By S. Derrickson Moore
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES — Just when I thought I’d O.D.ed on awe and wonder, I found myself infused with another dose of fiesta adrenaline.
The only dilemma was, which choice to make. Anyone who says there is nothing to do in Las Cruces must have been hibernating in a very deep cave.
Full-tilt fiesta season used to have its lulls and valleys. Now it’s a steady cascade of events with a couple of Superweekends, periods so crammed with relentless fun and pageantry that only the strongest fiesta animals can hope to survive.
After Winterfest weekend, I thought I might be one of the casualties, succumbing to one of the two chronic maladies sweeping the Sun-News this year.
I got the one that goes beyond Montezuma’s Revenge into Montezuma’s Vendetta, causing you to lose five pounds in 24 hours and later making you feel obligated to have at least a few Christmas cookies, a pitcher of Margaritas and a pint or two of peppermint stick ice cream to build up your strength.
Instead, I decided it was time to take a break and contemplate my choices. I bellied up the bar — Corie Lane’s Pure Energy Juice Bar at Tom Young’s, that is. I ordered a stiff drink: a supersize Immune System Booster, a concoction of lemon juice, lots of cayenne pepper and other industrial strength magic ingredients. Is it potent? Let’s just say, any bugs this drink won’t kill, you WANT to have on your side.
Thus fortified, I planned the rest of my holiday itinerary.
Last weekend, I was sorely tempted to run off to T or C for a soothing soak in Geronimo’s healing waters and the annual Elephant Butte luminarias beach walk and floating parade of lights and art hop, crowned with a community screening of “It’s A Wonderful Life” at the El Cortez Theater, a place I’ve always wanted to see and never manage to catch when it’s open.
But I’ve never missed joining at least one day of Our Lady of Guadalupe Festival celebrations and dancing, and I also wanted to catch the last day of the Border Artist Show. And I had my heart set on heading to first-century Judea complete with artisans and traditional foods, surveying the recreated marketplace, picking a “tribe” and joining a tour to see over 100 period-costumed, artistic Methodists create living Nativity scenes in the Advent Journey.
Could I I still fit in the “Living Christmas Tree” musical spectacular and the Mesilla Christmas Tree Lighting and the Ft. Selden Luminaria Tour and reenacters’ encampment amidst the ruins? And what about all those tempting weekend concerts with Vos Vaqueros and Celestial Sounds, and the Mesilla Valley Chorale? Could I remain standing long enough to join any or all of those sing-along ops?
I wondered briefly if I should have avoided all these difficult decisions and accepted offers to join loved ones for the holidays in the Pacific Northwest, New York or Florida.
Bemused, I wandered out to my yard, where the mid-December temperature hovered around 70 after a little cold snap that almost killed my petunias and neon lapis blue lobelia, but not quite. Confused butterflies still fluttered around my patio, trying to make sense of global warming.
And I attempted to choose from an astonishment of seasonal riches, missing distant loved ones, as we all do this time of year, but greatly comforted by the joys of life in my chosen querencia.
There’s no place like home for the holidays, especially if your home is Las Cruces.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com
Friday, December 19, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Wacky & wonderful holiday traditions
LAS CRUCES AND MESILLA — It’s the time of year for sacred rites that inspire joy and creative and touching Southwestern traditions that can conjure smiles, awe and wonder and sometimes amazed amusement.
Tanks of piranhas decked with poinsettias. Rolling fields of fluffy white stuff that turns out to be not snow, but cotton harvest remnants. Hand-crafted snowguys with red chile noses. Giant roadrunner sculptures made out of recycled trash, merrily lit with twinkle lights.
Gathering with amigos on Christmas Eve on the Mesilla Plaza. Watching dancers in feather bonnets and Our Lady of Guadalupe tunics at Tortugas Pueblo. Figuring out new ways to hang our cowboy boot stockings on a kiva fireplace. Homemade holiday tamales and (new to me this year) turkey and mashed potatoes with red chile gravy and cranberry-green chile sauce. Yucca pod wreaths and tumbleweed Christmas trees …
These are just a few of my favorite holiday things.
The holidays here are a wonderfully eclectic mixture of the beautiful and traditional … and the deeply weird. And it all just keeps getting better.
This is my 15th holiday season in this part of the state, and I’ve fallen in love with some traditional celebrations and been introduced to new favorites, some of which have died and been reborn in new forms.
I’m looking forward to the 2008 version of La Posada Friday on the Downtown Mall, especially after hearing tales from some good friends who grew up here. The way they’ve explained it, it’s sort of like a Christmas version of trick or treat. A friend said she and her buddies used to go from house to house asking if there was room at the inn, and has fond memories of being rewarded with tamales and biscochitos and all kinds of goodies.
This week, everyone will be able to enjoy singing followed by goodies and a piñata.
It’s one tradition I’ve seen reborn in recent years, along with “Los Pastores,” an ancient ritual with deep roots in the Mesilla Valley that has come back after a few tough years. It was started here nearly half a century ago by a group of Mesilla families who are determined to keep it alive.
When it comes to holiday traditions, Mesilla is probably ground zero in both the most beautiful and most weird categories.
Josefina’s Gate, possibly the most photographed adobe structure in southern New Mexico, is always beautiful this time of year, and was even before Josefina’s daughter, Kathleen Foreman, transformed her late mom’s adobe home into one of the region’s loveliest lunch and tea rooms. The late, great Josefina Gamboa Biel is credited with starting Mesilla’s tradition of luminarias, carols and drinks on the Mesilla Plaza on Christmas Eve. It’s one of the most wonderful ways to spend Dec. 24 to be found anywhere on the planet, in my opinion.
