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I really like this thread! So thanks to all for sharing a bit of yourselves and I hope more people post about “their place.” Mine, to the surprise of absolutely no one….is way too long.
But anyway…I lived in lots of places but for the past year and half I’ve been in Albuquerque, New Mexico. People sometimes shorten it to ABQ or call themselves Burquenos. It’s a city divided into quadrants. North is Colorado and south is Mexico. The Sandia Mountain range is 10,000 feet high and runs along the east side with the city sitting in its foothills. The Rio Grande River, surrounded by a bosque, separates east from west. I live across from the Sandias on the west mesa, a 5,000 foot high area of dormant volcanos, lava rocks, ancient petroglyphs, canyons and coyotes. Sounds nice and wild but really…it’s the burbs.
ABQ is mostly suburban sprawl and construction is non-stop. Our realtor told us that they’ll keep building until they run out of land, or water. Water in fact, is a big and complicated issue and one I don’t fully understand yet, but it’s somehow a clash of new growth vs. traditional farming. There are cultural “attractions” of the usual sort, restaurants are mostly the chain-variety type, the churches are in strip malls, and it seems there’s a dentist, nail salon and car service on every corner. Like any city, it has its industrial ugliness and dangerous areas along the outskirts, and problems like homelessness, fentanyl, and crime. But by far, the VERY worst thing about living here is the drivers and my whining about THAT would take us to eternity and back. Trust me, it sucks.
It’s got a very diverse population which will reach 1 million this year, making it the most congested spot in the state. No doubt, we have our fair share of wackos and aholes. But the other “normals” seem to be hard-working, blue collar, salt-of the-earth types who have an accepting “live and let live” philosophy. The cost of living is relatively cheap, the weather is great, amenities are abundant, and healthcare is…adequate. The nicest surprise though, is to discover all the open spaces and trails and when you’re in them, it’s hard to believe you’re even in a city. They are nice and needed escapes.
I’m too lazy to dig up more pictures and besides, what can I say about the place that you haven’t already seen on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul? (Ha, that seems to be its own little cottage industry.) I could show pics of the dramatic sky, or the sunset pink mountains, the muddy Rio, the cottonwoods in the bosque, the buffalo herd in the foothills, acequias and arroyos, tumbleweeds and cholla, the adobes in Old Town, the low riders on Route 66, powwows in the pueblos, the rattlesnake and turquoise museums, breakfast burritos and paletas, the native pottery, chili ristras, lavender fields and lllamas, horses and coyotes, jackrabbits, road runners, lizards and scorpions.
For me (an outsider), everything here is about “the land” - the ancient geology that contains western traditions and a rich history. Today it still seems tough and rough laid over this underlying tension of “how will I ever survive?” (In other words, it’s not exactly relaxing and serene). I think it will either burrow into your soul and entrap you forever, or send you off running for the hills. So far, I’m ((
)) so sometimes I’ll use the “Albuquerque” video below as a…lure. Because the singer grew up here but then moved away, she still seems to carry some nostalgic and sweet memories. Whenever I come across a point of view from a loving insider, it gives me hope that ABQ+ME might turn out okay in the end.
The End!
Albuquerque
Okay, this is pretty good, too. Lowriders…