You’ll Be Enchanted by All New Mexico Offers!

New Mexico is The Land of Enchantment.  It earned this nickname because of its scenic beauty and rich history.  New Mexico has beautiful mountains, forests and deserts.  It is home to the largest cave system in the world, the world’s largest white sand desert, and country’s oldest apple orchard.🍎  It was there before the Pilgrims arrived!

New Mexico has the oldest capital city in the United States and the only round capital building in the world.  Home to 23 Tribal Nations and some of the largest international fiestas  ~ New Mexico is a place full of wonders to discover and explore.

Come on!  Let’s check out the landscape.  The Rocky Mountains end in northern New Mexico.  Wheeler Peak rises 13,161 feet into the sky. That’s more than two times as tall as Mount Washington.  Carlsbad Caverns in the southeast is a series of over 119 caves.  One of them, The Big Room, is longer than 10 football fields and over 22 stories high.  The caverns are home to one of the world’s largest bat colonies ~ 350,000 bats!  Imagine the amount of mosquitos they eat every night!

You know what is white and just right for sledding?  The white sands found in the Chihuahuan Desert in White Sands National Park.  Covering over 275 square miles, it is the largest gypsum dune field in the In the past, this desert was once Lake Otero and home to Ancient Camels, American Lions, Ground Sloths, Mammoths and Dire Wolves.  You can see their fossilized track ways in this natural wonder in the southwestern part of the state.

If you want some water fun, head to the middle of the state.  There you’ll find the Rio Grande River.  You can choose any type of rafting trip, from the white water racecourse in Taos Box to a mellow float along the Orilla Verde section.  Enjoy the water birds and eagles, and perhaps you’ll even spot a bighorn sheep looking down on you as you paddle by.

Looking for some history?  The dwellings preserved Bandelier National Monument were once occupied by the ancestors of the present day Pueblo Indians and provide evidence that people have lived there for over 10,000 years.  Nineteen different Pueblo tribes live in New Mexico.  Their world famous adobe homes are multistory buildings made from stone and adobe clay.  Adobe clay is a mixture of water, dirt and straw.  Many of the original Pueblo towns were built right into the sides of cliffs.  They used ladders to climb from one level to another.

The Taos Pueblo is the oldest, continuously inhabited community in North America.  It has been lived in for 1000 years.  Currently ii houses 4,500 residents.  Those who live in the Taos Pueblo, choose to live without running water or electricity as a way to preserve their native culture and beliefs.

Georgia O’Keeffe did much to share the culture of New Mexico with the world as well.  When she died at the age of 98 in Santa Fe, she was considered one of the most influential and famous female artists in American history.  She loved the changing color of New Mexico’s desert landscape. They provided her with endless inspiration.  She painted hills, cliffs and rivers.  She look everywhere for space and color and light.  Cerro Pedernal in the Jemez Mountains was one of her favorite things to paint.  She said, “It’s my private mountain.  It belongs to me.  God told me if I painted it enough, I could have it.”

New Mexico is a state full of unique and amazing fiestas.  Travel to Lovington for the World’s Greatest Lizard Race.  Only lizard owners 16 and younger can enter.  From there go to Albuquerque to the world’s largest international hot air balloon fiesta. In this 9-day festival, over 1000 balloons representing fifty different countries take to the sky flying at around 12,000 feet in the air.  From there head the Fiestas de Santa Fe, an annual celebration for the past 300 years.  It opens with the burning of Zozobra – Old Man Gloom – that symbolizes the elimination of worries and problems for all in attendance.  Once the statue is gone, the fiesta begins full of mariachi performances, a children’s pet parade and a mass at the local cathedral.  And lastly, why not go to The Whole Enchilada Fiesta in Las Cruces.  A team of cooks use 750 pounds of ground corn, 175 gallons of vegetable oil, 75 gallons of red chili sauce, 75 pounds of cheese and 50 pounds of chopped onions to create the world’s largest enchilada.  It is so big that the 70,000 visitors to the 3-day fiesta all get a piece! Now that’s an enchilada!

New Mexico is the only state with an Official Question on its state symbol list.  “Red or Green?” is asked anytime you are serve food in New Mexico and refers to the type of sauce you’d like to come with your meal.  New Mexico is the country’s leading producer of chili peppers.  🌶 Over 200 varieties are grown.  Much of the peppers are dried and ground in chili powder used around the world.

