NELSON'S NOTES #59, Loveland, Colorado, July 21, 2006

Yesterday Bruce asked me, "Was June 2nd the last time you sent Nelson's Notes?!" Yes that's right--I'm late and here's why: I used to do most of my writing on motorhome travel days. This year, however, we've traveled only seven days since we left San Benito on June 12. Now that the reunion is over and our family has all left, I'll try to catch up on my writing. Coming soon (I hope) will be Colorado highlights, including the family reunion.

But first here are some notes about New Mexico. We were there from June 17-23.

DROUGHT

In 2001, when we last visited my cousin Toni in Capitan, the landscape was greener and the air cooler and less dusty. In 2006 the area continues to be in a drought, made more severe by a winter with only 20 inches of snow and no rain for many months. The national forest and Bonito Lake are closed and will continue to be closed all summer. The hills are a blah tan color. Signs about the forest fire danger are posted along the highways, and on all but one day the danger was "Extreme."

CAPITAN

Toni and her husband Don live near the Lincoln mountains in Capitan. Toni loves horses but recently her two horses died, one from the West Nile virus.

Toni hopes to own horses again, but in the meantime she spends time loving other horses and giving them treats.

Notice Toni's straight posture. She says sitting on a saddle while she irons helps her spine.

TAOS PUEBLO

Taos Pueblo is one of many Indian pueblos (communal villages) in New Mexico. U.S. highway 285, the beginning of the main route from Sante Fe to Taos, goes through several pueblos. The ride was unusually interesting and colorful because the highway overpasses were decorated with tribal symbols and sayings.

The Taos Pueblo, home to 350 members of the Tiwa tribe, has been inhabited continually for over 1,000 years. Our guide, Kyle Martinez, was all brown and tan--from her eyes, hair and skin to her shirt and jeans--that is, until she opened her parasol, which was bright green. She used it for protection from the midday sun as she took our group on a tour through the sun-drenched pueblo. Flashing a radiant smile, Kyle told us she lived there until she was 10. Now she's a college student in Albuquerque. After graduation, she'll return to the Pueblo to help her people.

Today's pueblo families live in "apartment" houses, much as their ancestors did 1,000 years ago. There still is no running water--residents carry water in buckets from the nearby Red Willow Creek to their houses. There also is no electricity and the house interiors would be dark were it not for their whitewashed walls and the availability of propane lights. The outside walls are adobe, a mixture of mud and straw. A fresh coating of adobe is added every year, which makes the tan surface look smooth and clean. Because so many layers have built up over the years, the walls are thick and provide excellent insulation against the summer heat and the winter cold.

Today, the houses have front doors but in the past the only way to get into a pueblo house was to climb a ladder and jump in through the roof. The houses were built this way to protect tribal members from their enemies. Another change is the wooden racks in front of the houses. Today they are used as carports but originally they were built to dry game meat, hides and vegetables. The little mounds near the racks are adobe ovens and these are still used today.

Marianna Nelson