Tag Archives: Rio Grande

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 3

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Posted by on in children, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 24, 2026- When Hana is annoyed at something, she utters a mild groan. A few times today, especially as her mother was getting ready to leave for work and again, when it took a bit longer to get the safety straps and tray attached to the high chair, her guttural expression took flight.

She has been feeding herself quite well, of late. Of course, the results are what one would expect of an infant or toddler, but she does get most of the food into herself, sometimes after a few tries. She is getting better at taking the spoon and putting food into her mouth, though it may take two tries to empty the spoon. I attribute that to her not having a full set of teeth.

Hana also was more willing to walk with me holding her hands, and walking backwards, in front of her. For the first time, today she walked a bit, inside the playpen, with my holding her by one hand and being at her side. I hope to get her to do more of both, over the next several days.

HANA’S NOTE– I was stuck on playing with the price tag on my Mexican doll. Papa and Daddy took it, and said it was plastic and they didn’t want me to eat it. I was sad to lose that tag, but a cloth book made me feel better.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Colorado- The Rocky Mountain State has been also like home to me, over the years, in many respects. One of my sisters-in-law lived in the Denver area for several years, and our niece still lives there.I have friends in several parts of the state, as well.

The turf- Mountains make up about 2/5 of the state’s terrain; the Rockies proper taking up the middle third and the San Juan Range forming something of a boot, in the southwest corner. High Desert takes up most of the western third, save the area of the San Juans. High Plains take up the eastern third. Still and all, Colorado is the only state where I have seen snow in each of the twelve months of the year. The state is well-drained: The Colorado River, Rio Grande, Animas, San Juan, Arkansas, North and South Platte and Little Snake Rivers all either begin here or flow swiftly through.

First Nations- Colorado is the ancestral home of Dineh (Navajo), Nuutsiu (Ute), Yapudttka, Pahdteeanooch, Kahpota, Mobach, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Jicarilla Apache,Yamparika and Numunuu(Comanche). Puebloan communities left their ruins at Mesa Verde and Chimney Rock, both now tended by the National Park Service. In the annals of relations between Native Americans and the U.S. Army, Sand Creek remains hallowed ground. On November 29, 1864, Colonel John Chivington led a force of 675 Cavalrymen on a slaughter of 150 Arapaho and Cheyenne villagers, 2/3 of whom were women and children. I visited Sand Creek, a few years ago, and could only stand in solemnity. There is no honour in one-sided slaughter, despite what Chivington claimed, to his dying day.

Where I feel most at home: Cortez, Walsenburg, Del Norte, Black Forest, Manitou Springs, Boulder, Glenwood Springs.

Where I feel most at peace: The Baha’i camp at Black Forest

NEXT- Utah

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 2

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Posted by on in children, Community, Education, Family, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 23, 2026- Hana is having the unique experience of cutting both her top lateral incisors and her upper canines at the same time. She is holding her own, but at times it is extremely uncomfortable. The canines are coming through seven months early, according to the chart I have in front of me. Other sources allow for a wide variation, among children.

She has a new toy, of sorts: The larger fiber storage basket for her playpen toys. She can fir about half of herself in in, so this has become her “hide and seek” go-to. She “gives herself away”, though, giggling when I call for her. I think she knows that I can see her.

HANA’S NOTE– I like the stand-up frame that I am put in, for my showers. I feel more like I am washing myself.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: New Mexico- The Land of Enchantment is Texas’s western neighbour, and the gateway to the Southwest. The Turf- Eastern New Mexico is largely an area of high plains, with rugged canyons and an extinct volcano in the northeast. The Rocky Mountains take up the state’s mid section, from Raton and Chama, in the north, to just east of Las Cruces, in the south. Western New Mexico is a mix of high desert, the Gila Mountains and forested plateau. New Mexico is watered by the Rio Grande, as well as the San Juan, Pecos, Chama, Gallinas, Puerco and Canadian Rivers.

