Blue Door

     Think of these like the spirit gates, the blue is to deter evil spirits.  I know someone who is currently remodeling a 1800's adobe.  They found small glass bottles/vials inside of the walls around each window.  They had some sort of herbs in them.  They were put in there for protection when the home was built.  The people showed me one, the rest they returned to the walls.

It is the details that intrigue me.  This is an old adobe from 1865.

Notice how the blue in the door matches the sky?

This door has traces of blue paint remaining....

Tularosa Biker

This gentleman is named Al Lopez and he rides his bicycles out by Tularosa every weekend.  He rides in the same pull out from the highway, by the historical marker.  He was kind enough to let me take photos of him today.

He has several of these bicycles in different colors.  I have seen him riding for years now and finally stopped to chat.  While I was taking photos, I noticed all of the locals waving at him and no less than six truckers honked hello.

It is 55 degrees today and Al certainly added some sunshine to my day!

New Mexico Float Rose Parade

I found this photo of the New Mexico float from last year.  We should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque!!

Today is the Tournament of Roses parade.  Watching it is our new years tradition.  New Mexico has done well the past few years since they have entered and this year was no different.  I am very proud of our state and the floats that we enter.  I am enclosing a link to the New Mexico website with the current and past floats. http://www.newmexico.org/roseparade/index.php  I never fully appreciated the effort that goes into the floats and that ALL of the colors are natural seeds and flowers.  The floats cannot be created ahead of time because the colors and flowers fade and die.  Is everyone ready for a new decade?   I remember my second grade teacher having us figure out how old we would be in the year 2000.  We were astonished to think we would be that OLD!   Guess what?  We have 10 more years under our belts now!

This one was from two years ago.  Not taken by me.  I love watching the creativity and hope next year they do Carlesbad Caverns...

Happy New Years!

      This old car has sat up on this hill for as long as I remember.  It is here for one more new year as I am so we might as well ring it in together!  It sits above High Rolls.... Happy 2010 and here is to a great new year.  I have had a great time with this blog and so enjoyed being able to bring you a glimpse of my world.  I cannot wait to see what I uncover next twelve months.  Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.  I will talk to all of you next year!

Old Wooten New Mexico

     On highway 82 east of High Rolls and Mountain Park is Old Wooten.  I have no idea it's origin, but will try and find out what the history could be here.  I imagine it is railroads.  

Not much left, just this scattering of buildings, a business or two and perhaps a home tucked in the canyon.

If anyone knows more, please leave a comment!

Ski Cloudcroft

One more snowman for our collection.

The ski area in Cloudcroft is the Southermost ski area in the United States, and is up and running this year. It has been in existance since 1963, but does not open every year. This year has been good already for the ski areas and the first time it has opened since 2005.

I remember hot chocolate here as a kid when we would come up intertubing.

Christmas in Alamogordo

                               This is one of my favorite displays that is up every year.  I love the Peanuts!

These are the last photos from my old camera and therefore not the best, but you can see the luminarias mixed in with the lights.

                                             Close up of the luminarias.  These are the traditional ones, made with brown paper bags, dirt and a votive candle.  They cast such a soft and welcoming glow ~ the night recedes just a bit while they flicker and light the paths and outline homes and churches, neighborhoods and creches.

Even this truck got into the spirit!