Out with the old, in with the new

Even though 2012 doesn’t feel any different than 2011, I’ll go ahead and accept that there’s a whole new year up ahead. I’ll do so by throwing plenty of winks in Joe’s direction. Also, I’ve carefully selected one photo for every month of the past year, the year that only just recently was replaced by 2012. Each photo was chosen based on how well it reflects my feelings for the particular month represented, but I am an emotional enigma so it was very difficult to pinpoint just one photo. Most of the stories associated with the pictures can be found by rummaging around this blog for older posts, so I’ve kept the explanations fairly brief. In all, 2011 was a great year with absolutely zero regrets. In fact, if I could keep on reliving it, I would, even the part when we lived in New Mexico.

January

 One of the first things we did after moving to Las Cruces, NM was head out to White Sands, about an hour's drive away. We did this largely because the idea of spending one more day in Las Cruces had become unbearable, and we had only been there for a week. It was a rocky start to the new year, but after exploring some of the surrounding lands we found that a quick and pleasant escape would be waiting for us whenever we needed it. 

February 

While doing laundry one rare afternoon, I was greeted by this unpleasant and very pregnant apache violin spider. Having long feared brown recluses, I knew almost immediately (because of the 3, rather than 4 eyes) that this closely related species was not a spider to mess with. Quickly, with fearful tremolos punctuating through my voice, I called for Joe to come here right now! He, being exactly 24 steps away, took a leisurely 5 minutes to respond, while I stayed in place paralyzed by fear. We killed this unlucky lady, but spent the rest of our time in Las Cruces carefully shaking out every article of clothing before getting dressed each day. Our efforts were rewarded by never receiving a bite, in spite of finding several more spiders during our stay.

March

In early March Joe and I climbed Organ Needle in the Organ mountains (pictured above). These mountains are quite famous in Las Cruces, because they are the only beautiful thing the city has to offer, I suppose. In any event, their steely charm had called to us both immediately upon arrival and we were anxious to get to the peak. We did, but Joe broke his rib in the process. We made it down safely, though it was touch-and-go for a while. This mountain was a beast to climb, even without a sever ailment it would have been difficult getting back down, and I'm still amazed that Joe did it without help or complaint. That's why he's the brave one.

April

This was an especially hard month to sum up in just one picture. By April, Joe had been trapping eagles in Arizona for a couple weeks, so I took all my alone time on the road and explored the southwest. But before I could leave Las Cruces behind I had to make it through two symphony performances-- one with the El Paso Symphony, and the other with the Las Cruces Symphony. Both experiences were incredibly uplifting, both for the musical fulfillment but also because I met tons of very nice people. It was a lot of hard work, particularly with the Sleeping Beauty solo, but equally a lot of fun. I'm so glad I got to play with them, and those two performances made our time in Las Cruces worthwhile-- it was a brief taste of life as a professional harpist.

May

In May Joe and I drove all the way to Mississippi for my grandpa's 80th birthday party. It was well worth it and we got to see a lot of awesome stuff along the way (including the ever elusive aplomado falcon). Introducing Joe to all my Mississippi family members was a big part of the trip, as he became increasingly aware that he was surrounded by republicans. In spite of that, we had such a good time and are ready to go back for more. This picture is the only known documentation of my grandpa smiling-- some people thought it couldn't be done

June

Joe was asked to help teach a raptor workshop in Wisconsin for a week in June. Seizing the opportunity to learn more about birds and see my dear friend Tiffany, I went along with him. Before and after the workshop, I stayed with Tiffany and her family, and had the most magical time. She's an awesome girl, one of the finest on earth.

July

Joe was called off to remote Alaska to do some work with gyrfalcons and golden eagles. I flew up and met him in Anchorage for a few days before he had to go back out to the bush. While he was gone I stayed with his friends in Anchorage and explored the city by bike. It was a great week because I was able to experience so many of the places that Joe had told me about from the time he lived up there. When he returned to Anchorage the two of us went exploring, and one great side trip we took was backpacking through Denali Nat'l Park. We hiked up and over mountains, found a gyrfalcon nest, saw the outline of Mt. McKinley among other exquisite views, and slept near a pair of caribou. It was fantastic.

August

This is from Carlsbad Caverns in eastern New Mexico. Once we knew our time in Las Cruces was up, we took the month of August to see all the nearby places we hadn't yet visited. On that list included the very cool Carlsbad Caverns, complete with the summertime bat exodus.



September

My most vivid recollections of September are of Joe and I endlessly maneuvering between boxes in our new apartment, while getting used to an entirely new work schedule. It was hectic and took adjusting, but by the time September was over we had a few things figured out. The saving grace of that transition was going on hikes every weekend. We found nearby peaks to scramble up, but also took a couple adventure trips in Utah. It was a great way to clear out of our house, which had also become our work place. The trend of hiking every week continued well into November, and I was proud to note that we had climbed 1 mountain every week since moving back to Las Vegas.

