LAS CRUCES - Exploring a little stretch of Avenida de
Mesilla for today’s SunLife feature reminded me how much more you experience
when you walk and pay attention, even if it’s a place you think you know very
well.
I’ve spent a lot of time on Avenida de Mesilla over the past
two decades. It was the first place I landed when I moved back to New Mexico
and spent my first weeks with two of the people who bought me here, long-time
Mesilleras Elaine Szalay and Lou Ayers.
When daughter-in-law Shannon and tiny baby grandson Alex
flew in for their first visit, we headed down the Avenida to the Mesilla Plaza
for Cinco de Mayo, where Alex the Great handled his first maracas like a pro.
After he became a Las Crucen, Alex, then 3, attended his
first parade on the Avenida, and his parents and I were both impressed with the
kindness of local kids, who paused in their own collection of the candy
traditionally thrown from parade floats, to share their bounty with smaller
children.
Later, when my Alexandria (Shannon’s mom and Alex’s maternal
grandmom) moved with her family from the Pacific Northwest to Las Cruces, we
all gathered on the Avenida to watch Alexandria’s then-teen-age daughter Tanya
march in a parade with her high school band.
The late Ben Boldt was a link in one of the most profound of
those synchronistic connections for which New Mexico is famous. After he and
his family built the Mercado de Mesilla complex, I met Ben’s grandson Jonathan
and, remarkably, discovered Jon, an Oregonian, had produced my son Ryan’s last
record album.
Eventually, Jon and Ryan reunited to produce a special
entertainment event at the Mercado, another Avenida de Mesilla memory for
family and friends.
Strolling on a pretty, blue-skied day, a breezy lull in a
week of windstorms, I thought about so many things that are new and different
in the last 20 years.
The rustic old village municipal hall moved to the Avenida
to become the new adobe Mesilla City Hall, J. Paul Taylor Visitor Center and
Municipal Court. San Andres High School is now Rio Grande Preparatory
Institute. The bold and beautiful venture, Preston Contemporary Art Center,
site of cutting-edge exhibits and photographic seminars that attracted
nationwide attention, eventually closed and was reborn as the Las Cruces
Academy. And nearby, in at least a mini-realization of Ben Boldt’s vision of an
artists’ community of mom-and-pop combined art galleries and artists’
residences, veteran gallery founders Carolyn and Henry Bunch built and moved
into the latest incarnation of Adobe Patio Gallery, next door to the colorful
RokokoArt, the gallery and sometimes home of innovative traveling artists A.me
and Mitch Alamag.
I’ve since put in a lot of hours on and around the Avenida
de Mesilla, touring with visitors, eating at restaurants, enjoying Sunday
walks. And I’ve had a lot of Avenida adventures in the line of duty, covering
everything from parades and historic battle reenactments to art openings.
I’ve seen a lot of Avenida galleries come and go with unique
and eclectic offerings: handmade clothing, oriental brush paintings, exotic
luxury automobiles and La Casa Rosa’s exotic folk and fine art collections assembled
by the well-traveled Alexandra Nason Hall, who passed on in January.
During my little walk, I discovered two pretty little park
areas that I’d never realized were there, and was reminded of some restaurants
I haven’t visited for a while that offer places to have a drink or a leisurely
snack or meal outside on a lovely spring day in Las Cruces, and watch the world
pass by.
I think I’ll gather some friends and do just that, and
remember the amigos and good times we’ve enjoyed and ponder adventures still to
come.
So
far, our Strolling Our Streets series has ambled through stretches of Calle de Guadalupe and Avenida de Mesilla in Mesilla, and in Las Cruces,
Mesquite from Three Crosses to Picacho, University Avenue, Las Cruces Avenue and Picacho Avenue’s antique district. If you have a favorite street you think
we should explore, let us know.
S. Derrickson Moore may be
reached at 575-541-5450, dmoore@lcsun-news.com or @derricksonmoore on Twitter.
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