First Nations- New Mexico is the ancestral home of four different Puebloan groups: Tewa, Tiwa, Towa and Keresan. These groups comprise the Eight Northern Pueblos, along the Rio Grande, Isleta, south of Albuquerque and Zuni, in western New Mexico. It is also home to a large Dineh population, with northwest New Mexico largely a part of the Navajo Nation. There are two Apache groups: Mescalero, in the south and Jicarilla, in the north. Utes also claim northwest New Mexico and Comanches (Numunuu )ranged across the eastern plains.

The First Nations of the Rio Grande Pueblos gave freedom-loving people the world over a road map, in rising up against the Spanish, in 1680. Though the rebellion was eventually put down, by superior military force, Spain never quite regained the control it once had over New Spain, and the seeds of the revolutions that created independent nations, across Mesoamerica and South America, 130 years later, were sown in 1680.

Dineh people also sowed seeds of resillience, by largely surviving the Long Walk from Chinle and beyond, to Bosque Redondo, at Fort Sumner. 3,500 people died on the Long Walk, between 1863-66. The rest mostly survived internment. Those who hid in the canyons of Arizona, western New Mexico and Utah were there to welcome their returning brothers and sisters, in 1868. I have visited Fort Sumner, and felt lingering grief.

New Mexico was another home for me, during my decades in the Southwest, along with California, Colorado and Nevada. Though Arizona was Home Base, not a year would go by without visits somewhere in the Land of Enchantment.. The vibrant Native American and New Mexican Spanish cultures are features I hope she can experience, even while still a child. Zuni holds special significance, as that is where I met her grandmother. I also would like to share Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands, in southern New Mexico, a region with which I am less familiar.

Where I feel most at home: Santa Fe, Moriarty, Madrid, Gallup, Old Town Albuquerque, Taos, Cimarron and Bosque del Apache. I would gladly take Hana to any of these towns and neighbourhoods

Where I feel most at peace: Rio Grande Gorge

With a look at New Mexico, our focus now shifts away from Texas’s neighbours and to the other states of the Southwest.

NEXT: Colorado

Journey 3, Day 2- Waltz Across Paradise

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Hiking and Nature, impediments, Inner Struggles, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 1, 2023, Black Forest, CO- While the hostess could barely focus, for the crowds that were making their way to her check stand I could see that she was trying to keep it together. Such was the noon hour, at Junction Restaurant, on the east edge of Pagosa Springs.

I have been on Rte. 160, across Colorado’s southern tier, maybe two dozen times, since 1981. I have seen snow in July and bare roads in January. It has been all about navigating Wolf Creek Pass, each and every time. It has also been about an overnight in Cortez, or in Walsenburg, if I was making a return trip.

Highway 160 is the middle route, between I-40 and I-70. It is the guide to the San Juan Mountains, Mesa Verde, the Animas, San Juan and Rio Grande, the San Luis Valley, Great Sand Dunes, the Spanish Peaks-and the heart of the Rocky Mountains.

The three great rivers are hurting. Sand bars are visible in the Animas and San Juan, at Durango and Pagosa Springs, respectively, and Rio Grande is barely flowing, at Alamosa. There are no fires allowed in Montezuma County (Cortez), La Plata County (Durango), Archuleta County (Pagosa Springs) and Rio Grande County (South Fork). For the first time in memory, I saw no snow, anywhere, on the tops of the great “Fourteeners”. Colorado is parched, along with most of its fellow western states, and the its neighbours on the Great Plains.

This is the backdrop to the three days that lie ahead, at the Colorado East Baha’i School, here in Black Forest. Nonetheless, as we take pains to conserve water, be fire wise and love our host Mother Earth, all of us, Coloradans and visitors alike, are grateful for the paradise that this state presents.

I hope the blessed little lady at Junction can find some peace, this weekend.

