Celebrate 100 Years by Opening Your Eyes

The state of New Mexico turns 100 tomorrow, and instead of a big to-do, I’m planning a quiet celebration. Just me, wrapped in my centennial edition Pendleton blanket with a glass of something good and a free evening to reflect on just a few of those 100 years.

If you think that sounds romantic, I agree.

Some people are born in New Mexico and stay forever.

Others leave as soon as they get their first set of car keys and never look back.

And some come here at an impressionable age in a bombed-out Ford van, carrying a set of dishes, a green rocking chair and a cat with no tail. They arrive and find themselves changed forever.

I’m the kid in the rusty van. City-bred and unable to find New Mexico on a map, I was accompanying a boyfriend when I drove through Tijeras Canyon and thought the first signs announcing Albuquerque had to be a joke. City? Where?

It didn’t happen immediately, but I eventually became smitten and I’ve made this place my home for more than a quarter of the state’s 100 years. I go to bed every night happy to be a New Mexican, and I can’t picture waking up anywhere else.

Maybe you love the place, too. Or maybe it’s just your address.

If you’re in the latter category, I’d like to offer a suggestion for this centennial year: Go out and see the state you live in. You might get smitten. You will surely be surprised.

In this 100th birthday year we will no doubt talk a lot about the past. How we started, how we grew, what we’ve done during the century our star has adorned the flag.

We might also ask, who are we today?

The answer is we’re just about everything. And with a tank of gas and a free day or two, you can find that out on your own.

One of the great blessings of my time in New Mexico has been getting paid to roam freely. When I close my eyes and think of good days at work, they often involve my car, the sun, a Diet Coke and miles spinning on the odometer on the way to some far-flung reporting assignment.

Highlights?

Following the long lava dike that leads to the foot of the Shiprock peak in northwestern New Mexico on the Navajo reservation.

Zigzagging from Tucumcari to Clovis through wheat fields on a late summer afternoon.

Driving under a building thunderstorm in the big empty between Springer and Clayton.

The common thread here is drop-dead vistas, the kind that we sometimes forget we’re surrounded by.

The state’s Tourism Department, trying to figure out why a great place like New Mexico ranks in the bottom half of destinations for vacation travelers, conducted some focus groups recently. In the discussion group that featured people who live in Albuquerque, the message was clear: We really don’t know what’s out there, and we rarely act as tourists in our own state.

“It’s dry.” “There’s not a lot of curb appeal.” “We don’t have a Six Flags.” “There’s not enough to do.” Then there was the woman who has lived in Albuquerque since 1985 and said she had only traveled to three other cities in New Mexico — Farmington, Los Alamos and El Paso.

Here’s a secret: El Paso is in Texas.

And there’s more: New Mexico has snowcapped mountains and herds of elk and bighorn sheep. If you’d like your jaw to drop, take a drive to Truchas or into the Valle Vidal.

New Mexico has remnants of prehistoric Indian culture that rival Mesa Verde. If you’d like to walk alone with the spirits instead of in a crowded tour group, lace up your boots and make a trip to Chaco Canyon.

New Mexico has fun small towns with interesting architecture and cold beer. Point your compass toward Silver City, Las Vegas, Hillsboro, Cimarron, Carrizozo, Cerrillos.

New Mexico has hoodoo landscapes. Scare yourself a little and take a walk through the Bisti Badlands, Tent Rocks or the White Mesa spines at the Ojito Wilderness.

New Mexico has amazing art. For a free introduction, drop in on my favorite art collection — the one that fills our state Capitol, the Roundhouse. There’s a little bit of everything, and it’s all good.

Of course, there’s much, much more. Unfold a map, grab your keys and surprise yourself.

It’s easy to get bogged down in a relationship. We all forget to look across the breakfast table and actually see the person eating from the other cereal bowl.

After 100 years, well, there’s a lot to take for granted. In this centennial year, open your eyes and look around. You might fall in love all over again.

UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Leslie Linthicum at 823-3914 or llinthicum@abqjournal.com. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal