It's the Little Things / Son Los Cosas Chiquitas Que Cuentan

 Small things make a big difference in the livabililty of an area. For me, natural beauty is important. Spotting "hidden treasures" is important. 

When you drive around Las Cruces during your day-to-day life, you will come upon many "Oh! How quaint! How pretty!" moments. 

 

Here is one: Blooms against an adobe wall that is painted in what we term "Desert Rose," a very famous shade here, often called "burnt orange" by those new to the area. Vigas, which hold up the roof, jut out and are a very desirable touch.

Hope you will consider making Enchanted Las Cruces YOUR retirement home!

Las Cruces Landscapes Still Vibrant in Autumn

We have a long growing season here in the Mesilla Valley, where Las Cruces is nestled. With relief from scorching summer temperatures, the plants seem to catch their breath and find the energy to put on another show before the curtain of winter falls.

Do you love to garden? Does lots of sunshine perk you up? Las Cruces might be a perfect fit for your retirement needs. It has all the amenities of a city, yet still has a rural feel, thanks to the large NMSU campus and all the agriculture up and down the valley and tucked into neighborhoods such as Mesilla. Urban farming is starting here, too, with micro-farms in backyards, sideyards, and vacant lots. 

This side yard brings joy to all who pass by. Even with limited water, the desert here blooms beautifully. Make your retirement home in Las Cruces, and bloom along with our plants!

Ghost Cow of Mesilla

Once upon a time, I believe this statuary was completely plastered and painted. Now, she is mainly her wire armament, standing patiently by the fence of her little orchard paddock and gazing at those who drive down her quiet, narrow lane in Old Mesilla.

 

I love that no matter how many times I drive around this area, there is always something more to discover. Are you considering making a move for retirement? Consider Las Cruces!

Happy Monday!

Layers of Our Ag: Onions

The fertile Mesilla Valley is known for its green chile and pecans -- and onions! Huge onion fields, with both short-day and long-day varieties, are planted throughout the valley. Red onions and short-day yellow and white onions are harvested in summer, but long-day onions aren't ready until September. When a field is harvested, it takes several days, and the nearby areas smell like a delightful French Soup! This particular field is at the edge of the historic town of Mesilla, directly south of (and touching) Las Cruces.

Come enjoy our local sights and smells, in Enchanted Las Cruces! Make our home...your home.

Beautiful Stormy Sky Over Las Cruces

Unlike many areas, when you see a stormy, dark sky here, there is little or no worry of a tornado outbreak. Instead, you know you are in for a delightful and exhilarating experience! Lightning, booming thunder, and always a much-needed deluge come with our storms. We don't get many a year outside of monsoon season, and it's always thrilling when we do.

Come enjoy almost daily sunshiney skies -- and the occassional welcomed storm! Make Las Cruces your retirement home.

Lighthearted Las Cruces

Many of your fellow retirees here have quite a sense of humor. After all, we've made it this far in life. Might as well enjoy!

This neighbor is making sure St. Francis is in tune with the local mask ordinance for combating COVID-19.

Come make Las Cruces your retirement location! "See you in the funny papers!"

This Roadrunner is Nothing But Trash

Perched on a mesa high above the Mesilla Valley, overlooking its habitat, a giant roadrunner sculpted entirely of trash is a local and beloved landmark. At 20 feet tall and 40 feet long, it has nothing to fear from any coyote. 

"TrashBird," also known as the Trash Roadrunner, is located at a rest area on the south side of I-10, the interstate highway that runs east-west through Las Cruces. It's east of the Picacho Avenue exit, between mileposts 134 and 135. Trash Bird is accessible from the eastbound lanes, but is visible from I-10 westbound. It's seen by many visitors and travelers and is a good place for an expansive view of the Mesilla Valley. 

Olin Calk is the local artist who created the sculpture in 1993 and refurbished it in 2012 before it was placed at the rest stop.

Who knew trash could be made into something so unique and so beautiful? By the way, in Las Cruces, you'll see many real roadrunners. We have one who visits our yard frequently, and uses the bird bath under one of our pines. You can almost always see one if you dine outside at Rudy's BBQ, too. 

Thanks for visiting your NEW retirement destination, Las Cruces, the City of the Crosses (and Giant Roadrunners).

