New Mexico Mercury

Letter from México: Part 2

Daily life in a small Mexican seaside town for a couple of New Mexican expats and easing into the unexpected role of "patrones."

Letter from México: Part 1

A journey to the beautiful western coast of México turns into a second life for a New Mexican couple.

Leaving Albuquerque Behind

Ten years ago we rolled southward down I-25 on our way to retirement in an entirely new culture, and the finest sight of all was Albuquerque in our rear view mirror. That's the way this narrative is supposed to read, is it not? That's the well-trodden script, the one we all know so well, and I violate it at my peril.

Change. That's really what our departure was all about. And Albuquerque, that seductress by the River, was to blame. It's the kind of place that can become too comfortable, because of its beautiful natural setting in a vast land where the imagination can soar, and also because of its deep ugliness as the 'heights' keep spreading outward across lands we once explored as children...