kettle Corn. I can taste all of the fat, crunch, salt, and sweet. Uncle Banjo's is too dry for my taste. And the folks at Southwest know how we are, "we" being persnickety partakers of the popcorn crack. As in: If I ask for more salt before I carry away my bag, I'm asked in return: "In layers or on the top"? And always, we users are asked: "Do you want your bag open or tied?" 

The market is long and large. 

On Christmas Eve, my eyes widened at the probable deliciousness of the mushrooms on offer. Oh, mushrooms, how I love thee.

Mushrooms and brilliant smile at Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market. December 2022. Credit: Mzuriana.

Mushrooms and brilliant smile at Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market. December 2022. Credit: Mzuriana.

On another day, I bought a stash of bright artwork from Alyssa Trujillo. Along with mushrooms, I do fancy lizards. I'll send the work to worthy recipients. 

Artist Alyssa Trujillo at Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market. January 2023. Credit: Mzuriana.

A slide show of the Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market, which includes photos from my first-ever visit in 2013: 

This and other markets: 

2010: Kansas City: Travels With Carol: Day 3: City Market, et al

2011: Color in Harar [Ethiopia], Day 4

2011: Last Day in Gonder [Ethiopia]: The Market, Gold, and God is Calling

2011: Rustavi, Caucasus Georgia: At the "Big" Market

2012: Istanbul: Larceny and Spice

2012: Alamogordo, New Mexico: Farmer's Market

2013: Las Cruces: The Not-So-Farmerish Farmers' Market

2013: Lafayette, Louisiana: Farmers' Market at the Oil Center, Winter

2016: El Paso: Downtown Farmers Market

2016: Antigua, Guatemala: Municipal market stories here and here and here. 

2016: Outside Antigua, Guatemala: The Sunday Blues

2018: Mexico City: New Housemates and the Saturday Market

Mobile, Alabama: Downtown on a Friday Night in May

 

Downtown Mobile, Alabama. LODA May 2022. Credit: Mzuriana.

 

In Mobile, the second Friday evening of every month is LoDa, downtown's version of a monthly art walk. 

The equine photo bomb below was the highlight of May's LODA:

 

 

It makes me laugh out loud every time I watch it.

Another highlight was the early bird Mobicon cosplay attendees who graciously allowed photos. 

LoDa Friday night, Mobile, Alabama. May 2022. Credit: Mzuriana.

LoDa Friday night, Mobile, Alabama. May 2022. Credit: Mzuriana.

LoDa Friday night, Mobile, Alabama. May 2022. Credit: Mzuriana.

A cumulative slide show of Mobile's monthly Friday night artwalks here and below: 

 

El Paso: 100 Minutes in June

View of Juarez from Upson Street, Sunset Heights, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

June 2017


Alfresco Friday! The PT and the Cruisers performed. It was bloody hot. Simmered around 100 degrees.

Neverthless, I took off from my place in Sunset Heights on a walk downtown. This time, I routed myself through Upson Street.


I saw things.


Through an alley

First, I descended from Yandell down to Upson by way of an alley. I loved how Juarez came closer through the frame of adjacent houses.

Walking down from Yandell to Upson Street, Sunset Heights, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

Walking down from Yandell to Upson Street, Sunset Heights, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

Walking down from Yandell to Upson Street, Sunset Heights, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

Walking down from Yandell to Upson Street, Sunset Heights, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

The ramshackle house

I turned left onto Upson.

This house fascinates.

Upson Street, Sunset Heights, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

Look at its view of Juarez and the mountain range!


Along the I-10

Upson Street, Sunset Heights, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

Upson Street loops around a bit and then overlooks Interstate 10.


Alfresco Friday

PT and the Cruisers, Alfresco Friday, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

PT and the Cruisers, Alfresco Friday, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

Despite the heat, El Paso danced!

A video below, a slow dance:

A video below, with private dancers:

And back home again

Upson Street, Sunset Heights, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

View of Juarez from Upson Street, Sunset Heights, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

Upson Street, Sunset Heights, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

Upson and Yandell Streets, Sunset Heights, El Paso, Texas. June 2017.

Never do I tire of seeing Juarez from my neighborhood. It is a magic spot on the planet, straddling two cities, two countries.

Speaking of magic, my camera gave me a stop action movie of my 100 minutes, sounds and movements included with snaps:

El Paso: Moon Angle from Indigo Hotel Terrace

Moon in window, Indigo Hotel, El Paso, Texas. May 2017.

It was the night of the Mariachi Loco Festival at San Jacinto Plaza.

Lots of people there, but difficult to get close enough to see and hear the musicians well. My three companions were terrific company, so it didn't matter so much.