The Tiniest Store in Las Cruces

Because of its age, Las Cruces has a variety of strange and unusual buildings. Sunday drives around town are always interesting because of this. On one such drive, we discovered this tiny religious store, City of the Crosses, at 307 S. Main Street. Built against the back of another business, it is barely the size of a den, and it takes its name from the nickname for Las Cruces.

If you choose Las Cruces for your retirement, you'll love the light traffic. It's one of the plusses of the area. Driving is easy here! Not only is there little traffic, but weather conditions are almost always mild, even in winter. It's enjoyable to be out and about on our sunny winter days.

Thanks for dropping by, and see you tomorrow. Leave a comment if you have any questions about Las Cruces, the City of the Crosses.

Las Cruces, the Apple of My Eye!

 

Who would've thought that apples grow well in the desert of Las Cruces? Did you know that at the turn of the previous century, Las Cruces was known for its excellent apples? Apples from here were proudly displayed in 1899 at the World's Fair in Paris -- where they won second place! In the 1800s, apples were an important crop here. In fact, they were the number one crop economically.

There's always something to do or see in Las Cruces, and one thing not to miss is the you-pick apples at U-Pick Mesilla Valley Apple Orchard off Shalem Colony Trail. 

Sometimes I get a little homesick for things back East, up North, or down South! And apples in autumn is one of them. It was such a balm to my heart to discover this wonderful fourth-generation apple farm that features three different kinds of apples: Common delicious, Red Delicious, and Jonathan apples. Get out there fast and pick fast to get the Jonathans! But there are literally tens of thousands of pounds' worth of apples in the orchards. It's a wonderful way to remember "back home" and a wonderful way to build memories here.

Even during these "COVID" times the apple farm is open for picking, by appointment! You just text them. So wonderful to see it open at all! Last year, the whole orchard smelled so sweet and good, and everyone we encountered was friendly and nice. It was heartwarming to see the children proudly picking their apples, and retirees such as ourselves out in the cool air, enjoying the morning! So 2020 will have to be a bit different, but join me in a hope and a prayer that COVID disappears and 2021 will bring crowds out to enjoy apple pickin' time together!

Beauty All Around in Las Cruces

 

There's a special feature of many homes in Las Cruces and the surrounding area (Mesilla, Mesilla Park) that other parts of the country don't have: EBID rights. What? Elephant Butte Irrigation District water rights! For low fees, property that comes with EBID "rights" can purchase water from the Rio Grande. The water gets to these homes via many large and small "ditches" with "gates" and pumps along them. When it's a certain neighborhood's turn to get the river water, a "ditch rider" drives along the right-of-way along the ditches and opens the gates, times the water, and then closes the gates. While the water is flowing, the properties along the ditches open their gates, or sluices, and the water flows into their yards. 

This is magical water! Anything it touches, it replenishes and makes grow luxuriantly! Roses, apples, pecans, pomegranites, orchard grass, vegetables -- ANYTHING -- grows so beautifully with river water.

The mountain ash tree shown in this post and full of berries is located in the Garcia Park Botanical Garden, maintained by NMSU. It's right on a ditch and the plants receive all the good Rio Grande water they can drink! 

Of course, homes without EBID rights can also have lovely landscaping. Most landscaping away from the EBID ditches feature xeriscapes, which highlight native and desert plants and different types of rocks and gravel instead of lawns. But some people have lovely lawns and they shimmer like an oasis in the sunlight. 

The home we bought doesn't have EBID rights and is up too high from the valley to be near the ditches. But we have several mature trees that are gorgeous, and have put in some grape vines, too. And we have many flowers growing in galvanized stock tanks in our front courtyard!

Houses with EBID rights are very special. If you love gardening, consider trying to buy a home that comes with EBID rights when you retire to beautiful Las Cruces!

The Foothills of the Organ Mountains: Talaveras Neighborhood

 

A relatively new, very exclusive neighborhood/development in Las Cruces is called "Talaveras," and it is on what is known as the East Mesa, at the base of the Organ Mountains east. 

Huge lots are a feature of Taleveras. It's an easy drive to the University, NMSU, so it's a favorite spot for professors to live. From this neighborhood, the Mesilla Valley can be seen to the west, and at night the whole valley twinkles and glows.

