Very Large Array, New Mexico, Part 2: Geeky Wonderfulness

Very Large Array, Highway 60, near Magdalena, New Mexico

Getting to the Very Large Array (VLA) requires a pretty serious investment in time and gas, so listen up:

If you happen to be driving by (only likely if you're using the lonely Highway 60 to get from Socorro to, say,  well, never mind, Highway 60 isn't an efficient way to get to anywhere unless your destination is Pie Town) ....

So let me approach it this way: If I made a special trip to the VLA, I would make damn sure it was on the first Saturday of the month, when I can go on the 11:00, 1:00, or 3:00 tour.

If you don't go on a tour, then sure, you can walk over to one of the dishes, and visit the small (and cramped, truth be told) visitor's center and gift shop, but if you're like me, it will feel pretty low-calorie.

With the free tour, however, you get to: 

• Watch a pretty interesting movie;
• Listen to a knowledgeable docent and ask her geeky questions; 
• Go into the building with the Control Room (with the avocado phones!);
• Talk to the Control Guy on duty; 
• See the Real Live Geeky Computer Stuff in the Control Room; and  
• Go out on the balcony overlooking the dishes. 

The tour took about an hour and a half, so plan a solid two hours for your on-site visit. Figure close to an hour to get from Socorro to the VLA.

Uh, what's VLA about? Radio astronomy.

Whirlpool Galaxy. Credit: National Radio Astronomy Observatory

And now I need to amend what I said about there being nothing along Highway 60. I was kicking myself for not planning an overnight stay in Magdalena or even Socorro because I passed these really intriguing spots that I didn't have time to explore on a one-day trip to/from Alamogordo:

• Water Canyon
• The Box

And when I turned onto Highway 52, and saw a road sign pointing to Winston, NM, only 59 miles away, I was really kicking myself, because there's a story there that I want to hear, having to do with Victorio's great-great granddaughter ....but it will keep for another day.



A slide show of the Very Large Array:

#30

Highway 60, New Mexico: Stories at a Shrine

Santo Nino de Atocha Shrine, Highway 60, near Socorro, New Mexico

On my way to the Very Large Array the other day, I caught sight of a tiny building and a large cross out of the corner of my left eye. I was in a dash to arrive at the VLA in time for the 1:00 tour, and I promised myself I would check it out on my return home.

Miniature church on Megobroba Street, Rustavi, Georgia

Miniature church, Rustavi, Georgia

What attracted my attention was that it reminded me of the tiny churches in Georgia, constructed by an individual or family.










So on my way back from VLA, I re-located the little monument (between mile markers 131 and 135), and as I pulled off the highway saw a car and a man visiting the place. Oh, damn, I thought. Company. But I continued anyway and pulled up to the little fenced-in place, and got out of my car.

Santo Nino de Atocha Shrine, Highway 60 near Socorro, New Mexico

And that's when I learned the stories of this place.

The man's name was Ernie Silva. The shrine, devoted to Santo Nino de Atocha, used to be over on the other side of the highway, up aways, but when they built a new bridge, Mr. Silva's family got permission to relocate the shrine to its current location.

Mr. Silva's mother conceived of the shrine - she had it made as a promise to God to bring her son, Nicanor, back safely from World War II. On the crucifix is a photo of Nicanor and his wife Edith. Both are now deceased, but Nicanor Silva did, indeed, come home safely.

Ernie Silva and another brother later served in the Vietnam War. Mr. Silva is the youngest of 14 children. He's now 71 and his oldest-living sister is 96.

In addition to the crucifix and the pink shrine is a white memorial. About 10 years ago, a man was found dead on the lane that is beside the Santo Nino de Atocha Shrine. He had been murdered. His name was Peter Lopez. The homicide remains unsolved.

Mr. Silva pointed to the spiral notebooks inside the tiny chapel. He said people from all over leave their names in the notebooks. When Mr. Lopez was found killed, the police took the notebooks to see if they could find any clues that would point them to the killer.

Santo Nino de Atocha Shrine, Highway 60, near Socorro, New Mexico

Mr. Lopez' mother asked the Silvas for permission to erect the memorial to her son, and they agreed.

Many people visit the Santo Nino de Atocha Shrine. Sometimes they leave items as part of a prayer for safety for themselves or loved ones.

Santo Nino de Atocha Shrine, Highway 60, near Socorro, New Mexico

Mr. Silva was at the shrine to complete some maintenance work there.