But I also like the weird stuff: Like the Mesilla classic that I think of as the outlaw redemption center tableau: a beautiful, life-sized Nativity scene perched on the roof of Billy the Kid Gift Shop, with an image of Billy hanging out below.
And right across the street, at La Posta, I always make a point of taking visitors to see the cages of parrots and tanks of piranhas flanked by banks of bright red poinsettias accented by darting, flashing bits of gold nearby. I don’t always reveal that the glittering goldfish aren’t decorations, but lunch for the piranhas. Somehow, I’ve always managed to schedule my tours to avoid feeding times.
Last week, it was wonderful to celebrate an event-filled Christmas Superweekend and what this year became its crown jewel: Winterfest.
I remember my first Christmas in Las Cruces, walking through the crumbling, dirty Downtown Mall that was then termed “a graveyard of high hopes.”
This month, it was a sparkling winter wonderland of promises fulfilled, as crowds drifted from the refurbished Branigan Cultural Center and relatively new Las Cruces Museum of Art through the 18 venues, including galleries and theaters, featured in the monthly Downtown Ramble and on to the spruced-up block housing the restored Rio Grande Theatre. Everything was aglow with electric lights and luminarias. There was music and dancing and treats and transport via horse-drawn carriages to more celebrations at Pioneer Women’s Park and the beautifully restored Court Youth Center.
It hit me, as then-toddler grandson Alex the great use to put it, in “one swell foop.”
In the last decade, many of our high hopes have been realized. Our downtown is becoming a delight.
Merry Christmas.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com
Tanks of piranhas decked with poinsettias. Rolling fields of fluffy white stuff that turns out to be not snow, but cotton harvest remnants. Hand-crafted snowguys with red chile noses. Giant roadrunner sculptures made out of recycled trash, merrily lit with twinkle lights.
Gathering with amigos on Christmas Eve on the Mesilla Plaza. Watching dancers in feather bonnets and Our Lady of Guadalupe tunics at Tortugas Pueblo. Figuring out new ways to hang our cowboy boot stockings on a kiva fireplace. Homemade holiday tamales and (new to me this year) turkey and mashed potatoes with red chile gravy and cranberry-green chile sauce. Yucca pod wreaths and tumbleweed Christmas trees …
These are just a few of my favorite holiday things.
The holidays here are a wonderfully eclectic mixture of the beautiful and traditional … and the deeply weird. And it all just keeps getting better.
This is my 15th holiday season in this part of the state, and I’ve fallen in love with some traditional celebrations and been introduced to new favorites, some of which have died and been reborn in new forms.
I’m looking forward to the 2008 version of La Posada Friday on the Downtown Mall, especially after hearing tales from some good friends who grew up here. The way they’ve explained it, it’s sort of like a Christmas version of trick or treat. A friend said she and her buddies used to go from house to house asking if there was room at the inn, and has fond memories of being rewarded with tamales and biscochitos and all kinds of goodies.
This week, everyone will be able to enjoy singing followed by goodies and a piñata.
It’s one tradition I’ve seen reborn in recent years, along with “Los Pastores,” an ancient ritual with deep roots in the Mesilla Valley that has come back after a few tough years. It was started here nearly half a century ago by a group of Mesilla families who are determined to keep it alive.
When it comes to holiday traditions, Mesilla is probably ground zero in both the most beautiful and most weird categories.
Josefina’s Gate, possibly the most photographed adobe structure in southern New Mexico, is always beautiful this time of year, and was even before Josefina’s daughter, Kathleen Foreman, transformed her late mom’s adobe home into one of the region’s loveliest lunch and tea rooms. The late, great Josefina Gamboa Biel is credited with starting Mesilla’s tradition of luminarias, carols and drinks on the Mesilla Plaza on Christmas Eve. It’s one of the most wonderful ways to spend Dec. 24 to be found anywhere on the planet, in my opinion.
But I also like the weird stuff: Like the Mesilla classic that I think of as the outlaw redemption center tableau: a beautiful, life-sized Nativity scene perched on the roof of Billy the Kid Gift Shop, with an image of Billy hanging out below.
And right across the street, at La Posta, I always make a point of taking visitors to see the cages of parrots and tanks of piranhas flanked by banks of bright red poinsettias accented by darting, flashing bits of gold nearby. I don’t always reveal that the glittering goldfish aren’t decorations, but lunch for the piranhas. Somehow, I’ve always managed to schedule my tours to avoid feeding times.
Last week, it was wonderful to celebrate an event-filled Christmas Superweekend and what this year became its crown jewel: Winterfest.
I remember my first Christmas in Las Cruces, walking through the crumbling, dirty Downtown Mall that was then termed “a graveyard of high hopes.”
This month, it was a sparkling winter wonderland of promises fulfilled, as crowds drifted from the refurbished Branigan Cultural Center and relatively new Las Cruces Museum of Art through the 18 venues, including galleries and theaters, featured in the monthly Downtown Ramble and on to the spruced-up block housing the restored Rio Grande Theatre. Everything was aglow with electric lights and luminarias. There was music and dancing and treats and transport via horse-drawn carriages to more celebrations at Pioneer Women’s Park and the beautifully restored Court Youth Center.
It hit me, as then-toddler grandson Alex the great use to put it, in “one swell foop.”
In the last decade, many of our high hopes have been realized. Our downtown is becoming a delight.
Merry Christmas.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com
Saturday, November 22, 2008
A Thanksgiving Gratitude List...
By S. Derrickson Moore
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES — It can be tough to be a Pollyanna if you are in the news business. You know too much.
I try to limit my online and news channel time once I leave the office, but these days, I’m as likely to hear an in-depth discussion of the latest crises in the hot tub at the health club as I am in the newsroom. More likely, in fact. We’re usually so busy dealing with some aspect of the latest dilemma that we don’t have much time to talk about it all.
But maybe we should. From talk show pundits to purveyors of “The Secret,” many have told us that we should ignore and dismiss from our life everything that seems negative and all will be well.
I agree that it’s a good idea to accentuate the positive and be a cosmic cheerleader whenever and wherever possible. But it can be a delicate balance.
There are other maxims that mature and responsible adults should keep in mind: like the ones about not hiding your head in the sand, and, of course, the admonition so dear to conscientious journalists: “Don’t kill the messenger.”
That said, there’s a lot to be thankful about, this Thanksgiving season. It’s a great time of year to sit down and make some lists, with an enlightened attitude of gratitude and some realistic fair and balanced reporting. Here’s a sampling of what’s on my list.
I’m grateful that my family has had a pretty happy, healthy year, and glad I got to spend some wonderful vacation days with some members of the tribe I miss having nearby, like son Ryan, daughter-in-law Shannon and grandson Alexander the great, during a beautiful summer in Idaho. There were some fun surprises, too, like a visit from my long-lost cousin Jim Bernard, who toured the country with his charming wife Deb and perky dog Sheba and, as fate would have it, showed up in both Las Cruces and Coeur d’Alene for fun renuion visits.
I mourn all the wonderful persons, places and things that have left Las Cruces this year, but I’m grateful for the faith and experience that have taught me that nothing good is every truly lost, that for everything we willingly set free, we get something better, sometimes in a different form.
I’m sad that some of my dearest friends have moved away to places like New York and Santa Fe, but grateful that we’re so profoundly bonded and that we can keep in touch with visits, phone calls and e-mail.
I’m even sadder that so many loved ones and relatives of loved ones have passed on to realms beyond cyberspace communication this year, but when I reflect on what good lives they lived and the contributions they made to making this world a better — and far more entertaining and interesting — place, I feel very grateful to have had the chance to spend some quality time with them on the earthly portion of their journeys, and look forward to meeting them all again in the great beyond.
I’m sad that we live, in 2008, in a world that is still at war on so many fronts, that has experienced devastating natural disasters, economic collapse, global warming, worsening ecological problems, record home foreclosures, and such formidible challenges with issues ranging from global violence and homelessness to poverty and health care.
But I am grateful for so many signs that we are finally realizing that we are all in this together, that the entire ocean is affected by a pebble, that we must hang together or we’ll hang separately. That we are all our brother’s keeper... and our sister’s, children’s, neighbors,’ parents’ and grandparents’ keeper, and the keepers and custodians of life on this fragile planet.
And I’m grateful that for all the challenges we face as a world, a nation and a community, by some wonderful milagro, many of us seem to be moving into 2009 with renewed spirit and a sense of hope far stronger than in what many would have considered better times. Somehow, there seems to be a strong and growing sense that we can provide care and education and compassion and a fulfilling future for every soul, that somehow, we still have everything we need to make things work, if only we will.
I hope your own 2008 gratitude lists are long and pray that your prospects, strength and relationships all grow and prosper in 2009. Happy Thanksgiving.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES — It can be tough to be a Pollyanna if you are in the news business. You know too much.
I try to limit my online and news channel time once I leave the office, but these days, I’m as likely to hear an in-depth discussion of the latest crises in the hot tub at the health club as I am in the newsroom. More likely, in fact. We’re usually so busy dealing with some aspect of the latest dilemma that we don’t have much time to talk about it all.
But maybe we should. From talk show pundits to purveyors of “The Secret,” many have told us that we should ignore and dismiss from our life everything that seems negative and all will be well.
I agree that it’s a good idea to accentuate the positive and be a cosmic cheerleader whenever and wherever possible. But it can be a delicate balance.
There are other maxims that mature and responsible adults should keep in mind: like the ones about not hiding your head in the sand, and, of course, the admonition so dear to conscientious journalists: “Don’t kill the messenger.”
That said, there’s a lot to be thankful about, this Thanksgiving season. It’s a great time of year to sit down and make some lists, with an enlightened attitude of gratitude and some realistic fair and balanced reporting. Here’s a sampling of what’s on my list.
I’m grateful that my family has had a pretty happy, healthy year, and glad I got to spend some wonderful vacation days with some members of the tribe I miss having nearby, like son Ryan, daughter-in-law Shannon and grandson Alexander the great, during a beautiful summer in Idaho. There were some fun surprises, too, like a visit from my long-lost cousin Jim Bernard, who toured the country with his charming wife Deb and perky dog Sheba and, as fate would have it, showed up in both Las Cruces and Coeur d’Alene for fun renuion visits.
I mourn all the wonderful persons, places and things that have left Las Cruces this year, but I’m grateful for the faith and experience that have taught me that nothing good is every truly lost, that for everything we willingly set free, we get something better, sometimes in a different form.
I’m sad that some of my dearest friends have moved away to places like New York and Santa Fe, but grateful that we’re so profoundly bonded and that we can keep in touch with visits, phone calls and e-mail.
I’m even sadder that so many loved ones and relatives of loved ones have passed on to realms beyond cyberspace communication this year, but when I reflect on what good lives they lived and the contributions they made to making this world a better — and far more entertaining and interesting — place, I feel very grateful to have had the chance to spend some quality time with them on the earthly portion of their journeys, and look forward to meeting them all again in the great beyond.
I’m sad that we live, in 2008, in a world that is still at war on so many fronts, that has experienced devastating natural disasters, economic collapse, global warming, worsening ecological problems, record home foreclosures, and such formidible challenges with issues ranging from global violence and homelessness to poverty and health care.