Eventually, we walked over to the Indigo Hotel and enjoyed a balmy breeze on the terrace with the heartbeat of ambient techno music.

The moon looked at itself in the reflection of a high-floor window.

El Paso: A Fire-Breathing Dragon

Fire-breathing dragon, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

October 2016

A lot was going on this October evening in El Paso. Las Cafeteras. Chalk the Block. The moon. Those alligators.

Plus the fire-breathing dragon.

Fire-breathing dragon, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

El Paso is definitely a family city, and San Jacinto Plaza, which is just outside of sight of the dragon, draws moms and dads, kiddos, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends.

San Jacinto Plaza, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

A kiosk cafe in the plaza keeps busy most days and evenings. (But if you want coffee, walk a little further and get your fix at the Coffee Box.)

San Jacinto Plaza, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

Back at the dragon, there is a zen thing in waiting for that which may or may not come:

There is the fire:

Fire-breathing dragon, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

A very satisfying evening in El Paso.

El Paso: Downtown: Coffee Box

Coffee Box, El Paso, Texas.

The first time I heard of the Coffee Box, I was cold and had just finished attending something downtown. I saw someone with a coffee cup in her hand. I asked her where she got her coffee. She said the "Coffee Box," and waved her hand in a direction and said, "San Jacinto Plaza." 

I was so new to El Paso, I didn't know about anything.

So I heard the word "coffee" and the word "box" and "plaza." The first place I saw at the San Jacinto Plaza was the little kiosk-y cafe, and I thought, huh, this must be it.

No, no, no, no.

The coffee was groaningly bad. That metallic taste when the machine hasn't been cleaned in too long, where you're much better off with the cheap-assiest brand of instant coffee than this. Now don't get me wrong - the food at this kiosk-y place is quite popular, and I love that it's open so late every night at the plaza. Just don't get the coffee there.

I didn't discover until later that the Coffee Box, which is, actually, in a box, two boxes, one atop another - is over on the other side of the plaza, in a parking lot, really.

Coffee Box, El Paso, Texas.

Coffee Box coffee: good. Not amazing, stupendous, or out of this world. It's good, and there ain't nothing wrong with that.

Local artwork.

Coffee Box, El Paso, Texas.

Pretty tight quarters on the street level; upstairs there's a breezy deck and a cozy interior. Free wifi.

Coffee Box, El Paso, Texas.

When the El Paso wind shoos through, which she likes to do, the box shivers.

The wallpaper design on one wall. Eye play.

Coffee Box, El Paso, Texas.

Coffee Box, El Paso, Texas.

Coffee Box, El Paso, Texas.

Coffee Box, El Paso, Texas.

Coffee Box, El Paso, Texas.

El Paso: Downtown at Night From a Corner

Night city, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

September 2016


A little sliver of downtown El Paso one indigo night, from a corner.

Night city, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

Night city, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

Night city, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

Night city, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

There was a moving light in the sky ....

El Paso: Downtown Farmers' Market

 

El Paso's Downtown Farmers' Market. El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

September 2016.

Confession: I've been to a farmers' market or twenty, in various parts of the country (indeed, different parts of the world, too), and, well, they're pretty much the same. That's not a condemnation, mind you, because lots of folks obviously love farmers' markets and they go every week. Just isn't my thing except when it suits my utilitarian purposes to go to one.

But I did my due diligence and visited El Paso's Downtown Farmers' Market. (There are other farmers' markets in the area, and maybe I'll get to them and maybe I won't.)

It was perfectly nice (except for this). So I'll just shut up and share pics.

El Paso's Downtown Farmers' Market. El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

El Paso's Downtown Farmers' Market. El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

El Paso's Downtown Farmers' Market. El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

El Paso's Downtown Farmers' Market. El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

El Paso: As I Walked to Downtown El Paso One Day

Union Depot, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

An awkward post title, but hey ...

The first time I walked from my new apartment to downtown, it was to check out the Saturday farmers' market.

There are many paths from my apartment to downtown, and Google maps chose an odd one, though I didn't know it at the time. I became lost, inevitably, but eventually found my way.

Will I ever tire of seeing Mexico so close I can almost touch it? I don't think so. This is one of the reasons I chose El Paso. To almost be in two countries at once.

To Mexico across I-10, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

I'm within walking distance of the ballpark!

Chihuahuas' Ballpark, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

I watched a train chug and screech west, past the Union Station. Oh, how glorious is the chug and scratch. The protesting scrape of metal against metal is like the occasional squeak of an acoustic guitar; it adds an earthiness, a reassuring imperfection, to the music. The video below:

I saw many pretties along the way.

El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

A slide show below:

Walk downtown El Paso from Sunset Heights one day. September 2016.