Utilities are underground here, so no wires and poles mar the landscape.

In spring, just north of Taleveras, millions of Mexican poppies burst into bloom, and thousands of sightseers visit along Dripping Springs road to photograph the poppies and pose in them. It's a favorite place to take graduation photos.

Beloved Rain: Our Las Cruces Monsoons

 

Monsoons are yearly rains that occur during the same window each year. We have monsoons in the desert Southwest, just as they do in India and Australia and other locales.

We depend on our monsoons, and lately, the weather scientists have taken to calling them "non-soons," because they have not followed their usual yearly pattern. We are in the midst of a drought, and our trees show it, with cottonwoods dying that have lived for decades just on the water from monsoons, and pecans having to be "topped" (cut) due to lack of sufficient rains to swell the Rio Grande during the time its level is being dropped by the Elephant Butte Irrigation District authorities (in preparation for fall and winter). 

Monsoons, when they do arrive, are very exciting. There is lightning, such loud thunder, outflow that is extremely strong, and icy cold, huge raindrops. As newcomers, I want to make sure you know to stay out of and away from arroyos (ditches) in the desert or near your home. They can flood very rapidly. 

We still have a few days left of "monsoon season," and I hope we will get at least one good rain. The plants just grow and perk up dramatically with the rainwater.

The photo at the top of this post is of monsoon clouds as seen from my backyard. A whole "show" was put on, but ultimately, no rain fell in our neighborhood, but the Talaveras neighborhood to the east did get rain. At least someone got rain!

Hidden Neighborhood of Whispering Pines

 

Last week I posted about the quaint and old neighborhood of Mesilla. Today I want to make sure you know about a very unusual neighborhood slightly North of the main part of Las Cruces. It's off U.S. 85 and it is just like entering another world far from the desert if you go for a nice Sunday drive out there. If you can get a house to buy out there, you're even luckier!

Tall pines are in each yard in this neighborhood. This cools it and scents the air delightfully. Shade abounds, and shade is a very desired commodity out here!

The homes themselves are gorgeous. And although it doesn't look like the rest of the desert, it is home to many Gambel's quail and roadrunners. I'm sure it has gray foxes and elf owls, too. Even our home in the Telshor area of the city has roadrunners, foxes, hawks, lizards, snakes, and owls! 

If you're considering Las Cruces for retirement, be sure to find a realtor who understands how very different our neighborhoods are, and which one would be a perfect fit for your needs. I know that while I love the desert, the pines in Whispering Pines really capture my heart! But when we bought here, we weren't aware of this hidden neighborhood. And in upcoming posts, I'll be talking about MANY other little neighborhoods that might just strike a chord with you. It's hard to find out about special little areas when you aren't living in the city where you might like to retire, so I hope to help with that.

Our Wonderful Saturday Farmers Market

 

Las Cruces boasts a very active, very interesting Farmers' Market that is held twice a week: The main market on Saturday mornings, and a much smaller market on Wednesdays. The Market is downtown, along Main Street, all year around!

You do NOT want to miss going to the Market. And in the warm seasons, you want to go VERY EARLY, because it gets entirely too hot. Local produce, pasteries, snacks, food trucks, craftspeople, artists, jewelry makers, seamstresses, and more are there each Saturday morning! Many times there are musicians of all ages performing on each block. Sometimes wonderful Mariachi bands are playing, and sometimes it's brave students perfecting their craft.

With COVID-19, of course, everything is changed. But I'm writing this as if those troubled days are behind us and everything is as it was in terms of having a robust market with thousands of visitors. Right now, it's a smaller market, but that will change, I hope, when we are free from the spectre of COVID.

WHAT Are We Calling "Tunas"?

 

In Las Cruces, prickly pear cactus is everywhere. The flat pads are edible when young, and are called "nopals" espcially when referred to as food items. I grew up in the South and we tended to call prickly pears "beavertails." But here, they are "nopals." I was just reading some research about how eating nopal is evidently very good for diabetics, especially those with Type II diabetes. They are full of fiber, and that's thought to help maintain blood sugar at safe levels.