But I am grateful for so many signs that we are finally realizing that we are all in this together, that the entire ocean is affected by a pebble, that we must hang together or we’ll hang separately. That we are all our brother’s keeper... and our sister’s, children’s, neighbors,’ parents’ and grandparents’ keeper, and the keepers and custodians of life on this fragile planet.
And I’m grateful that for all the challenges we face as a world, a nation and a community, by some wonderful milagro, many of us seem to be moving into 2009 with renewed spirit and a sense of hope far stronger than in what many would have considered better times. Somehow, there seems to be a strong and growing sense that we can provide care and education and compassion and a fulfilling future for every soul, that somehow, we still have everything we need to make things work, if only we will.
I hope your own 2008 gratitude lists are long and pray that your prospects, strength and relationships all grow and prosper in 2009. Happy Thanksgiving.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com
Friday, November 14, 2008
She’s with the band: It’s in the DNA
By S. Derrickson Moore
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES — When I heard about my grandson’s new band, I flashed back to the day his dad Ryan, less than a year old, warbled “The Star Spangled Banner” in perfect pitch, though the lyrics consisted of just one repeated word: “Noodle.”
I have vivid memories of grandson Alexander the Great’s first fiesta in Las Cruces, a festive 10-month-old struggling mightily to stand up in his stroller and shake his maracas at a Cinco de Mayo gathering on the Mesilla Plaza.
A few months ago, I still had a few inches on Alex, who has since turned 12 and last week informed me that he and I are now exactly the same height.
With two six-foot parents, I guess I shouldn’t be shocked at his swift ascension, and probably by the next visit, I’ll relive that teenage moment when my rapidly growing “baby” boy Ry reached down to pat me on the head.
It will be right up there with another deja vu musical moment that’s already here: Alex, like his rockin’ prodigy dad, has formed his first junior high band.
And I have the pictures to prove it: three members of the Duct Tape Bandits, clearly ready for their album cover close-ups, stare at me from a scenic autumn Idaho landscape.
It seems like only yesterday that Ryan was attracting a motley crew of young musicians and fans for after-school jam sessions, then rotating through a bunch of Pacific Northwest “Lego” band affiliations that were ever changing and involved performances with many groups whose names I cannot use in a family newspaper. Finally, he was recruited by the Sweaty Nipples, a group that lasted more than a decade, got a contract with a major label, landed on regular MTV rotation, went on a couple of national tours, recorded some major riffs for Nintendo and other major advertisers and even landed a Grammy nomination.
I don’t know if science has officially identified the DNA markers yet, but there is no doubt in my mind that music, and various other kinds of artistic creativity are passed down through the generations.
And that includes what is know in our tribe as the family “congenital defect:” a passion and propensity for writing.
I was about 6 when I settled in behind my dad’s ancient Smith Corona and taught myself to type, which brought an immediate response from my parents.
“Look, Doris, she’s taken up the family instrument,” Dad crowed.
Dad was an enthusiastic poet and essayist, though he made his living as an aircraft engineer and most of his poems were about flying or fishing, as I recall.
But the writing gene was clearly dominant in our generation. My big sister just retired after nearly 50 years as a reporter and erstwhile editor and publisher. My brother was a sports reporter who defected to the legal profession, but after retirement has produced some award-winning short stories.
As the middle child, I tried to carry on the legacy of both literary Dad and musical Mom, a talented pianist who played with a dance band in college.
Unlike my sibs, I sang in chorus and played in school bands and picked up the guitar in college. I composed music for a couple of public service announcements and picked up a co-credit on my high school fight song — for lyrics, not the tune — but it became obvious that in my genetic legacy, words were dominant and music was recessive.
But it’s now clear that I’m a carrier and the dominant musical gene has simply skipped a generation.
It wasn’t until my 40s that I enjoyed the thrill of all-access backstage passes at clubs and music festivals, as I authoritatively dropped my son’s name and was ushered past the fans and groupies to the sweet sound of those four magic words: “She’s with the band.”
Now as the granny of a Duct Tape Bandit, I’m looking forward to a new era of perks and privileges. If you’re looking for an inside track to hot sounds of the new Millennium, just stick close to me.
I’ll get you in. I’m with the band.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES — When I heard about my grandson’s new band, I flashed back to the day his dad Ryan, less than a year old, warbled “The Star Spangled Banner” in perfect pitch, though the lyrics consisted of just one repeated word: “Noodle.”
I have vivid memories of grandson Alexander the Great’s first fiesta in Las Cruces, a festive 10-month-old struggling mightily to stand up in his stroller and shake his maracas at a Cinco de Mayo gathering on the Mesilla Plaza.
A few months ago, I still had a few inches on Alex, who has since turned 12 and last week informed me that he and I are now exactly the same height.
With two six-foot parents, I guess I shouldn’t be shocked at his swift ascension, and probably by the next visit, I’ll relive that teenage moment when my rapidly growing “baby” boy Ry reached down to pat me on the head.
It will be right up there with another deja vu musical moment that’s already here: Alex, like his rockin’ prodigy dad, has formed his first junior high band.
And I have the pictures to prove it: three members of the Duct Tape Bandits, clearly ready for their album cover close-ups, stare at me from a scenic autumn Idaho landscape.
It seems like only yesterday that Ryan was attracting a motley crew of young musicians and fans for after-school jam sessions, then rotating through a bunch of Pacific Northwest “Lego” band affiliations that were ever changing and involved performances with many groups whose names I cannot use in a family newspaper. Finally, he was recruited by the Sweaty Nipples, a group that lasted more than a decade, got a contract with a major label, landed on regular MTV rotation, went on a couple of national tours, recorded some major riffs for Nintendo and other major advertisers and even landed a Grammy nomination.
