Celebrating the Silver

Yesterday the Chiricahua Gallery in Rodeo, New Mexico, opened its holiday show. We've come to the 25th year––the silver anniversary––of our art guild's founding. We've been around for a quarter of the time that Arizona has been a state!

The gallery is a not-for-profit cooperative of local artists and our supporters within the community.

We interpret "art" broadly, as is fitting. The guild includes painters, sculptors, woodworkers, masters of needlecraft, workers in glass and ceramics, writers, poets, metalcrafters, jelly-makers, crafters of soaps and lotions and candles, photographers, jewelers, weavers, printmakers, a calligrapher.... The gallery nurtures the creative ferment of our Borderlands community, offers workshops, encourages art for kids, gives scholarships to aspiring artists who graduate from our two local (and tiny!) high schools.

The Chiricahua Gallery in Rodeo, New Mexico: Looking through into the craft room, beyond a wall showcasing Jean Bohlender's paintings, mosaic tables by Dan Reheurek, and a vase by Mike Garino. 

(Photos by Narca)

Yesterday's festivities were enhanced by good conversation over cake and punch. We heard a few tales of the early days, when a local lawyer insisted that a bunch of women opening a gallery in Rodeo wouldn't last the year. (Ah, the value of a challenge!)

One gorgeous cake!

The gallery building itself is a registered historic landmark, an old adobe with walls two feet thick and hardwood floors. It has enjoyed a long, colorful life as general store, bar-and-brothel, and church.

The historic Chiricahua Gallery in Rodeo

I've often thought of our local group of painters as the Borderlands School. We are constellated around the Chiricahua Gallery, this small outpost at the edge of the art galaxy, and I like to think that we are doing good work.

Once a very close friend remarked that she wanted to live in the Big City, "where all the important decisions are made." I disagreed. I believe that the important decisions are made in the quietest of places, in our hearts. Artists probe those quiet places.

It's an artist's job to explore the texture of our psyche, to grope for fresh symbols that can revitalize our lives and our culture. Art calls us back to ourselves. It can expose what is rotten and celebrate what is wondrous. Artists who dig deeply, tapping the core of human experience, can produce work that burns with potency, that inspires us all.

Our renewal is at stake.

A serene nicho, highlighting Dan's crosses and art bowl, Susan Hill's wonderful scarf (let's see––how many of these have I bought?!), and Doug Julian's exquisite calligraphy.

Next time you are roaming through Cave Creek Canyon to look for Elegant Trogons or Montezuma Quail, stop in at our little art outpost in Rodeo. See what the locals are up to!

Those silvery 25 years have clearly enriched our Borderlands heritage!

Steamin' Along

Ordinarily, if Alan and I chase something it has feathers. This morning we rose early and headed up to the Interstate to watch the Union Pacific's historic steam locomotive No. 844 chug from New Mexico into Arizona. At least "chug" was what I expected, but this train was moving out!

The 844 steam locomotive rolls into Arizona, with mighty billows of steam.

(Photo by Narca)

We chased it for a few miles, as far as San Simon. Drivers along I-10 were mightily impressed, judging by the swerving cars and people pulling over for a better look. We leap-frogged the train at various exits, and recorded the event in this video.

This venerable train is here in celebration of New Mexico's and Arizona's statehood centennials. Today it is headed for Tucson. You can check out its full route at this website. The 844 was the Union Pacific's last steam locomotive. It was designed for pulling passenger trains and today is considered the UP's goodwill ambassador, its 67-year-old "Living Legend."

And, just for Milo (whose interest in trains spurred us to get up before dawn for something without feathers): the UP 844 weighs 907,980 pounds and its engine and tender are 114 feet long. That's a grand old train!

My favorite attribute of a train has always been its whistle... heard at night, under a sky ablaze with stars, in a lonely, desolate sweep of land.

Portaleños Come Home

Overall, the news about the Horseshoe Two Fire is positive. Threat to the Portal area of the Chiricahua Mountains has lessened to the point that residents were allowed to return home this morning. We have all been unloading and unpacking!

Wind has subsided greatly, aiding firefighters today in their efforts to control the conflagration, estimated at this morning's briefing to be 10% contained.

The greatest fire activity now is at the southern perimeter, where fire has crossed south of the road into Horseshoe Canyon. Today's milder winds are predicted to come from the west, a shift in direction, and to gust up to 20 mph at the peaks, a big improvement over the past two days. A concern voiced this morning was that westerly wind could push the southeastern perimeter into grassy lowlands, a very "flashy" fuel type, and create another strong run of fire. Hence, preparations are underway in that area to build fire lines, including back-burning if possible into the oncoming fire, to create a fire line that will hold.

On the western perimeter, fire was rolling downhill into Cave Creek Canyon between Cathedral Rock and Skull Rock, and the fire crew today set out to anchor a fireline between those two sheer cliffs, to prevent (we all hope) further incursion into Cave Creek Canyon.

After this dry winter, the moisture content of both dead and live fuels is very low, and probability of ignition is estimated at 85%. So far about 10,000 acres have burned.

Tonight a formal briefing is scheduled for 6 PM Arizona time at the Rodeo Community Center.

Our friends in Rodeo have really come through, showing great kindness and hospitality to all of us evacuees. Izzy and Ramon Escobar, Izzy's sister, and other Rodeo folk have manned the Rodeo Community Center's evacuation center and cooked all the food given to people who sought refuge from the fire. Izzy said that they never had to ask for any supplies, because donations began to arrive immediately from all over the region, without anyone's asking. The Food Basket, an organization in the Sulphur Springs Valley, provided us with ample food. The American Red Cross provided cots and bedding. And our good friends in Rodeo provided the labor, the organizational skills, and many, many offers of spare beds. Thank you so very much! Those tasty meals and cozy beds kept us going, and your concern and camaraderie met a different kind of need.