They flourish here! The blooms I have seen here are either yellow or magenta, and they are beautiful in spring. They set many small fruits called..."tunas." In the fall, they are ripe and many do harvest them to eat. You have to be VERY careful of tiny, basically invisible stickers/spines in them that look like tiny areas of white. It's actually a myriad of tiny spines forming those white spots on the tuna. 

Some people make jelly from them, because they yield a lovely color, if not much flavor. But they are also beautiful just left in the landscape for visual interest.

Adorned Walls in Las Cruces

 

Something you will notice in Las Cruces is the number of homes that have religious tilework on them, small handpainted murals, or Southwestern metalwork motifs such as geckos. 

La Posta, famed Mesilla eatery (Mesilla is a tiny village just south of Las Cruces and "touching" Las Cruces), has some gorgeous tile work inside, but many homes also have it on the exterior.

Sometimes house numbers are displayed on colorful tiles affixed to adobe or stucco walls.

It all adds to the unique feel of Las Cruces and Southern New Mexico.

Green Chiles

 

The Mesilla Valley, where Las Cruces is nestled, is famed worldwide for its flavorful green chiles. Note the spelling! It's "chile" and "chiles" with just an "e" -- not the "i" spelling denoting Texas chili! (Strangely, a local chile grower, Biad, spells it with an "i" on their boxes and signs. Very odd!) Chiles are the best part of local cuisine, and this time of year, you can smell them roasting in the open air, literally by the ton. Everyone wants to stock up on roasted green chiles for the year. 

The fruits -- yes, they are fruits, not vegetables -- are placed in a big mesh barrel, and rotated over searing flames until the skin blackens and blisters. A good roaster can char the chiles so expertly that there is very little skin left to remove. They then spray it with water from the hose and it steams the chile to perfection, to the perfect doneness.The charred part just wipes or rinses away. 

Some families enjoy buying a big box or burlap bag of chiles and roasting them at home, with everyone pitching in to get them ready to freeze. Some buy just a few chiles and roast them on a comal, a flat piece of heavy steel set over a burner. 

Walmart sells boxes of chiles (it's very exciting when you see the first boxes appear in stores), and so do other stores, including famed hole-in-the-wall souvenier, ristras, and statuary shop "Ristrammn" (everyone says "Ristra Man," but its actually spelled Ristrammn) in nearby Mesilla.

Chiles are full of vitamin C. In fact, they quite put oranges and other citrus to shame in terms of C! 

Everyone will tell you, and we are here to assure you it's true, that there is no cuisine better than New Mexican food. It's true. The chiles are the secret! Be sure to try Chiles Rellenos when you get here. They're on menus across the city, with two of the best recipes being found at Si Señor and Zia Cafe: Battered, cheese-stuffed, deep fried green chiles served with red or green (chile) sauce. Delectable! Local eatery Matteo's offers Green Chile Horchata, a delicious milk and rice-based drink, and Caliche's Frozen Custard has chopped green chile as a topping for their custard sundaes (custards are a rich ice cream) or their "caliches" (frozen drink that Northerners know as a "concrete"). As we say here, "Muy rico!"

Introducing the Great Neighborhood of Mesilla

 

 

Mesilla, New Mexico is a tiny village that is connected to and just south of Las Cruces proper. It is sometimes called "Old Mesilla," as it predates the rest of the area. It has its own marshal, post office, community center, and more, and has a huge amount of historic homes and businesses for its size. It also still has a very agricultural feel, with orchards, onion fields, cotton, and alfalfa being grown all around town and right up to the backs of old homes.

There are restaurants there that date back before statehood, such as La Posta, where locals and tourists love to dine in a huge adobe building with exquisite decor and amazing talking parrots. Even the bathrooms are gorgeous, with sinks imported from Talavera, Mexico. Nichos line the walls, with tilework or miniature murals painted inside. 

Old Mesilla is a very desirable place to live, but there are many rules regarding how and if historic structures can be altered. Regardless, to be able to call Mesilla home is definitely a braggin' right. But as one real estate agent used to tell me, "Bring your money."

Beautiful and venerable Basilica de San Albino is located on the square in Mesilla, which also features many unique shops, restaurants, and a gazebo that is a favorite of musicians and photographers. Ristras swing from the old-fashioned lamp-posts and worn bricks are underfoot. Side streets feature more shops and restaurants, and many renovated homes. Josefina's Old Gate, an historic inn and eatery, is just steps away from the Basilica. We felt such calm and peace sipping coffee there one morning.

