Ten Years Back Home! Thanks!!

Ten years ago I came home. Wife, cat, and I moved from Oakland to Doña Ana County, where I'd lived during 1969-1977 – and thought of as home thereafter. When I met my wife, she suggested we move here. (I even thought I might someday write a Sunday newspaper column.)

This afternoon, sitting in the Mesilla Plaza eating chocolate ice cream, I felt like saying, “Thanks!”

Thanks to old friends and new, for a decade of poetry, laughter, political and environmental activism, and conversation. Thanks to the PVA, and to progressive elected officials for their tireless work to keep New Mexico enchanting; and to the dedicated volunteers who created and run our community radio station. Thanks to the cat, Bear, for all he taught me before he died, and to Foxy, the dog, for all she’s teaching me now. Thanks to the Organ Mountains and the (sadly diminished) Rio Grande for quiet walks and wildlife.

Thanks to the Sun-News for offering me a Sunday column (Thanks, Ray!) and sticking with me through a contentious decade, and to Fred at KRWG for suggesting I adapt the column for radio. (Strangers greet me, recognizing my voice. A Silver City bookstore owner remarked, “You can’t imagine the arguments we’ve had while I shave.”) The column has allowed me to speak up – sometimes for folks who have important things to say but can’t. That’s unimaginably satisfying and humbling.

In 2011, Donald Trump was still mostly a New York joke with some sort of reality-TV show; the Organ Mountains weren’t a national monument; Bud Wanzer was living off the grid in Derry; Mark Medoff was writing every morning at 5 a.m., Miguel Silva and Olga Pedroza were City Councilors, Fred Stern was making rainbows for awestruck children of all ages, and Karen Trujillo was innovating with Math Snacks.

We’ve survived (so far!) a global pandemic and the first invasion of our Capitol since the Brits in 1814, but truth, rationalism, and democracy have suffered potentially mortal illnesses.

I’ve shared simple but wonderful moments with dear friends, enjoyed locally-grown food and locally-made art, and fought some battles we thought needed fighting. I’ve also played lots of pickleball, of which I’d never heard in 2011.  (Thanks, Ray!)  Above all, we’re part of a community we care about, contribute to, and learn from.

I’ve learned to value what’s local – not just healthier, tastier food (Thanks, Farmers Market!), but the deeper connections to people and possibility of honest dialogue. (The bumpersticker on my wife’s 1969 VW read, “Don’t Believe Everything You Think!” That goes double or triple in the hyper-partisan 21^st Century cyberworld.) I try to be candid, but collegial; and to listen. Even if we disagree politically, I can root for your kid playing junior college baseball, and you can snort at a line in my column.

I’m learning to savor each moment, because (like a desert rain) the next one may not come.

George Floyd and others have taught us, in awful ways, not only that we’re all equal but that we forget that much too often. (Or can we ever learn that?) Mr. Trump is kindly teaching us that, just as you nurture vegetables or relationships, retaining democracy requires thoughtful attention.

I’m grateful for the chance to do what I can, and for this bench where I can enjoy a chocolate cone, forget for a moment what we’re doing to the planet, and luxuriate in being home.

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[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 16 May 2021, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and KRWG's website. A related radio commentary will air during the week on KRWG (90.7 FM) and KTAL-LP. (101.5 FM – http://www.lccommunityradio.org/), and will shortly be available on demand on KRWG’s site.]

[Interestingly, in today’s Sun-News were three letters commenting on a previous column regarding the Republicans. Cheney vs. The Big Lie, etc. Not all the comments real friendly. Which is fine – I’ll invite the writer to discuss these issues with us on radio. Sometimes that works out real well. Sometimes it doesn’t.]

 

Bear - 2010

I mentioned Bear and Foxy.  We had a special relationship with Bear.  I had fed him with an eye-dropper when he'd normally have still been with his mother.  I was surrounded by kittens just then, but Bear and I kind of saw each other real clearly, and he was one of the few who stayed awhile, and the only one to

Bear - 2016 - Talavera

make the move to Las Cruces with Dael and me.  He was pretty traumatized by the long, crazy drive from Oakland in the pickup truck with Dael, and initially didn't venture outside, but once he did he loved it, and survived the wildness where for years we often saw coyotes and rattlesnakes.  He died after we moved into town.

Foxy w Dael at the river

Self-portrait w Fox

As to the Fox, she lived with a friend, but joined us when a move was necessary, and is a delight.  Has really come into her own, with a real yard and more exercise.  It's been wonderful to watch her with Dael, whom she worshiped even before coming to live with us -- and who's dedicated to Foxy's welfare.  Can't recall whether or not I've posted this here, but:

             Dog’s head in my lap.
                        She knows only this moment.
            I am still learning.

 

I'm too busy this morning, but want to post a selection of photos of the land here, and a few people, to express my awe, wonder, joy.

near our new home 2010