I don’t know if science has officially identified the DNA markers yet, but there is no doubt in my mind that music, and various other kinds of artistic creativity are passed down through the generations.
And that includes what is know in our tribe as the family “congenital defect:” a passion and propensity for writing.
I was about 6 when I settled in behind my dad’s ancient Smith Corona and taught myself to type, which brought an immediate response from my parents.
“Look, Doris, she’s taken up the family instrument,” Dad crowed.
Dad was an enthusiastic poet and essayist, though he made his living as an aircraft engineer and most of his poems were about flying or fishing, as I recall.
But the writing gene was clearly dominant in our generation. My big sister just retired after nearly 50 years as a reporter and erstwhile editor and publisher. My brother was a sports reporter who defected to the legal profession, but after retirement has produced some award-winning short stories.
As the middle child, I tried to carry on the legacy of both literary Dad and musical Mom, a talented pianist who played with a dance band in college.
Unlike my sibs, I sang in chorus and played in school bands and picked up the guitar in college. I composed music for a couple of public service announcements and picked up a co-credit on my high school fight song — for lyrics, not the tune — but it became obvious that in my genetic legacy, words were dominant and music was recessive.
But it’s now clear that I’m a carrier and the dominant musical gene has simply skipped a generation.
It wasn’t until my 40s that I enjoyed the thrill of all-access backstage passes at clubs and music festivals, as I authoritatively dropped my son’s name and was ushered past the fans and groupies to the sweet sound of those four magic words: “She’s with the band.”
Now as the granny of a Duct Tape Bandit, I’m looking forward to a new era of perks and privileges. If you’re looking for an inside track to hot sounds of the new Millennium, just stick close to me.
I’ll get you in. I’m with the band.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com
Change the ways we celebrate
By S. Derrickson Moore
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES — I’ve been dreaming of a minimalist Christmas and a laid-back New Year.
Whatever your views on the outcome of a long and exhausting presidential campaign, 2008 has been a very tough year on many levels. There have been a lot of stresses and strains, from national gas price wild rides, rollercoaster stock markets and other global economic and ecological disasters to local changes that include deaths of beloved community members and closures of some of our favorite restaurants, shops and galleries.
In efforts to counter hard economic times, there is a national trend to push the holiday merchandise even earlier and more aggressively this year, and many of us are having trouble getting on board.
It’s hard to get excited about decking your halls when so many of us feel we’ve been thoroughly decked ourselves.
But I think it’s time to celebrate change ... and consider changing the ways we celebrate.
I’m advocating a minimalist holiday in 2008, but I’m all for over-the-top excesses when it comes to singing, learning, being creative and artistic and joining forces to help and share with others.
Even though gas prices now seem to be in a downward spiral, in this frenetic year, many of us will have trouble mustering time, gas or airfare to get over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving ... and many working grandmothers, like me, won’t be able to travel to see the grandkids.
When we’re still embroiled in a conflict that has lasted longer than American involvement in World Wars I or II or our own Civil War, it’s difficult to sing about peace on earth and goodwill toward men.
And that, of course, is exactly why we should. And I’m all for singing. It doesn’t cost a thing but a bit of breath and has the potential to generate good cheer and rejuvenate weary souls. I’m officially encouraging singing at home, at school, in the shower, in the car, at your place of worship, in community groups and at your workplace. Maybe you can learn some traditional holiday songs of different cultures and faiths, if you have an ethnically diverse circle of friends and colleagues ... or especially ... if you don’t.
You can learn about celebrations and customs for everything from Christmas to Hanukkah, Kwansaa and Hajj and Al-Hijira, the Islamic New Year, thanks to the miracle of the Internet, if you’re cybersavy, or if you’re not, consider a little research with friends, libraries and multimedia stores.
Downplay the red and go green this year. Recycle ribbons and wrapping paper, or better yet, make or buy cloth sacks that can be recycled year after year. Or pack gifts in sturdy cloth totes and inexpensive canvas bags that can be used for groceries and other purchases throughout the year, giving a gift to the earth of more trees and less plastic in her landfills.
I also think it’s time to reclassify re-gifting from the category of social faux to socially responsible blessing. And recycle those family heirlooms and consider bequeathing long-admired works of art, jewelry and collectibles to friends and family members who would enjoy them.
When you do purchase gifts, think local. Support both the local economy and ecology by buying things produced close to home.
And at a time when the stock market is iffy at best, it’s hard to beat art as an investment. At the very least, you’ll support a creative artist and you’ll have an energizing and rejuvenating hyacinth for your own soul; something you love to look at or listen to or read that will give you much more pleasure and less stress than trying to keep an eagle eye on your 401-K.
This year, it goes beyond cliché to survival strategy: Remember the true meaning of the season.
Simplify, simplify. And whatever your holiday plans, think homemade, ecological, economical, and do-it-yourself.
In the words of the late, great Tenny Hale, “When you feel most like giving out, give outward.” Ask friends and coworkers if they would be willing to skip gift exchanges and take up a collection to give to a needy child or family.
Instead of big, elaborate parties, consider neighborhood and office potlucks or caroling groups. Or plan a little get-together with tea and cookies or a stroll around the neighborhood with a few close friends or family members.
Which is what the holidays are all about anyway: giving thanks, sharing with others and generating memories and good times with loved ones.
Happy simple, minimalist holidays to you.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES — I’ve been dreaming of a minimalist Christmas and a laid-back New Year.
Whatever your views on the outcome of a long and exhausting presidential campaign, 2008 has been a very tough year on many levels. There have been a lot of stresses and strains, from national gas price wild rides, rollercoaster stock markets and other global economic and ecological disasters to local changes that include deaths of beloved community members and closures of some of our favorite restaurants, shops and galleries.