October



Joe was away in Texas for two weeks during October.  Party Time! But no, actually, I missed him a lot and was comforted only by knowing that he was having an incredible experience out there befriending peregrines and contributing to science, all in the same pop. While he was gone I spent a lot of extra time working and catching up with friends. The weekend before he came home I took a spectacular solo road trip up north to Great Basin National Park and climbed the highest stand alone mountain in Nevada.

November

In November I was finally allowed into a peregrine's nest. To get there, we simply had to hike to the top of a  mountain, pound in stakes, and rappel to the nest. Getting back up proved to be the hardest part for both of us, as my gangly moose legs kept shooting loose boulders towards Joe's head while I slowly worked my way up to level ground. It was a super cool experience.

December

The entire Christmas experience was nothing short of fantastic this year, starting Christmas Eve when Joe proposed, and ending a full 24 hours later after a morning of presents and an afternoon family football game. Please enjoy the above picture, properly demonstrating the colorful family (plus David Nivens) that Joe has voluntarily decided to join.

I hope your 2011 was excellent, and your 2012 will be even better!

The Sweet Unknown

As a young lass growing up I developed a sort of wanderlust that has never really left. In college, any time I saved up $1000 it soon turned into a plane ticket to Europe.  After college, my interests shifted to our Latin American neighbors (to my poor mother’s anguish—she worried about me hitch-hiking my way into white slavery).  It seems to me that the only cure for restlessness is to keep moving. During the past couple years I’ve spent a little more time getting to know different parts of the U.S., usually in short bursts whenever I could fit them in. One skill I am proud to say I’ve picked up along the way is being able to go an entire vacation without ever paying for a place to sleep. Sometimes it is a matter of waking up and getting out of there early enough not to get caught, but more often it just means finding a free patch of land to pitch a tent.

Lake Roosevelt

Shortly after writing my last post I loaded up my camping gear and took off on a rather scantily planned trip. First stop was the bright-starry-night-sky of the Gila Wilderness where I slept down by the river and picked up two hitch-hikers on my way out. From there it was on to the unrivaled beauty of Lake Roosevelt in Arizona. Oh my, please go if you ever have the chance, it radiates calm. After that I hit up the Arizona Trail for a little backpacking in the Mazaztal Wilderness, another spectacularly beautiful and untouched part of our great American landscape.  Then on to meet Joe where I spent a few days as an eagle trapper.

During my stay with Joe I received an email from the symphony letting me know that the mid-month event I was supposed to play in had been cancelled. With no reason to return to Las Cruces, I didn’t. Woefully lacking in supplies, my solo journey continued into the gorgeous four-corners region where I stared in awe at ancient ruins over and over again. Heading up through Utah, I found my special place in Canyonlands. Across Arches, Capitol Reef, and finishing with a delightful, and crowded, hike in Zion before dropping down to Vegas.  It was certainly refreshing to talk again after so many days and nights of isolation, it was also very refreshing to spend time with friends and family.

Utah, Arizona, Colorado

Louisiana sunset

Joe and I got back to Las Cruces at the end of last month, only to unpack, repack, and leave again a day latter for Mississippi.  Our trip started off during one of Las Cruces’ crappy dust storms. Those things are absolutely crazy and wreak havoc on a driver’s visibility. We made it a couple hours into Texas before calling it quits for the day. Bleh, Texas. Thankfully the dust had settled when we woke up the next day, so onward to Austin we went. A harpist friend of mine from college lives there and recently had a baby, so we dropped in on her and caught up over lunch. It was a nice break from an entire morning of driving through the bleak Texan desert. That night we slept near the fishing docks in a sleepy Louisiana bauyou town; it was wonderful. With amazingly fresh seafood in our bellies for lunch, we spent the next evening walking around New Orleans before arriving at my Grandparents’ house in Mississippi.

You may be asking yourself what occasion would bring a person to ole’ Miss. Fair question. My grandpa turned 80, so his kids (my mom and uncles) put together a great big party for him. It was a lot of fun being down there and visiting with all those funny people that I don’t usually get to see.  And nobody makes me laugh like my grandma. She usually isn’t trying, she just says really funny things.

Typical interaction with my Grandpa

The Clarks

We only stayed for three days because we still had to conquer Texas on our way home. We did, but it wasn’t easy. Before venturing into that behemoth we stopped for a quick dip in the Gulf Coast and some fresh shrimp creole (Mmmm). As a rather grotesque exercise in tolerance, we decided to drive down to the very southern tip of Texas and head west from there. The reason was to try to find a rare falcon that nests on a refuge in the south. We found it, and so help me if we hadn’t. That bird is the only good thing Texas has going for it.

