| After a 2 week visit to New Mexico with Eli in August, some of my questions are answered. First of all, it was an amazing winding road trip of a journey through a beautiful, vastly varied and complex state and I definitely will visit again. I was so comforted by the vastly open, constantly changing skies. I guess it’s reminiscent of where I grew up in Central Oregon. I know I can’t pose my opinions with any real authority, since we drove almost every day, spending only an overnight in many communities that probably are more than meets the eye. Nonetheless, I will pose them! We did spend 4 days in Santa and we both really fell for it: beautiful adobe buildings and houses dominate the architecture; a good-sized, walkable/ bike-able central area with good food and bars, and an incomprehensible amount of GOOD art. Santa Fe is the type of place where ideas and inspiration abound. People seem to be working together for a more livable, healthy, harmonious city. I can’t speak for the suburban areas, though. There seems to be available housing in that central area, as well. Bottom line: if I got a great NP job in a clinic there, we would go make a life there. The other places I really liked were Taos (at the risk of being predictable) and Ruidoso. Taos is always described in terms of the wealth and hints at uppityness. That’s clearly a reality, but in a short stay, we also found a few really good, down-to-earth transplants who love the combination of topnotch outdoor activities, natural beauty, and social and cultural vitality. The little downtown of Taos is exquisite with its ancient, low adobe and meandering little maze of plazas, but the sprawly spread-out American town aspect is undeniable. Ruidoso seems to be a pretty little mountain town with shops and restaurants and is surrounded by beautiful pine forests. The forest & mountains there are my favorite variety of some green, but not-too-dense, dryish, some creeks and lakes, steep, but climbable, sweet smelling and full of life. The downside of Ruidoso is its upside: its isolation from the rest of the world. Alamogordo was so depressing and ugly that after driving through once, I could’t get out fast enough. Las Cruces had some nice spots and would be survivable for a couple years, but the climate is too dry and desert-y, the city too sprawled, and the streets too wide and car-dominated to be desirable to me. Not enough plant life, either. It’s crazy how just north of it the farming valley around the Rio Grande is so rich and beautiful. I hope to never forget the pervasive smell of roasting green peppers. Truth or Consequences at a glance got a “fail.” Reminded me of Prineville through meth dust-colored glasses. Albequerque, well, I won’t be too critical, because I don’t want to get stabbed. It has serious potential, sorta no-frills with some promising-feeling neighborhoods and businesses. The downtown is so weird, it looks like it should be vital, almost Portland-esque architecturally, but the ONLY people hanging around these cool plazas on a weekend are heroin-stoned panhandlers-cum-thieves and cops. Anyway, didn’t really make the short list. Overall, New Mexico is still on the list. For our situation, it would be a wonderful place to take our strengths and drives and flourish for a few years. We could see that the idea of living a less hectic life in a cool community with hiking and camping and mountain biking within reach is a reality. The downside is we would still be far from our families in Oregon. That makes it hard to share life with them AND it means that many vacations are spent going back to Oregon, rather than skipping off to see the world. |
October 29th, 2011 - Dawn
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