I asked Mr. Silva where Atocha was, and he didn't know.

So, of course, I have now looked this up and in the process, have discovered Southwest Crossroads: Cultures and History of the American Southwest. From this rich resource comes one little girl's story about her need to kidnap and hold hostage the Santo Nino: The Miracle of the Santo Nino.

Here is a website devoted to information about the Santo Nino de Atocha.

There's some question about the origin of "Atocha." Was it: "... Antioch [in present-day Turkey], and that St. Luke the Evangelist was the sculptor of the first mother-and-child image. .."?

Or was it in honor of Atocha, a Madrid suburb that was home to a large men's prison in the 15th century, where sprang up a legend: "... Those prisoners who had no young children to feed them were being visited and fed by a young boy. None of the children knew who he was, but the little water gourd he carried was never empty, and there was always plenty of bread in his basket to feed all the hapless prisoners without children of their own to bring them their food. He came at night, slipping past the sleeping guards or smiling politely at those who were alert. Those who had asked the Virgin of Atocha for a miracle began to suspect the identity of the little boy. As if in confirmation, the shoes on the statue of the child Jesus were worn down. When they replaced the shoes with new ones, those too were worn out. .... "

So now I feel lucky that Mr. Silva was at the shrine when I arrived. 

Bosque del Apache, NM: Festival of Cranes: The Ducks

Mallard duck, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

Whoa! The Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge almost got away from me, even though it was on my list of events to attend from even before I arrived in New Mexico.

Because I didn't catch my oversight until yesterday afternoon, I knew in advance I'd miss the climax of the event, either the sunrise or sundown, which means the cranes either leaving Bosque del Apache for the day or returning. Tomorrow, Sunday, is the final day of the Festival of Cranes. (But since the cranes don't care when the festival begins or ends, I may see about catching a dawn or sunset this coming week.)

In the meantime, below is a beautiful video filmed by New Mexico Tourism in 2011, very relaxing, with cranes, snow geese, and ducks at Bosque del Apache:

I left Alamogordo a little after 6:00 a.m. for the 2.5 hour trip.

On Highway 54, between Tularosa and Carrizozo, the mountains on the west glowed pink as the sun rose over the eastern mountains.

The trip there was uneventful, and I arrived 10 minutes before the bus for "duck banding' was to leave. And it was pure luck that I was able to participate, as most people had registered a month ago and the event was full. But I guess there were some no-shows, so I and some other lucky folks got to go.

Biologists had arrived early in the morning and trapped the ducks with a net while the ducks ate corn scattered along a lake bank. Before we arrived in two vans, the biologists had already sorted the ducks according to species (pintail and mallard), gender, age, and those unbanded versus previously banded.

Sorted ducks, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

 

We were shown how to hold the ducks and how to identify gender.

All of us got a chance to band a duck with an aluminum band. One of the participants, a gentleman from Texas, who hunts birds, has collected numerous bands from his and his friends' kills. When you send a band in to the appropriate location noted on the band, you get a certificate of appreciation that explain where the bird was originally banded.

Collection of bird bands, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

The process included: 

1. Slipping band on duck's leg and closing it with pliers
2. Noting band number, wing measurement, and weight on written log
3. Measuring duck's wing
4. Weighing duck
5. Releasing duck

Measuring wing, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

Putting duck in sock before weighing, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

Releasing banded duck, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

Nearby, people logged in data on the birds that had been trapped, but had been banded previously. Participants really got into holding the ducks. Twice, a duck flew out of the arms of an attendee and the biologist literally caught them on the fly. In the instance I saw, caught the fugitive, mid-flight, with her left hand, while she held another duck in her right. The photo below shows her holding the two ducks.

Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

There came a time when everyone had to release their ducks.

And we were finished. I think everyone loved being part of this event.


Up next: Raptors, wolves, and snakes

Socorro: San Miguel Church, the Fires of Hell, and then Home

[2010 Out West Road Trip.  Travels with Carol.]

In March 2010, my mother, Carol, and I took a road trip from Missouri to New Mexico, in search of sun and warmth. Here is Day 16 of our road trip. 

Thursday, 18 march 10 

 

MZURI'S REPORT

We booked out of that sorry Socorro room fairly early, then stopped by the San Miguel Church, built in the late 1500s. Very pretty adobe church. We were able to go inside; the statues are all draped in purple cloth for Lent. 