I hope that you will get to experience visiting or even living in Mesilla!

 

NMSU: New Mexico State University in Las Cruces

 We are so lucky to have NMSU in Las Cruces. This is a venerable A&M land grant university that adds so much excitement and enrichment to the city. The campus is a beautiful green oasis in the desert, and offers plays, recitals, academic study, and more to retirees as well as to their student population.

The photo below is of a series of windmills on the edge of campus, caught in a "reflecting pool" that resulted from a monsoon's downpour. NMSU offers a certificate in windmill repair, and it's a popular course of study here in the ag-rich Mesilla Valley.

See you Monday! Until then, viya con Dios!

Hidden Beauty in Las Cruces

Las Cruces is over 150 years old, with all the little nooks and out-of-the-way oddities of a city with some history. There is nowhere in this city that doesn't have some special touch, some bit of hidden beauty. Sunday drives are a joy of discovery! One area especially rich in hidden bits of beauty is Old Mesilla, with its turquoise-rimmed windows, adobe buildings, and quaint gates. Beautiful religious tableaux on gorgeous tiles adorn worn adobe walls. Desert blooms spill out from old courtyards. Brick streets set off the square to perfection, with the crowning grace of the Basilica of San Albino presiding over one end.

You will never lack for beauty if you make Las Cruces your home!

Here is a glance through a courtyard "window" in Mesilla. Many openings in New Mexico are painted blue for luck and protection:

Our Beloved Organ Mountains

 The Organ Mountains are a cherished part of the Las Cruces landscape. They lie east of the city, and the vast majority of new single-family homes is occuring at their feet. A main feature of the mountains are their soaring vertical "needles," long stands of granite that remind us of the pipes of an organ -- thus their name.

 The needles aren't visible in this photo taken on the way to Baylor Canyon, a favorite place for hikers. They are more to the north (left). 

Most days the Organs are bathed in sunshine, yet they look different each time you glance at them, as shadows are cast by crevices and outcroppings. Sometimes deep patches of shade play along their sides when clouds are out. During monsoon season, they can stand starkly against an almost black sky. In winter, snow dusts their heights. 

My husband and I returned to Las Cruces after 25 years away. Between the two of us, we've lived in every corner of the country and a few foreign countries, yet Las Cruces called us back. My husband, especially, loves the Organ Mountains. We have a peek-a-boo view of the "needles" from our back patio, and he enjoys sitting outside each morning, mug of coffee in hand, and eyes on the mountains.

See you tomorrow...with more of "Enchanted Las Cruces, the Hidden Gem of the Southwest."

Doña Holly

Buenos Días! Bienvenido...Welcome...to Enchanted Las Cruces. Are you a retiree, or nearing retirement? Or someone who is looking for a new place to call home? Just as we did, you might find a simple, beautiful, secure place in Las Cruces, a lovely small city in southern New Mexico.

 

I call Las Cruces a "hidden gem." I am absolutely astonished that it remains relatively unknown to retirees. It has all the advantages of huge retiree havens such as Tucson, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, but none of their drawbacks. 

The natural beauty of the area is breath-taking. The backdrop to this lovely city is the Organ Mountains and their famed granite "needles" soaring to nearly 9,000 feet. From the foothills of the Organs, a beautiful vista of the fertile Mesilla Valley spreads from horizon to horizon. With the Organs at your back, you can see the Franklin Mountains of El Paso, the nearby Doña Anas, the smooth and lovely Robledos, and even far to the West, the Florida Mountains near Deming.

The setting is gorgeous, but most importantly, the living is very easy here. We'll be exploring more of that in upcoming posts. This is a stable, quiet community that boasts a full university in NMSU, a medical school with the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine, a huge community college (Doña Ana Community College, DACC), many churches, two hospitals, community centers, retirement communities, large grocery stores and four Walmarts, golf courses and country clubs, an airport that is a favorite among private pilots, museums, several historic areas such as "Old Mesilla," and so very much more. 

Most weekdays, it is my pleasure to bring you an image of this special place, Las Cruces, "The City of the Crosses," in beautiful New Mexico, known worldwide as "The Land of Enchantment."

Until mañana... 

Doña K