Sixty-Six for Sixty Six, No. XXII: Wonders of the Middle Realm

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Posted by on in Community, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Social, Travel

April 9, 2017, Prescott- Yesterday, I wrote of the western third of the contiguous United States, which is where I have spent most of my time, since 1992.  Being from the East Coast, and preferring surface travel over flying,  especially when the weather is good, I have developed an affinity for the regions which many call “flyover country”.  The Great Plains and South Central regions may not have the jaw-dropping grandeur of the Mountain West or Alaska, but there is plenty worthy of spending one’s time.

The Rockies, of course, are the heart of the Mountain West.  In many visits to the heights of Colorado, I have felt most at home in Longmont, Loveland and Denver, where I have family.  Manitou Springs, Garden of the Gods and Seven Falls have helped make Colorado Springs another “feel at home” stopover.  One of these years, I will find my way to the summit of Pikes Peak.  Boulder, also, has welcomed me, several times, with wonders ranging from Pearl Street Mall, and Boulder Books, to Eldorado Canyon, which I hiked in the rain, whilst carrying an umbrella.  The Tetons and Yellowstone invite me back, as well, with visions of geysers and Grizzlies.

As the Rockies recede into the Great Plains, I find Spirit Tower (forget the name, “Devil”), Medicine Wheel, the Badlands, Black Elk Peak (formerly Harney Peak), Scott’s Bluff and the determination of the Indigenous People of the prairie as riveting as any great mountain or canyon.  Little towns like Deadwood, Belvedere and Custer(overlook the name) (SD), Burlington, Granada and Walsenburg (CO), Wellington,Dodge City and Hays (KS) have been as welcoming as any place in the West.  There is, to my mind, a goodly amount of sophistication and culture to be found in Omaha, Lincoln and Wichita, as well.

Friends in Amarillo and Enid (OK) have helped make those cities almost necessary pit stops, on any eastward trek that takes a southern route.  Texas, like California, is a world unto itself.  I was captivated by the warmth I felt, across the state, from the great cities of El Paso, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas and Houston to small communities- Grand Saline, South Padre Island, Laredo, Marfa, Sanderson, Quanah and Temple.  There wasn’t much happening in Luckenbach, when I happened through there, but the locals were glad I came, anyway.  Revelations abound, across the Lone Star State, from the view of the Rio Grande’s confluence with the Gulf of Mexico, to Pedernales Falls, northwest of San Antonio, or the wild canyons of the Llano Estacado and the Trans-Pecos region.  My favourite museum section remains the Music Hall, at Bob Bullock Museum of Texas History, near the Texas State Capitol (itself an extraordinary edifice).  Then, there are the five missions in San Antonio- a very full day of discovery!

Oklahoma has no end of variety, but I will content myself with sending kudos to Lake Texoma and Lake of the Cherokees, Black Mesa(the state’s highest point, at its juncture with New Mexico and Colorado), Tonkawa and its monument to Chief Joseph, of the Nez Perce, and the heartfelt, humbling memorial to the victims of Oklahoma City’s tragic bombing, in 1995.  Oklahoma City remains the only place where I have been mistaken for a county employee- being invited to an employee barbecue, as I walked by, on the way to the Memorial.

I will continue to skip the temptation to fly over, as long as the weather is not too harsh.

 

The Road to 65, Mile 25: Truth, Consequences and Delayed Gratification

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Posted by on in Hiking and Nature, Travel

December 23, 2014, Lordsburg- When I was a very young child, about 4 or 5, my maternal grandmother would occasionally babysit us, so both our parents could work. Grama would sometimes have the radio broadcasting something about truth or consequences. I could barely say the second name, but I knew what truth meant, and figured consequences were some kind of lies.

In March, 1950, shortly after I would have been conceived, the game show host Ralph Edwards, celebrating ten years of his successful radio show, “Truth or Consequences”, took an idea from a couple of staff members- to name an American town after the show. The town selected was Hot Springs, New Mexico, which had the advantage of already being a prime tourist destination, due to its eponymous mineral baths and nearby Elephant Butte Lake, a man-made reservoir of the Rio Grande. On April 1, Mr. Edwards, his wife and several crew members went to Hot Springs, for the official renaming, and the City of Truth or Consequences, “TRC”, was born.