Found in the southwestern region of the United States, New Mexico is full of wonders. From Four Corners Navajo Tribal Park in the northwestern corner of the state – the only place your can be in four states at one time  – to Roswell UFO Museum in southeastern corner where you can decide for yourself if aliens crash-landed there New Mexico has something for everyone and a little bit more.  Come and find the enchantment of New Mexico! ☀️🏜⛰

 

 

 

 

 

New Mexico State Symbols – in addition to The Official State Question, New Mexico has 35 state symbols.  Here are some I thought you’d be interested in knowing

  • State Bird – The Greater Roadrunner
  • State Flower – the Yucca
  • State Tree – the Pinon Pine
  • State Mammal – Black Bear
  • State Cookie – Biscochito

 

 

The original bear who inspired the creation of Smokey Bear was saved from a wildfire in New Mexico over 75 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Mystery Character Poem

I am observant, formal, proper and skilled

I love quiet and order.

I dislike messes and inattention to detail.

I feel strongly that manners should be followed by all.

I fear disruptions but know I will cope just fine.

I’d like to see the Reynards happy.

I dream  of vacationing on a tropical island.

But in the end, I’m happy to relax with a nice cup of tea in the kitchen.

Who am I?

 

Gratitude Rock

I chose my rock because it it both bumpy and smooth.  It feels good to rub your fingers over it.  I found it on the beach at Students Island in Mooselookmeguntic Lake in northern Maine.  It is one of my favorite places to camp.

When I look at my rock, I am grateful for an amazing group of students in 3E who are helping me cope with remote learning every day.  I am grateful for the sunrise and the bluing sky.  I am grateful for Maggie and Jim who are just beginning their day. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn and explore new ideas.  I am grateful for the opportunity to try, to help and to do my best.  That and so much more…health and food and parents and families.  The world really is a magical place.

What are you grateful for today?

My First Listening Walk

This morning I sat at my desk to listen as the world started to wake up.  The crickets are loud beside my desk. They “plick-tik-pok”  and then “ruuu”.  Vehicles go by fast “shoooooooshing” cars, louder “ahhhhhhhhhrrrrring” pickup trucks and even louder delivery and logging trucks.  I don’t know how to write their sound.

But the sounds I am most grateful for here on this list are the furnace clicking on and the sound of heat moving through the baseboard and of the refrigerator starting up with a hummmmmm.

I am grateful for electricity that powers my house and keeps me warm and my food fresh.

Morning Gratitude

“Unk – haaaaaa.” The furnace clicks on.

“Pok, pop…tik.” The heat flows through the pipes.

“Ka-hmmmmmmmmm.” The refrigerator hums to life.

“…haaaat.”  The furnace is off for now.

“…mmmmot” The food is cool enough.

I am comfortable and warm.

Happy to have noticed

What is often invisible.

Family

I am grateful for my family.  They are very special to me because they help me in everything I do.  My parents are my heroes.  There is no one I would be more proud to be like than may parents.  They have shown me how to be hardworking, thoughtful and kind.  My sister and my cousins, aunts and uncles are all there for me and me for them through thick and thin.  In a moment they are there to help!

Then there is the my own family of four.  It is amazing how that connects to even more families.  We have fun together and share memories.  We sing and play games and do puzzles and swim and boat and camp and relax together.  Those and the special times.  There are ordinary things too – cleaning the house and cooking my dinner and so many more.  My family fills me with joy and makes me feel at home.

Here are some of the Eaves’ cousins, aunts and uncles, and James.

Sharing A Little Happiness

Here are a few things I share with others to make them happy.

  1. I can give compliments.  That will be easy because I am so impressed by how hard everyone in 3E is working to learn and to stay happy and healthy.  YOU ALL ROCK!
  2. I can call my parents and sister on the phone to check up on them and let them know I care.  I can text my daughters too – for the same reason.
  3. I can share pictures of where I am working and learning. I can post comments on blogs so that people in our class know I am thankful for them.  This a picture of my yard this morning.

 

Here are a few things I have received recently from others that have made me happy.

  1. I gotten lots of pictures of our class.  It really makes me happy to see you when I can’t be with your.
  2. James gave me a picture.  He is learning to write letters and numbers.  I am excited to see what he is excited about learning.
  3. I have received some very kind compliments for students and their families.  They make getting through the remote learning time easier.
  4. Edward wrote an acrostic poem about everyone in our class and our class altogether.  That was awesome.

Here’s one for him –

Extremely creative

Determined to learn

Wonderfully thoughtful

Awesomely athletic

Reaches for the stars

Dedicated to his friends.

Friendship

A friend is someone who likes you for you.  A friend listens and cares.  A friend is kind and trustworthy. A friend makes you happy.  A friend helps you when you need it.  Friends think about you even when you’re not around.  They know what will make you happy or sad, bothered or worried, and they do something about it.

This poem by Langston Hughes is one of my favorites.  It says a lot in a small, quiet way.

Poem by Langston Hughes

“I loved my friend.

He went away from me

There’s nothing more to say

The poem ends,

Soft as it began –

I loved my friend.”

My world is happier when I share it with friends.