Although the threat here at the north end of the fire is now much less, the fire is far from over, and people living in other parts of the Chiricahuas (indeed, in the entire Southwest) may still face the situation we have just come through. And our firefighters are still fighting a very dangerous fire.

Here at the northern perimeter, the bulldozer operator and his crew, who put in the fire line 1/3 mile above our home and the Luckadoo's, did so in the midst of raging fire and high wind. They carefully judged just when the dozer could plow a little further, and then quickly pulled him back whenever gusts of high wind brought a surge of flame too close. This is dangerous work. Only the willingness of these firefighters to put themselves in peril saved our homes. They are continuing to work on this very treacherous Horseshoe Two Fire... and this is just the beginning of what has already been an exceedingly volatile fire season throughout the Southwest.

How can we possibly thank them for what they are willing to do to help other people and to safeguard as much as possible our greatly treasured landscapes like the Chiricahuas, teeming with wildlife?

You will never hear it officially, but the origin of this Horseshoe Two Fire and last year's Horseshoe Fire is identical, near Burro Springs, along a trail frequented by illegal immigrants and drug runners--and only rarely by hikers. So when, exactly, are we going to solve our immigration problems?

Rites of Spring: Lesser Prairie Chicken

Alan, our friend Jim Shiflett, and I have journeyed to southeastern New Mexico near the Texas border to find Lesser Prairie Chickens on their lekking grounds. After checking the lek in daylight, we retreat about a mile and camp on BLM land. The prairie chickens dance at dawn and into the morning, so we'll need to arrive before daybreak to avoid disturbing them.

Jim sets up his tent in a swale between dunes in this intriguing habitat. Rolling sand dunes envelop the Shinnery Oak so that only the topmost branchlets emerge from the sand, leaf out, and bear acorns. The rest of the tree is buried in sand! Today the brown drifts of last season's oak leaves catch in the lee of the dunes. Newly unfolding leaves are velvety; they glow in violet and soft green. Cassin's Sparrows sing in display flight, and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher adorns an oak.

As night falls, rainclouds on the horizon pulse with lightning, while below them twinkles a medley of red lights from an oilfield. Beneath the prairie chickens' thrumming feet are the oil reserves of the Permian Basin.

Before dawn we ease into place, using our car as a blind. Soon we hear the coos and soft clucks of the assembling birds, and dawn reveals about a dozen dancing males and a single female, eyeing the lot, deciding which is the most fit father. They occasionally cast a glance in our direction, but are mostly intent on their urgent spring ritual.

Lesser Prairie Chicken at his lek (Photo by Narca)

If you would like to see prairie chickens on their booming grounds, a very good option is to participate in the annual April High Plains Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival at Milnesand, NM. Local ranchers provide food to participants and open their properties to field trips. It's possible to arrange a room at some of the ranches or to camp in Milnesand. Here's the link:

http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/recreation/prairie_ckn/Festival.html

Be sure to sign up early, because the festival sells out quickly!

Creative Problem Solving in Passer domesticus

OK. Say you're a young female House Sparrow, living at the wind-blown edge of Lordsburg, Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Tumbleweed country... the sort of gritty, lonesome place evoked by a distant train whistle at night. And you're confronted with a problem: specifically, you need a good piece of real estate for building your dream nest.

Ideally, what amenities are you looking for?

√ Protection from predators, such as Ringtails and free-roaming cats
√ People coming and going to discourage the shyer raptors
√ A roof that protects the nest from wind, sleet, rain, and hot sun
√ A little elevation, for the view
√ Dining room immediately below, in the form of a fast-food parking lot
√ Warmer at night than your average shrub
√ Lights at night to attract bugs
√ In the wee hours, the soothing sounds of the aforementioned train whistle and passing rumble of Amtrak
√ Price is right
√ And, along with everything else, love plays a prominent role

Line points to House Sparrow at nest (Photo by Narca)

It's possible that Love's has not applied for a permit for an Additional Dwelling Unit, and if any county in the US cares, that would be Hidalgo County... so mum's the word!

Pure Magic

Frosty morning at Bernardo (Photo by Narca)

Bernardo Wildlife Management Area, north of Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, is attracting huge numbers of Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese and Ross's Geese this winter. Their corn crop is ample, and many thousands of cranes and geese are feasting on the bounty.

Noel Snyder, Tony Donaldson and I arrive early on this very cold morning. Frost envelops the sparkling plants. A trio of Mountain Bluebirds watches our progress along the canal. Temperatures plunged to 12º F last night, and many of the flying cranes have folded their legs, tucking their toes under their belly feathers to warm them. Usually cranes fly with extended legs, and these seemingly legless, truncated birds look odd indeed.

Cold toes (Photo by Narca)

At Bernardo we are able to draw closer to the cranes and geese than at Bosque. Our slow arrival by car stimulates the cranes to dance, perhaps as displacement behavior. They are slightly agitated, slightly nervous, and dancing seems the thing to do in response.

Dancing Sandhill Cranes (Photos by Narca)

Snow and Ross's Geese descend in a blizzard of white, against the wintry New Mexico sky.

Geese over cranes at Bernardo (Photo by Narca)

Bernardo is part of the complex of refuges along the Rio Grande between Socorro and Albuquerque. Much of the area is closed to minimize disturbance to wintering birds, but you can drive the 3.5-mile tour loop. Take exit 175 from I-25, and immediately turn north along the road (314) which parallels the interstate. Within a couple of miles you'll reach the entrance to the tour loop. The habitat here is more agricultural than at Bosque del Apache. Getting so close to these impressive birds is a real treat!