The last time we were out hiking, I saw these on a cactus and pointed them out to my kids (who were all complaining about being tired and hungry and thirsty). “Yeah, right Mom. I don’t think so!” So when I saw them on sale at the local grocery, 4 for $1, I couldn’t resist proving my point. They are edible! Butterfly, Jon and Echo loved them and ate theirs up in a matter of seconds. This last one has been waiting on the counter for the big kids but so far, no takers. I guess the need to prove my point is no match for the teenage will. *Although I should mention that when I cut this and took the pictures, Bleu did sneak in for a bite. “Not bad.”

More information on the prickly pear cactus fruit here!

Now that we {finally} have Netflix, I’m watching a lot of movies rather than tv. I’d heard that The Burning Plain was partially filmed in and around Las Cruces so I added it to my queue. The movie was okay, but you should rent it just for the scenery. Seriously, half of the movie is right in my backyard and it shows the area beautifully. The Organ Mountains are in the background as the young actors bond in the desert. You can even see the rocks of La Cueva crouching near the bottom of the screen. There are a lot of views of the desert, creosote adding just a touch of color to the landscape.  It felt like home, maybe because it is!

One scene was shot in the Kmart where I get my medicine. And outside, you could see the Chinese restaurant that Mike and I eat at sometimes. The last time we ate there, I read in the paper that it was shut down for health violations later that afternoon. I didn’t even care. The crab rangoon was that good! Anyway, it was nice to see a little local locale on the screen.  Warning: this is not a kid appropriate movie. There are  some sex scenes, nudity and one instance of self-mutilation (cutting).

One of the great things about New Mexico is that rain and sun aren’t mutually exclusive. Butterfly and I went cloud chasing yesterday, hoping to get a few pictures before the sun went down. By the time we made it to this cloud, the rain was over but it sure was gorgeous while it lasted!

We drove up past the new hospital to take pictures of the sunset without power lines in the way. Butterfly decided that it was too boring because there were NO COLORS. Who likes a black and white sunset anyway? Naturally, as soon as we got home the sky exploded into shades of orange and purple and pink. Even though we missed the color it was nice spending a little alone time with my baby girl.

I wanted this spring break to be special. It is the last time we will have a family vacation with all the kids before Mia goes to college. I thought we would take the kids to Farmington and go fishing. Then Mike had to work so it was me and the kids. Mica and Mikal didn’t want to go north and Mike said they could stay here with grandma. I threw a hissy fit [so unattractive] and demanded that we all go together. In a compromise [because I really did want it to be fun for everyone] I planned a short trip through Southern New Mexico and West Texas before heading to Farmington. Maybe I’m crazy or just naive but I left the house with seven hungry kids in a gas guzzling passenger van with only $500 and no reservations.

Our first stop was Balmorhea, Texas. Not only was it cold and windy, no good for swimming, but the campground was full. We decided to drive to Carlsbad to spend the night. It took forever and we ended up staying in an overpriced hotel. Goodbye hundred dollar bill; it was nice knowing you. We woke up and went to Carlsbad Caverns. Yay! It was so fun. I wish we would have stayed for a bat flight, but the kids were anxious to get on the road. Aliens! A few more hours of driving landed us in Roswell at another overpriced hotel. I was already running out of money, so instead of eating at the super cool McDonald’s that looked like an alien spaceship I bought a loaf of bread and we made sandwiches at the hotel.

The next morning, I woke up early and all the kids were still sleeping. I went to the bathroom and  saw roaches scurrying around the floor of the shower. I started to cry, feeling sorry for myself and my kids and thinking about all the things that I can’t give them. I wish we could fly somewhere exciting and stay at a nice hotel where they could all sleep in a bed and order room service, instead of camping on the floor of a dirty hotel room where they ask us not to turn on the water after ten. I wish I could take them out to a restaurant and let them order what they want instead of counting my money and dividing by eight. Two things off the dollar menu for each of you!

After about two minutes of that crap I stopped, disgusted with myself.  Think about how great my life is compared with millions of people around the world. We got to go on vacation and see things that people pay a lot of money to come and visit. The caverns don’t care what you wear or how much money you have. They are spectacular.  It doesn’t take money to laugh at the absurdity of Roswell, where even the light posts look like aliens. Is the sunset more beautiful if you are wearing designer clothes? We all had pillows and blankets, sleeping indoors with cable and running water. I want my kids to appreciate life and be able to enjoy themselves in any situation.

“When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears.” Anthony Robbins

We ran out of money and came back home to do laundry and regroup. We’ll be driving to Farmington today or tomorrow. In the meantime, check out the pictures of our spring break so far.

Spring Break 2009 on flickr: set | slideshow

Carrizozo, a small town roughly two hours away from Las Cruces, was the location for filming parts of The Book of Eli earlier this month. When I went through town last week, the excitement was over but a lot of the mess remained. A section of town was converted to look like a wasteland for this ‘post-apocalyptic Western, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.’ [LINK] I have to thank my husband for driving a few hours just so his crazy wife could look at a construction site.

two pictures of an abandoned building, layered on top of each other

I took a ride on the ‘old road’ from Las Cruces to Hatch, Highway 185. It takes longer than the freeway but the views are better. With spring right around the corner, I wanted to take one last trip to appreciate the subtle beauty that is the New Mexico winter. Without much vegetation, the landscape is mostly brown and yellow until you get to the orchards. The trees are grey and stark, and the ground tries to blend in as if to avoid an argument. The sky is the star of this show. No clouds, no buildings, no smog… nothing but blue skies like a song you sing when you’re dreaming. Against the backdrop of blue and brown, any spot of color stands out. The yellow road signs, brightly painted houses, an orange barrel. The eye is drawn to them, resting on each one in turn.

I took my old Canonet. There were a few pictures already on the roll, but most of them were taken within the space of an hour as I drove north on 185. I’m still getting used to the viewfinder and often end up with my pictures cut off and the horizon skewed. None of the pictures were anything special on their own. In this case, the sum is greater than its parts. I like looking at the photos as a whole in the order that I took them. You can see which pictures worked and which didn’t. It is also interesting to see my thought process come out. I’ve put all the pictures in a slide show. Enjoy!

See the individual pictures on flickr.