I spent Monday night and Tuesday morning, enjoying the hospitality and vibrant civic spirit of this remarkable little community. Here are some scenes from the Hot Springs Historic District and Geronimo Springs Historical Museum, Sierra County’s place of record. The painted water tower and some brightly coloured homes reminded me of Bisbee, AZ.

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The San Andres Mountains rise to the southeast.SAM_3439 

Quirky shops and eateries are scattered throughout the town.SAM_3447 

Geronimo Springs Museum is a well-ordered and delightful place in which to learn of west central New Mexico

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A display of coloured glass and ceramic greets the visitor, outside.

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So, too, does a log cabin.

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Inside the museum are many features of paleontology, anthropology, local culture and history.  I started with Pleistocene relics, a mammoth skull, and one of a mastodon.

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Going backwards in time, here is a Devonian coral.SAM_3459 

Next, are some fern fossils.

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 This is the tale of a chair, brought from the original Sierra County Courthouse, in nearby Hillsboro.  The two towns disputed which would be county seat, and the State of New Mexico ruled in favour of Hot Springs

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 The historical exhibits showed portraits of Geronimo, Don Juan de Onate, and cowboy author Eugene Rhodes. This local hero outshines them all, in my opinion.SAM_3468 

I left “TRC” a bit later than I had planned, but some serendipity is worth delayed gratification elsewhere.  I would end up putting off a visit to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument and a walk around Silver City, but along the way to that area, I encountered several little gems.

Hillsboro, the aforementioned rival, was mostly closed up for the holidays.

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Not far up the road is Percha Creek, with a truss bridge and adjacent walkway/overlook.

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Emory Pass, at 8230 feet, is the highest point along this exquisite highway. Here, I encountered a writer from Martha’s Vineyard, who is looking to relocate to warmer climes. I gave him a few possible sites to explore, in that regard. Emory was definitely not one of them- but it is a place of splendour.

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I stopped for lunch at La Tienda del Sol, in San Lorenzo, before visiting the Mimbres Ranger Station, which confirmed my suspicions about Gila Cliff Dwellings closing at 4 PM. This delightful little place was full into the holiday spirit, as was Sunset Grill, in TRC, last night and this morning.

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I headed to Silver City, in the end, spent a short time at Fort Bayard National Cemetery, then continued down to Lordsburg. The dusty desert town has its own gems, among them the comfortable and inexpensive Holiday Motel (NOT “Inn”) and Kranberry’s Family Restaurant, open for lunch and dinner. I was treated like royalty in both places. Days like this will bring me back to this area in the Spring, and then we’ll see about Gila Cliff Dwellings and vicinity.

The Road to 65, Mile 24: A Refuge and A Fortress

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Posted by on in Hiking and Nature, Travel

December 22, 2014, Truth or Consequences-It was a mild day, which I started with a lovely breakfast of Strawberry Pancakes and sausage patties, at Socorro’s El Camino Family Restaurant. Once again, all the regulars were present; nobody named Strawberry, though.

I set out for my first visit to Bosque del Apache (Apache Woods), since Penny and I came here in 1983. It made an impression then, and did so now. There were more sandhill cranes back then, and one of the docents gave a reason for the relative decline in their numbers. The cranes have become dependent on corn that is grown by a farmer, who is employed by the Refuge. The farmer they had, left and so, if anyone is interested in growing corn, specifically to feed birds, and be part of an upbeat crew of wildlife managers- contact Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, US Fish and Wildlife Service.

I began my drive down El Camino Real (New Mexico Highway 1), with a stop at this defunct Catholic church, in San Antonio, NM. This little village has few remaining residents,but it is still worth remembering. Each small settlement along the Royal Road was once a major stop, for those on foot or on horseback.