  

We subsequently left for today's destination, which was Roswell, where we intended to visit a museum, then spend the night. We already knew we were going to lop off a day from our trip because of incoming bad weather. But after wending our way through some very beautiful mountain vistas, and making a surprise stop at the unexpected Valley of Fires, we suddenly came upon the junction of 380 and 54. Carol said, "54 goes into Missouri, doesn't it?" I said, "yes, do you want to take this instead of going to Roswell?" Carol said, "Sure." And I said, "Why the hell not?"

 

Thus in the space of a very few seconds, not only did we change our route, but made the almost-simultaneous decision to simply deadhead home. So we stopped for lunch at Santa Rosa, NM, and have now stopped for the night here in Shamrock, TX, which is very close to the Oklahoma border. 

 

Note: En route between Santa Rosa and the TX border, we drove through smoke. Unlike Oklahoma, NM doesn't care if people drive through smoke, as long as you roll up your windows.

 

We passed what looked like a very nasty crash site just east of McLean, TX. Multiple police cars.  

 

We've got about an 11-hour trip to Warrenton on Friday, and hopefully, we'll arrive soon enough that I'll be able to jump into my car and get home to Jefferson City by dark. We'll see.

 

The days have really zipped by on this trip, but I think we'll both be glad to be home. Of course, when I get home, it will be sans satellite TV, which means no TV, period, since I don't have the special box that allows local channels. I cancelled the satellite effective end of February. Culture change! I'll rely on Netflix movies for my visual stimulation or lack thereof.

 

Also on this trip, I said a final goodbye to a 9 or 10 year-old nightshirt. It was disintegrating in front of my eyes, and I left it in that sorry Socorro hotel room.

 

Our long drive today offered yet another example of how ever-changing the NM geography, etc. are: mountains, plains, foothills, fat rolling hills, you name it, it's here. It is endlessly fascinating to me. Carol is a bit less enamored.

 

 

CAROL'S REPORT

Yes, I agree it is time to come home.  If only to get some control of my food choices.  Am embarrassed to say for a late lunch at Joseph's Restaurant (a national shrine to the Mother Road Route 66) I ordered their primero dish called Chicken Fried Steak that came with mashed potatoes and two shades of gravy.  It was delicious and unfortunately memorable.  Look forward tomorrow to real life but this trip has been unforgettable.  Mzuri has made it possible for me and we did get along every day.  We are foregoing dinner tonight and I'm only having Cheddar Pringles with French Onion dip and a Bloody Mary. 

READER RESPONSES:

FROM STORMY:
Carol, will you be at coffee on Sunday?


FROM CATBIRD:
There is a chance of snow here for Saturday!  Tomorrow should be close to 70 and then drop throughout the night.  Jaz will be so excited to see you, she misses her Anenie. 

FROM MZURI:

Thanks for the heads-up ... that's exactly what we wanted to avoid by coming home early. 

 

I look forward to seeing Jaz and Tim also. I'm pretty sure on Sat., I'm going to be majorly in cave mode, so beware!

FROM NYC:
Glad to hear that you made it through the smoke!  Also, I'm sorry to hear about your nightshirt...I've done the long stare at a good shirt before ditching it in the past, and the only word I can think of to describe the emotion is "deflated."  If this shirt can fail, what can I depend on?  Anyway, drive safely on the way home, and enjoy the gravy for me.  There is none worth eating in NYC.  On biscuits or otherwise.  Lastly, I'm trying to find someone who remembers the glory days of the New York Yankees from 1950-1967, because I met their 6-time World Series champ and Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey Ford in Florida this week.  He's 81 years old, but still had the pipes and energy to sing Frank Sinatra's "New York" with me.  Then we went to a strip club.

Have a nice drive.

P.S.  I was just kidding about the strip club...but I've found that it's a great way to end a story when I didn't take the time to develop the climactic arc essential to worthwhile narrative...forgive me. 

FROM LABARQUE:
Welcome home travelers.

FROM MZURI:
Yeah, bummer about the nightshirt. I have another shirt - a pullover, actually - that is overdue for the trash also, but I haven't had the heart to throw it out. Yet.



Personally, I'm not a gravy fan, but I did have a bite of Carol's chicken-fried steak and it was, in a word, decadently delicious.

We're glad to be home and very glad to have missed what turned out to be a spring blizzard in OK and AR. 

FROM SHILO GIRL:

Too hilarious.  I have a night shirt that is so thin and will rend while innocently sleeping.  At the latest gaping tear I thought..well its time.  But I will wash it and maybe use as a dust cloth once or twice.  I think it is folded neatly in a pile of laundry.