In efforts to counter hard economic times, there is a national trend to push the holiday merchandise even earlier and more aggressively this year, and many of us are having trouble getting on board.
It’s hard to get excited about decking your halls when so many of us feel we’ve been thoroughly decked ourselves.
But I think it’s time to celebrate change ... and consider changing the ways we celebrate.
I’m advocating a minimalist holiday in 2008, but I’m all for over-the-top excesses when it comes to singing, learning, being creative and artistic and joining forces to help and share with others.
Even though gas prices now seem to be in a downward spiral, in this frenetic year, many of us will have trouble mustering time, gas or airfare to get over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving ... and many working grandmothers, like me, won’t be able to travel to see the grandkids.
When we’re still embroiled in a conflict that has lasted longer than American involvement in World Wars I or II or our own Civil War, it’s difficult to sing about peace on earth and goodwill toward men.
And that, of course, is exactly why we should. And I’m all for singing. It doesn’t cost a thing but a bit of breath and has the potential to generate good cheer and rejuvenate weary souls. I’m officially encouraging singing at home, at school, in the shower, in the car, at your place of worship, in community groups and at your workplace. Maybe you can learn some traditional holiday songs of different cultures and faiths, if you have an ethnically diverse circle of friends and colleagues ... or especially ... if you don’t.
You can learn about celebrations and customs for everything from Christmas to Hanukkah, Kwansaa and Hajj and Al-Hijira, the Islamic New Year, thanks to the miracle of the Internet, if you’re cybersavy, or if you’re not, consider a little research with friends, libraries and multimedia stores.
Downplay the red and go green this year. Recycle ribbons and wrapping paper, or better yet, make or buy cloth sacks that can be recycled year after year. Or pack gifts in sturdy cloth totes and inexpensive canvas bags that can be used for groceries and other purchases throughout the year, giving a gift to the earth of more trees and less plastic in her landfills.
I also think it’s time to reclassify re-gifting from the category of social faux to socially responsible blessing. And recycle those family heirlooms and consider bequeathing long-admired works of art, jewelry and collectibles to friends and family members who would enjoy them.
When you do purchase gifts, think local. Support both the local economy and ecology by buying things produced close to home.
And at a time when the stock market is iffy at best, it’s hard to beat art as an investment. At the very least, you’ll support a creative artist and you’ll have an energizing and rejuvenating hyacinth for your own soul; something you love to look at or listen to or read that will give you much more pleasure and less stress than trying to keep an eagle eye on your 401-K.
This year, it goes beyond cliché to survival strategy: Remember the true meaning of the season.
Simplify, simplify. And whatever your holiday plans, think homemade, ecological, economical, and do-it-yourself.
In the words of the late, great Tenny Hale, “When you feel most like giving out, give outward.” Ask friends and coworkers if they would be willing to skip gift exchanges and take up a collection to give to a needy child or family.
Instead of big, elaborate parties, consider neighborhood and office potlucks or caroling groups. Or plan a little get-together with tea and cookies or a stroll around the neighborhood with a few close friends or family members.
Which is what the holidays are all about anyway: giving thanks, sharing with others and generating memories and good times with loved ones.
Happy simple, minimalist holidays to you.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com
Friday, October 31, 2008
Traditions born in Las Cruces' recent decades
LAS CRUCES — Sometimes I still hear people say that nothing’s happening here and nothing ever changes in Las Cruces.
Those people have not been paying attention. I’m not a native, but I’ve now been here long enough to see the birth of some enduring traditions … celebrations and gatherings so rich and meaningful to many of us that they feel like they’ve been part of our community forever.
But in fact, some of our most cherished celebrations, institutions or events have been in Las Cruces about the same amount of time as I have (this is my 15th autumn here) or less.
A lot of my other favorite things were founded about the same time. The Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference, now one of the world’s largest efforts to preserve and nurture all that mariachi embodies, is celebrating its 15th year in 2008 and so are the Border Book Festival and the Doña Ana Arts Council ArtsHop.
Mesilla’s Dias de los Muertos celebrations on Mesilla’s Plaza, continuing today, are a bit younger though, of course, the roots of Day of the Dead commemorations are much, much older, and are among many ancient Borderland traditions that have been revived and celebrated by groups like the Calavera Coalition and other Las Cruces- and Mesilla-based cultural groups that are uniting the community to commemorate everything from the Gadsden Purchase and Mexican holidays to Christmas plays, pageants and customs that date back centuries.
In the past decade and a half, I’ve seen a lot of these new-old resurrections. The Rio Grande Theatre, identified to me when I first arrived as the state’s oldest adobe theater, was crumbling in 1994, when I got my first glimpse of the Downtown Mall. I talked to many who had fond memories of first movie dates and first balcony kisses there. Now it’s been lovingly restored and houses the Doña Ana Arts Council and a growing number of presentations. It’s the gem of an ongoing revitalization that has built on institutions like the Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market and added the burgeoning Ramble on the first Friday of each month, which now involves 18 venues, including theaters, galleries, museums and an open mic night.
What was once bemoaned as “the graveyard of high hopes” is well on its way to becoming the city’s corazon that so many have envisioned.
Some of our cultural cornerstones were firmly established when I got here and are still thriving and growing stronger.
The Las Cruces Symphony at NMSU was already a hit under the direction of Marianna Gabbi, an international superstar who was the first U.S. woman to conduct major symphonies in both China and what was then the USSR. Jerry Ann Alt was building on a rich legacy of talent in NMSU’s Choral Department, which now has six choirs and vocal groups. NMSU band and jazz and vocal groups, and the symphony under the direction of Lonnie Klein and local high school musical groups have attracted national and international attention in recent years.