We got back two days ago, tired and cramped from so much sitting. On Monday we are leaving again, this time heading south… far south, out-of-the-country south. But don’t tell my grandma, she’ll worry. We’ll be there for a couple weeks, and it wouldn’t be entirely unlikely for that trip to merge directly into another trip up in Northern Nevada, which will probably lead to a few more weeks in Arizona (all for Joe’s work, I get to tag along because I have nothing else to do).

Living out of a suitcase doesn’t bother me at all; in fact this transient lifestyle makes my heart beat at a regular pace that “real life” just can’t do for me. But there is a downside, and it’s a big one. While away from home I can’t practice, and that is hard. But for the short term, spending time out in the sweet unknown is worth a little stiffness in my fingers, they’ll find their way again soon.  

Animals we met along the way:
Porcupine, alligator, tortoise, owl,
copper head, bull frog, Harris's Hawk, "Speeding Kills Ocelots"

Once upon a Christmas...

This year Joe and I cleverly managed to squeeze out two Christmases from one season. We spent the week leading up to Christmas, including Christmas Eve, with his family in Ohio. On Christmas morning we flew home, defying the gods of time, and bought ourselves three extra hours of day to spend with my family. As far as I can tell it was the perfect way to spend the holidays, but you can be the judge of that:

The Montoyas, not quite privy with camera timers.

The Barnes family, seducing the camera.

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope santa brought you everything you ever wanted!

Congratulations Christopher!

Even though today I am very busy with important things, I can’t overlook an opportunity to commemorate the triumph of family.  What spectacular event might I be referring to? Why, the establishment of the new world, of course! Let me start from the beginning: several years ago my dad’s family moved to the United States from Spain- a beautiful country that boasts an impressive pedigree in the likes of Enrique Iglesias, Pablo Picasso, Javier Bardem… the list goes on. Recently, after months of thorough genealogical digging, my grandma’s brother discovered a direct line from the inimitable Montoya’s to Christopher Columbus himself.  Having this kind of lineage makes me even more important than I already thought I was! Amazing! Enjoy this spectacular legacy; on the following list there are other semi-famous sea men who conquered high tides among rumors of scandal, but by far the most legendary is my 17^th-great-grandfather Christopher Columbus. Here’s to you Papa Columbus.

(Due to personal safety considerations I've omitted the most current generations, including myself, my dad, grandma, and two more generations of my inestimable Spanish ancestors.)

 Antonio Jose Zamora 1797-? (married to Maria Reyes Benavides)
His father Antonio Martin Y Zamora 1755-1816 (married to Maria Margarita
Victoria Vallejos)
His father Juan Thomas Martin Y Zamora 1718-1787 (married to Barbara De
Ribera)
His mother Maria Martin De Zamora 1688-? (husband unkown)
Her father Luis Martin Serrano Miranda died 1701 (married to Maria De La
Vega Y Coca)
His mother Antonia De Miranda 1632-before 1690 (married to Luis Martin
Serrano II, son of the famous Captain Luis Martin Serrano I
    and Catalina De Salazar, daughter of the famous Sebastion Rodriquez De
Salazar)
Her mother Juliana Perez De Bustillo unknown (wife of Blas De Miranda)
Her mother Juana De Zamora De Baca unknown (wife of Captain Simon Perez De
Bustillo)
Her mother Ana Maria De Arellano De Cordova Pacheco Ortiz 1563-1593 (wife
of Captain Cristobal Baca)
Her mother Juana De Toledo Colon De La Cueva Arellano Luna unknown (wife of
Francisco De Pacheco Y Coronado)
Her mother Maria De La Cueva Y Colon died 1600 (wife of Carlos De Luna
Arrellano)
Her mother Juana Colon Y Toledo born 1512-1592 (wife of Luis Carvajal Cueva
Enriquez)
Her father Diego Colon, 1st Duke of Veragua, 2nd Admiral of the Indies
1480-1526 (husband of Maria De oledo Y Rojas)
His father Cristobal Colon aka Christopher Columbus born 1451-1506
(Discoverer of The Americas)
  (married to Felipa Moniz Perestrella)

Sweet Home Mississippi

The best thing about Mississippi is the smell of humidity mixed in with fresh, natural greenery. Mmm- so good. A close second best is my family. I just came back from Sandhill, Mississippi- a delightful village where cell phones don't get service and the nearest small town is 45 minutes away. It was a wonderful trip.

A few of my favorite moments:

Going out with uncle Doug on his motorcycle.

Spending time with cousin Tina.

Seeing everyone I hadn't seen in years.

Watching uncle Doug round up the cows for slaughter.

Going to Dewayne's chicken houses (he raises chickens for KFC).

Talking to my grandma and grandpa every day (except for the morning lectures from my grandpa).

Everything about the trip was great- I loved being in a place surrounded by trees, grass, plants, gardens, ponds; without the noise from cars or construction. It had been almost 5 years since my last visit- entirely too long, but hopefully I'll be able to visit more often in the future... Ah, what a refreshing thought.