These are random musings of my life journey, the people, animals, places, and events which have woven, and continue to weave, a tapestry that is me. We all know there is no real destination, only the ongoing experiences which blend together, creating the trail. Each step gives a glimpse of what is to come, without allowing me to see the end result. It is exciting. I have a home base that is mine, that gives me a place to rest. This is it. This is where my heart is, no matter where I journey...................

Friday, October 10, 2008

You're from the Land of Enchantment if ....

If you're from New Mexico, live here or used to live here, and just LOVE it (except when the wind blows over 40MPH), you can relate to this. The rest of you can chuckle, at least at the ones that aren't so coded that they escape you! If you need explanation, let me know.


You're from the Land of Enchantment if:

  1. You can correctly pronounce words like Tesuque, Cerrillos, Acoma, Buena, Ocotillo, Cochiti, Pojoaque, Socorro, Tierra Amarilla, Ojo Caliente, and Isleta (and you actually know what or where they are!).
  2. You have been told by at least one out-of-state vendor that they are going to charge you extra for international shipping.
  3. You expect to pay more if your house is made of Adobe.
  4. You can order your Big Mac with green chile.
  5. You buy salsa by the half-gallon.
  6. You know what it means when they say it's from Hatch.
  7. Your Christmas decorations include "red Chiles, a half-ton of sand and 200 paper bags."
  8. Most restaurants you go to begin with "El" or "Los."
  9. You know what Lotta Burger is and your mouth waters at the sound of the name.
  10. You price shop for tortillas.
  11. You have an extra freezer just for green Chile.
  12. You consider Billy the Kid a state hero.
  13. You think six tons of crushed rock makes a beautiful front lawn.
  14. You ran for state legislature just so you could speed legally.
  15. You pass on the right because that is the fast-lane.
  16. You think Sonic is "America's Favorite Drive-in."
  17. Your swamp cooler got knocked off your roof by a Dust Devil.
  18. You either have been or know someone who has been abducted by aliens.
  19. You can actually hear the Taos hum.
  20. All your out-of-state friends and relatives ask if they can drink the water when they come to visit.
  21. When someone says "Las Vegas" you think of a small New Mexico town in the northeastern part of the state.
  22. You iron your jeans to "dress up."
  23. You don't see anything wrong with drive-up window liquor sales.
  24. Your other vehicle is also a pick-up truck.
  25. Two of your cousins are in Santa Fe, one in the legislature, the other in the state penitentiary.
  26. You know what it means when a waitress asks you whether you want "red or green."
  27. You're relieved when the pavement ends because the dirt road has fewer potholes.
  28. You see nothing odd when, in the conversations of the people in line around you at the grocery store, every other word of each sentence alternates between Spanish and English.
  29. You've seen the bat flight at Carlsbad Caverns and have a t-shirt that says "Bats need friends, too!"
  30. You know you are "special" because you're from the Land of Enchantment31. You've had Forts out in the desert or forest, which is also your back yard, so to speak.
  31. You know what the night sky looks like full of stars and not pollution.
  32. You've swum in an arroyo or an acequia..as a child or an ADULT!!
  33. You've cooked an egg on the sidewalk.
  34. You know what a horny toad is.
  35. You can identify a quail, peacock, coyote, roadrunner, cricket, etc...by the sound they make.
  36. You actually stop in the road when quail are crossing to wait for the whole "family" to get across. :)
  37. Your Walmart sells snow sleds in the summer for the White Sands...but you can hardly find them in the winter.
  38. You've slept outside either on the trampoline, the back of a truck, or just in the yard with friends.
  39. You need bug repellent all year round.
  40. You love the smell of rain in the desert.
  41. You've caught tadpoles every summer as a kid.
  42. One of your favorite past times is rock hunting.
  43. Your High School Biology teacher taught you how to identify all of the desert plants that you could get high on, and how to do it.
  44. You've been to Mexico just to party.
  45. You know that Christmas and weddings would not be the same without biscochitos.
  46. You know what bartering is, and how to do it in at least 2 different languages.
  47. You could totally win on Survivor, because you've been doing all that hunting, fishing, hiking survival technique stuff since you were 5 out in your own back yard.
  48. Your city cousins from out of state come and visit you and don't get it when "going to do something" to you means to go hunting, fishing, hiking and theirs is hanging out at the mall.
  49. You spent your 4 years of High School saying you were leaving this hell hole and never coming back to podunk, and when you left, you realized that there's no place like New Mexico, and will probably decide to retire back home.
And a friend added these:

  • You know that Denver is not the only Mile High City.
  • You know how to spell Albuquerque.
  • You know what the Duke City is and who it is named after.
  • You know what a "bluetail" is.
  • You know what Sandia means and why the mountains outside Albuquerque are called the Sandia Mountains.

6 comments:

  1. That was just really really intersting! I never used to want to go out west but I DO want to visit you and your wonderful state!

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  2. Patti, it is a good place. And we have no palmetto water bugs!!!

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  3. I GET IT!!

    A few things...

    1. My brother-in-law used to grow green chilis so we got ours from him instead of Hatch.

    2. Lotta Burger reminds me of being the annoying tagalong on my sisters' dates.

    3. The smell of desert rain is one of the BEST smells ever!

    4. Armour car wax on the bottom of a plastic sled works the best at White Sands.

    I have many more comments, but I'll just leave it at this. :o)

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  4. Jen, since you GET IT, I'll bet you do have lots to say about the list! There were only a few that I didn't go "Yeah!!"

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  5. My dad sent me one of these lists awhile back... it's AMAZING how different the culture is just across the state line up here. No Lotta Burgers. ARGH. Very few luminarias at Christmas. Biscochitos are just DIFFERENT. So is menudo, posole, and even green chile. People here think it's chili! Ugh. I miss home.

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  6. Catherine, isn't it amazing what a difference there is with a few miles? I remember when we moved to KC and the Mexican/Hispanic community was very small. Unless you went to the small area where they tended to lived, you could not get good Mexican food. And even then, it wasn't like "home." We used to lament that Taco Bell was the best Mexican foo in in town.

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If you have something to say about it, just stick out your thumb, and I'll slow down so you can hop aboard! But hang on, 'cause I'm movin' on down the road!!! No time to waste!!!