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I was greeted, upon my entrance into the Wildlife Refuge, by a Greater Sandhill Crane, perched on a branch. Of course, he flew off immediately as I got my camera ready to shoot. Continuing on, I walked a 3-mile loop of Chupadera National Recreational Trail. The whole trail, up Chupadera Peak and back, would’ve been 9 miles. I had more on my agenda, so that can be done another time. The cairns mark each length of the trail.SAM_3355

Watch out! The snakes and scorpions may be hibernating. Not so, the thorny bushes.SAM_3358

Out in the distance, lie the San Andres Mountains.SAM_3360 

Ann Young was an avid birder, who has since passed on. To make up for the relative lack of wintering birds this year, here is a video of one of her last visits to Bosque: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyecyGVWrto.SAM_3361

New growth is taking its place, all over Bosque del Apache.SAM_3363

From the window of the Visitor Center, one can sit for hours, just watching the various finches, wrens and hummingbirds eat their fill. Many, though, prefer the findings on the ground and in the brush.SAM_3367

Believe it or not, a bald eagle is perched in the cottonwood tree on the right.SAM_3369

Trees growing up out of the sandbars create a safe haven for aquatic life, but also are a convenient place for raptors to sit and enjoy the view.SAM_3372 

I walked this berm, around a marsh that is full, seasonally. This is not the season of its fullness, but I got a sense of what it could be. A Cooper’s hawk followed me around the loop, screeching, but never quite finding its favourite meal.SAM_3376 

Raptors, cliff swallows and barn swallows make their nests in these sandstone cliffs.SAM_3383 SAM_3386 

Here is an overlook, above the Marsh Trail.SAM_3389 

When I climbed the path, this was my view. Some say the Chihuahua Desert is more barren than the Sonoran.  Right now, I’d say they are correct.

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This is an oxbow of the Rio Grande, and trends towards dry, even when the river itself is full.SAM_3395 

As you can see in Ann Young’s video, sometimes the bed under this boardwalk is full of water.  Not today

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It is good enough for cattails, though.SAM_3400 

My spirit friend was on the job.SAM_3401 

Once back along the main flow of the Rio Grande, I spotted a Lesser Sandhill Crane, by its lonesome.SAM_3412 

From the Eagle Scout Deck, more evidence of past drynesses and flows could be seen.SAM_3415 

On my next visit to Bosque, I will focus more on the North Loop and the Canyon Trail.  It’ll also mean taking in a Fly-In, at sunset.

Continuing down El Camino Real, I came to a dirt road, which led me to Fort Craig, five miles eastward. This National Historic Site is comprised of ruins, and figures in three sorry episodes of our nation’s history: The Mexican War, which was its raison d’etre; the Civil War, during which Confederates from Texas tried to use New Mexico as a steppingstone to Colorado’s gold fields; and the Trans- Mississippi Indian Wars, which just led to more suffering and misunderstandings, on both sides. That its ruins stand at all, however, show just how formidable Fort Craig was. Walking these paths brought me back to the ramparts and walls of France, Belgium and Luxembourg. The pilings below support the earthworks, which defended the fort against the Confederate force.

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 This is what’s left of the Guard House and Jail. Prisoners were segregated by race, as were the soldiers.SAM_3418

 These are the remains of the Commanding Officer’s Quarters.SAM_3420 SAM_3421

The perimeter walls were more formidable than they look now.SAM_3425SAM_3426

 Here is the Magazine Storage, where ammunition was kept safe and dry.SAM_3431 

The Battle of Valverde, near Socorro, was a Pyrrhic victory for the Confederates. They lost so much in materiel that they were unable to capture Fort Craig and hobbled on to Albuquerque, never gaining control of New Mexico.SAM_3435 

I don’t believe I have ever cast such a long shadow. Being tired by now, my course of action was to stop in the unique town of Truth or Consequences. The story has been told by someone on my Facebook wall, but I will discuss it at length in “Mile 25.”

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