 

Loved this bit "I didn't take the time to develop the climactic arc essential to worthwhile narrative...forgive me."  I simply will have to use this in the future!  I have no intention of asking for permission to use and I will deny the source if questioned.  I also have no compunction in using it at my caprice.  but thanks NYC!

Socorro: Camino Real and the Unreal Fort Craig

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

[2010 Out West Road Trip.  Travels with Carol.]

In March 2010, my mother, Carol, and I took a road trip from Missouri to New Mexico, in search of sun and warmth. Here is Day 15 of our road trip. 

Wednesday, 17 march 10

  

MZURI'S REPORT

We're both pretty tired out this evening. And alas, we're in a kind of ... disappointing ... hotel room. We could have moved, but we just didn't have it in us to pick everything up and carry it to another room.  

 

Craftsman at Camino Real Center

We left T or C about 9:30 after a good breakfast at the Happy Belly Deli. Drove up I-25 toward Socorro, when we saw signs for the Camino Real Center, and we stopped. Wow, what a surprise! This place is pretty much in the middle of nowhere - and it is intended to be such, to give people an idea of what it was like to travel on the Camino Real (the royal road) during the 400 years in which it was active between Mexico and New Mexico. Beautifully designed, the exhibits are presented in interesting ways, and you are led in a natural progression through the exhibit rooms. 

Camino Real Center

There is a pretty outdoor area that includes a desert garden. The property abuts Ted Turner's Armendaris Ranch. In re: the location -- a historian who helped get the center off the ground walked 30 miles in the area to find just the right spot.  as our destination.

 

We subsequently went to another unplanned stop: Fort Craig. I'll let Carol share that story. 

 

From Fort Craig, we proceeded to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Fascinating place, even when the bird population is not as huge as it is other times of the year. In addition to lots of ducks and geese, we saw white egrets, HUGE herons - a HERD of heron - plus roadrunners, pelicans, and a sort of brown egret or heron we were unable to identify. Additionally, Carol saw an animal on her wish list - mule deer. Evidently, bobcats have been seen frequently lately. We were advised as well that mountain lions had been sighted and that we should not walk alone. 

 

Along the way from some point A to point B today, we saw a longhorn chew on something plastic. 

 

 

CAROL'S REPORT 

The motel is a Howard Johnson and apparently we got the last available room in Socorro as there is some sort of Christian Revival or Meeting in town.  Just because the showerhead (one of those kind that have tubes leading from the faucets to the working end) is tied with string, microwave but no refrig, a phone that doesn't seem to work right, no working light over sink and very early we got someone else's wake up call (M's side of the bed), the place doesn't seem too bad to me.  The situation on Fort Craig in a few words -- didn't exist except for placards at intervals describing what we were not seeing i.e. one indicating "this was the parade ground located behind the enlisted mens' quarters".  The brochure showed what I expected to be seeing...the fort.  The parking area was distant and high flora prevented the eye from seeing the nothing it was.  St Patrick's Day yesterday.  We ate at a K-Bar and I ordered a baked potato with all kindsof good stuff on it and when it came I saw the biggest potato ever seen - about 10 inches long spilling forth butter, sour cream, scallions, bacon bits and broccoli.  Ate most of it to my shame and can only say it was in honor of the special day and the fact I was tired of rice.  Today we will tour the active Church San Miguel featured in Bishop Lamy's sojourn in the 1600s, as New Mexico was his diocese.  The main character in Willa Cather's Death Comes For the Archbishop is patterned after his remarkable history. 

Very little of the original interior remains of course.  Am hearing some ominous clunks from the transmission and the nice proprietor at this motel checked the fluid for me which was full.  M not as concerned but I would hate to breakdown in the desolate mountain roads.

READER RESPONSES:

FROM HOLSTEIN BOY:
...am hearing some ominous clunks from the hallway, will send Mzuri to take a look...oh noooo it's Georgia O'Keefe and she wants to show us some awful paintings.

FROM SHILO GIRL:

...am hearing some ominous clunks and squeaks at home, coming from the basement....too scared to go look.  will stay close to the unlocked back door while watch the stairs.  ready to run out of the house at the first sight of the top of someone's head!  will run with or without Shiloh!  I will leave the door open for her.  its every man for himself! 

 

I watch way too many scary things on tv!

 

heard a little rumble from the kitchen.  Shiloh and I just looked at each other then settled back down.