Holiday Ramble in Southern New Mexico

After spending a nice Christmas at home Mai and I took a land cruise in our Rav4 down south to explore a few spots: Three Rivers petroglyphs, White Sands National Monument, the new Organ Mountains and Desert Peaks Monument around Las Cruces, the old Mesilla plaza, with a stop at the Bosque Refuge on the way back. We left the bikes at home to keep it simple and rejuvenate for the new year. We had a splendid time with many eye opening vistas into this country’s enormous charm and diverse beauties.

Chiles drying in field near Hatch, NM

Organ Mountains sunset from Tortugas Mtn. above Las Cruces

Sierra Blanca above Three Rivers hovering over the Tularosa Basin

White Sands with San Andreas Mountains

The scenery from driving is good but the landscape doesn’t fully sink into you until you get out and walk into it. The deeper memories are born by immersion outside focusing on lighting, colors, sounds and letting things register. Every place we visited impressed us and made us want to come back for more.

Cranes arriving to their night spots.

at Aguirre Springs on the east side of the Organs

Mesilla church

Voices of coyotes yipping at sunset, reverberations of cranes cooing, stories told by human voices. The smell of wet creosote bush. The bite of cold air. The prick of a desert plant. The warm brush of sunlight on my skin. Taking walks in New Mexico is a great way to get to know the residents and let the landscape work on you. There’s way more here than what I could have imagined.