Las Cruces & Socorro

La Quinta Inn & Suites Las Cruces Organ Mountains $76.00/night incl taxes.

Smog

Breakfast at Indulgence: Michelle's blintzes were good, my egg and sausage were mediocre. The biscuit was good.

Michelle's enchiladas at El Camino in Soccoro tasted like dog biscuits. My fish "fillet" and burger were about what you'd expect. After 10 years of driving past wondering, I now know. 

We've yet to try Leo's Bakery's doughnuts. Mediocre as it's been, it was filling. 

Best Western: $175.00! It was all that was available during Balloon Fiesta.

Coyote Killing Contests - New Mexico Leads the Nation

FINALLY!!! New Mexico Senator Mark Moores & Representative Jeff Steinborn introduced a bill to outlaw coyote killing contests (more info here). The Southwest Environmental Center (SWEC) in Las Cruces, New Mexico sent a notice prompting the following email to my contacts...

On Sat, Jan 31, 2015 at 1:55 PM, Wahnfried wrote:

My apologies to any of you who may be annoyed by yet another societal entreaty.

Killing contests, contrary to what one might think, have little impact on coyote populations. They ARE however, an obscenity and affront to human dignity. Do you know anyone who would stand and proudly announce their participation in this activity? And the days when wanton killing in the name of sport can be tacitly condoned by the state are long past. 

As you probably know, I've spent much of the last five years travelling throughout the west. It isn't a new activity and in the '80s and early '90s it was common to hear coyotes, especially in the single-digit hours before dawn and again around sunset. Now however, it's a rare treat. Most of the blame can be laid on cattle ranchers and the focused removal of any animal that competes with cattle forage including the billions of mice that are the mainstay of a coyote's diet.

The predations of cattle ranching are far removed from coyote and other wildlife-killing contests, but the contests are often "sold" as a nuisance abatement and public service...for ranchers. Regardless of who or what's to blame for the dawn and dusk silences, this legislation is a no-brainer. And, contrary to the implications in the paragraph that begins "If you live in New Mexico....." I think hearing from you out-of-staters might give them REAL pause for thought.  After all, tourists are a large part of our economy. That said, I find it incredible that we're a leader in contests to kill what is probably our most beloved icon.

Happy New Year!!

MFH

One of the folks I sent the above to wrote back...

If I'm gonna kill something, it'll be something that is causing harm to someone else in the way of life threatening shit... I have killed animals, but it ain't my deal. If something was endangering someone or something I would. 

My father is the "great white hunter". He, in fact, roped a mountain lion and brought it in to town alive to collect on bets, and then killed it for the bounty. I thought it was a big kitty and wanted to pet it.

This is not the same one. There were A LOT of them. Well, it IS my dad. There is only ONE of HIM.

DECADES LATER:

Yeah, that's me and dad with a stinky dead lion.



​
I (MFH) hadn't thought about this for many years, but while looking at the above picture I recognized his grin from my teen years in the South. It was a common sight on (white) peoples' faces as they egged on the police in the race-riots of the '60s. They thought the police were performing a public service.

Update 6:29 p.m.  2/4/15
I pulled this excerpt from an online post about recent developments. “These coyote-calling contests are a management tool,” said Phil Bidegain, a rancher from eastern New Mexico. “I think God did give us dominion over the animals.”

It's not clear if Rancher Bidegain advocates killing coyotes or just calling them. But I, Wahnfried der Nomad, disagree with him. And while I respect his right to his opinion, be it calling or killing, it's time we stopped "letting" God take the responsibility for behavior that the majority of mere mortals deems no longer acceptable.

Remember Horton & the Who's!!


Trap Free New Mexico works to enact legislation banning trapping on public lands. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution in support of their efforts.

Jake Quinones & Black IPA

I had arrived late to the Taos Plateau and was too tired to drive more than a couple miles off the highway on the rough little dirt road. It'd been a peaceful night but here it was, hardly ten a.m. and already TWO cars had gone by. Where were all these people GOING!! So when Jake Quinones, guide and photographer from Las Cruces, pulled over and stopped, I was ambivalent. But, since I was already standing, I figured I'd try and act civil; I walked over and said hello.

When he offered a beer I hesitated. I mean, some people take offense if you're not enthusiastic about their Bud Lite, don'chyaknow? And since I only drink stout...it seemed a risky moment.

Black IPA....a stout by any other name.

  
But I get ahead of myself. I was sitting there with my pants unzipped, belly done-lopped over and no shirt...like a huge frog on its pad, enjoying the morning and thinking about breakfast when I heard the THIRD damn vehicle approaching!! I zipped up and delivered my best military salute as it trundled by. Unlike the others, this one was proceeding at a stately pace. 

Soon, I heard it coming back. Ambivalence, when anticipating company, as prev mentioned, is my usual response, but artists and guides are always welcome. As we talked, the conversation turned to libations and he mentioned a brewing company Michelle Cook had recently discovered. She had tried their Imperial Java Stout and I had agreed it "qualified."

The Existential Dilemma - Photo by Jake Quinones

So when he produced a black can with nothing more than the Zia symbol and the company's name I recognized the provenance. It claims to be an IPA, but that's just fad-pandering: it's a stout. And a good one at that, even in Colorado.

His photographs have been included in numerous publications; most recently in The Most Dangerous Stagecoach Ride in the World: Butterfield Route in the Fall 2015 issue of Overland Journal. At the time, with some awareness of my appearance, I was reluctant to be photographed, but this has since become a favorite.