Some cultural institutions made the big time decades ago. The Las Cruces Chamber Ballet, generally recognized as the oldest ballet company in New Mexico, still makes regular presentations and is carrying on despite the death of its beloved founder, Michele Self, who with her husband, Kevin, helped field generations of talented dancers, many of whom have gone on to perform in prestigious venues. And the LCCB presentation of “The Nutcracker” (Dec. 18 to 21 at the NMSU Music Recital Hall) continues to be a cherished holiday tradition.
Black Box is relatively new, but the Las Cruces Community Theatre was well established, along with The American Southwest Theater Company, which premiered works by local playwright Mark Medoff, including creations that led to movies, and two trips to Broadway (for “Gila” and “Children of a Lesser God,” which won a Tony Award and, in movie form, garnered Academy Award nominations for Medoff and an Oscar for Marlee Matlin’s performance).
Our movie roots run deep, too, and have blossomed with the advent of NMSU’s Creative Media Institute and Doña Ana Community College’s Film Tech Training Program. At last count, there were more than 20 movies in pre- or post-production in 2008, building what looks like a promising new tradition here, as we make a name for ourselves as Hollywood on the Rio Grande.
As you enjoy some of our thriving traditions this month, like RenFaire, Dia de los Muertos and the Mariachi Conference, think about the volunteers who have made them happen, and the blessings of being part of the community that keeps our rich cultural heritage alive … and fun.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450.
Those people have not been paying attention. I’m not a native, but I’ve now been here long enough to see the birth of some enduring traditions … celebrations and gatherings so rich and meaningful to many of us that they feel like they’ve been part of our community forever.
But in fact, some of our most cherished celebrations, institutions or events have been in Las Cruces about the same amount of time as I have (this is my 15th autumn here) or less.
A lot of my other favorite things were founded about the same time. The Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference, now one of the world’s largest efforts to preserve and nurture all that mariachi embodies, is celebrating its 15th year in 2008 and so are the Border Book Festival and the Doña Ana Arts Council ArtsHop.
Mesilla’s Dias de los Muertos celebrations on Mesilla’s Plaza, continuing today, are a bit younger though, of course, the roots of Day of the Dead commemorations are much, much older, and are among many ancient Borderland traditions that have been revived and celebrated by groups like the Calavera Coalition and other Las Cruces- and Mesilla-based cultural groups that are uniting the community to commemorate everything from the Gadsden Purchase and Mexican holidays to Christmas plays, pageants and customs that date back centuries.
In the past decade and a half, I’ve seen a lot of these new-old resurrections. The Rio Grande Theatre, identified to me when I first arrived as the state’s oldest adobe theater, was crumbling in 1994, when I got my first glimpse of the Downtown Mall. I talked to many who had fond memories of first movie dates and first balcony kisses there. Now it’s been lovingly restored and houses the Doña Ana Arts Council and a growing number of presentations. It’s the gem of an ongoing revitalization that has built on institutions like the Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market and added the burgeoning Ramble on the first Friday of each month, which now involves 18 venues, including theaters, galleries, museums and an open mic night.
What was once bemoaned as “the graveyard of high hopes” is well on its way to becoming the city’s corazon that so many have envisioned.
Some of our cultural cornerstones were firmly established when I got here and are still thriving and growing stronger.
The Las Cruces Symphony at NMSU was already a hit under the direction of Marianna Gabbi, an international superstar who was the first U.S. woman to conduct major symphonies in both China and what was then the USSR. Jerry Ann Alt was building on a rich legacy of talent in NMSU’s Choral Department, which now has six choirs and vocal groups. NMSU band and jazz and vocal groups, and the symphony under the direction of Lonnie Klein and local high school musical groups have attracted national and international attention in recent years.
Some cultural institutions made the big time decades ago. The Las Cruces Chamber Ballet, generally recognized as the oldest ballet company in New Mexico, still makes regular presentations and is carrying on despite the death of its beloved founder, Michele Self, who with her husband, Kevin, helped field generations of talented dancers, many of whom have gone on to perform in prestigious venues. And the LCCB presentation of “The Nutcracker” (Dec. 18 to 21 at the NMSU Music Recital Hall) continues to be a cherished holiday tradition.
Black Box is relatively new, but the Las Cruces Community Theatre was well established, along with The American Southwest Theater Company, which premiered works by local playwright Mark Medoff, including creations that led to movies, and two trips to Broadway (for “Gila” and “Children of a Lesser God,” which won a Tony Award and, in movie form, garnered Academy Award nominations for Medoff and an Oscar for Marlee Matlin’s performance).
Our movie roots run deep, too, and have blossomed with the advent of NMSU’s Creative Media Institute and Doña Ana Community College’s Film Tech Training Program. At last count, there were more than 20 movies in pre- or post-production in 2008, building what looks like a promising new tradition here, as we make a name for ourselves as Hollywood on the Rio Grande.
As you enjoy some of our thriving traditions this month, like RenFaire, Dia de los Muertos and the Mariachi Conference, think about the volunteers who have made them happen, and the blessings of being part of the community that keeps our rich cultural heritage alive … and fun.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450.
We're all in this together
By S. Derrickson Moore
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES — What a surprise if it turns out that it took a global economic crises to finally make us realize we’re all in this together.
A thought for a tough month: True friends and a fiesta spirit will get you though times of no money better than money will get you through times of no fiesta spirit nor true friends.
I woke up after a night of tortured tropical dreams. My first thought in that moment when you realize that reality can be considerably better than one’s dreams: “Gracias a Dios: I’m in Las Cruces, not in Palm Beach.”
I remember hard times in the 1980s and 90s in the capital of arrogance and greed, in a Florida county that was home to some of the wealthiest and poorest people on the planet. I quickly learned that for the very rich, nothing is ever quite enough, even in boom times.
In the enclaves of millionaires and billionaires, were some of the surliest souls I’ve ever encountered, anywhere on the planet. Especially those who had come to the end of what money could buy and found themselves spiritually bankrupt. Morally bereft. And, too often, loaded for bear.
If they were so terminally crabby and anxious in good times, imagine what the watering holes of the rich and famous have been like this fall, with the worst financial news in most of our lifetimes, breaking in regular, relentless tsunami waves.
By contrast, Las Crucens seemed to be in pretty good spirits.
Among my colleagues, it’s generally accepted that none of us went into the new biz to get rich.
As Janis Joplin warbled in “Me and Bobby McGee,” Kris Kristopherson’s immortal ditty: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”
And there is a certain liberation in not having zillions invested in the stock market, which means none of us has lost zillions.
People who have paid off their homes are having a little fiesta of celebration, and those of us who bought homes with mortgages we can still afford are breathing a sigh of relief.
Most of the concern and angst I’ve heard and felt in recent weeks in Las Cruces emanated from people concerned not about themselves , but about others.
It’s a phenomenon I’d already experienced in the most impoverished corners of some of the world’s richest communities. During mild recessions, I’ve listened to millionaires anguish relentlessly about having to give up their Lear jet to economize by flying first class, or cutting out one of their many annual yacht cruises or trips to Europe. At the same time, on the other end of the economic see-saw, I’ve been in the economic trenches with seniors on very limited incomes and single moms trying to support their kids on minimum wage jobs. And I’ve seen them quietly take up collections or anonymously slip a $10 or $20 bill (a lot for someone on minimum wage) into the pocket or locker of a coworker they knew needed help even more.
I’ve seen that sharing spirit in all kinds of places in New Mexico: graceful gifts of food, clothes and folding cash in hard times.
And lately, I’ve noticed something else: a sense that we are all in this together. In a world of wars-to-end-wars that never did, I wonder if a global economic crises could ironically be the thing that finally convinces us that our fates are all inexorably linked.
And maybe, if we can figure out some creative cooperative solutions for the crises over money and credit, things the world seem ready to react to with immediacy, it would go a long way toward convincing us that creativity and cooperation could be concepts to consider for resolving issues of health, and the ecology, to say nothing of religious, ethnic and territorial issues.
Wouldn’t it be something if this money mess finally helped us band together to resolve some of the messes that the lust for material goodies has been getting us into for millenniums? What if the global economic meltdown is what finally makes us realize we are all in this together?
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES — What a surprise if it turns out that it took a global economic crises to finally make us realize we’re all in this together.
A thought for a tough month: True friends and a fiesta spirit will get you though times of no money better than money will get you through times of no fiesta spirit nor true friends.
I woke up after a night of tortured tropical dreams. My first thought in that moment when you realize that reality can be considerably better than one’s dreams: “Gracias a Dios: I’m in Las Cruces, not in Palm Beach.”
I remember hard times in the 1980s and 90s in the capital of arrogance and greed, in a Florida county that was home to some of the wealthiest and poorest people on the planet. I quickly learned that for the very rich, nothing is ever quite enough, even in boom times.
In the enclaves of millionaires and billionaires, were some of the surliest souls I’ve ever encountered, anywhere on the planet. Especially those who had come to the end of what money could buy and found themselves spiritually bankrupt. Morally bereft. And, too often, loaded for bear.
If they were so terminally crabby and anxious in good times, imagine what the watering holes of the rich and famous have been like this fall, with the worst financial news in most of our lifetimes, breaking in regular, relentless tsunami waves.
By contrast, Las Crucens seemed to be in pretty good spirits.
Among my colleagues, it’s generally accepted that none of us went into the new biz to get rich.
As Janis Joplin warbled in “Me and Bobby McGee,” Kris Kristopherson’s immortal ditty: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”
And there is a certain liberation in not having zillions invested in the stock market, which means none of us has lost zillions.
People who have paid off their homes are having a little fiesta of celebration, and those of us who bought homes with mortgages we can still afford are breathing a sigh of relief.
Most of the concern and angst I’ve heard and felt in recent weeks in Las Cruces emanated from people concerned not about themselves , but about others.
It’s a phenomenon I’d already experienced in the most impoverished corners of some of the world’s richest communities. During mild recessions, I’ve listened to millionaires anguish relentlessly about having to give up their Lear jet to economize by flying first class, or cutting out one of their many annual yacht cruises or trips to Europe. At the same time, on the other end of the economic see-saw, I’ve been in the economic trenches with seniors on very limited incomes and single moms trying to support their kids on minimum wage jobs. And I’ve seen them quietly take up collections or anonymously slip a $10 or $20 bill (a lot for someone on minimum wage) into the pocket or locker of a coworker they knew needed help even more.
I’ve seen that sharing spirit in all kinds of places in New Mexico: graceful gifts of food, clothes and folding cash in hard times.
And lately, I’ve noticed something else: a sense that we are all in this together. In a world of wars-to-end-wars that never did, I wonder if a global economic crises could ironically be the thing that finally convinces us that our fates are all inexorably linked.
And maybe, if we can figure out some creative cooperative solutions for the crises over money and credit, things the world seem ready to react to with immediacy, it would go a long way toward convincing us that creativity and cooperation could be concepts to consider for resolving issues of health, and the ecology, to say nothing of religious, ethnic and territorial issues.
Wouldn’t it be something if this money mess finally helped us band together to resolve some of the messes that the lust for material goodies has been getting us into for millenniums? What if the global economic meltdown is what finally makes us realize we are all in this together?
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
