Happy birthday to that blue state bastion of the Southwest, New Mexico

[Recursion]

101 years ago today NM joined the union. The political differences between NM and AZ go way back: in the 1850's NM settlers supported the Wilmot Proviso limiting slavery, and in the 1860's NM was pro-union while AZ was pro-confederate. Oddly enough, the settlement of New Mexico and Arizona was one of the immediate proximate causes of the civil war.

Crescit eundo, land of enchantment!

[NMDemDist2]

1. home sweet (adopted) home n/t

[Voice for Peace]

3. me too.. NM becomes more enchanting the longer I'm here

and the more I learn of her history.

[fizzgig]

2. happy birthday from your neighbor to the north

my only experience with nm was a three day weekend in santa fe back in college and i fell in love.

i love our little island of blue.

[marybourg]

4. Me too. As long as I don't have to actually LIVE there.

[Warpy]

5. Well, land of entrapment

It's kind of a roach motel for snowbirds who still want to see seasons, we move in and never move out again.

You do tend to get spoiled by the arid climate and lack of bugs. Oh, we've got big desert cucarachas and scorpions, but the damage they do is far less than the little east coast German roaches and mosquitoes the size of bombers.

NM has it all over Arizona, IMO, the altitude protecting us from killer heat and a big aquifer meaning we'll have something to drink long after they've gone dry again. The political climate came as a really pleasant surprise, even if the media are mostly right wing. Stubborn desert people are like stubborn New Englanders, they don't like other people making up their minds for them and wingnutism has been a very hard sell.

I suppose I'll be here until I die.

[duhneece]

9. Sadly, 'wingnutism' sells too well in parts of NM

I'm surrounded by a Republican majority here in south central NM, but I love it anyway.

[Warpy]

11. That's true, you're represented by Pearce

a man who wears Velcro sneakers cause he never could figger out how to tie his shoes.

I thought the southern part of the state was a little weird, which is why I don't live there. Of course, you'll start seeing the trees leaf out in mid February. We'll have to wait until the end of March up here.

[duhneece]

16. When he served before, Pearce had the hightest rate of voting w/DeLay

I've confronted him several times about reproductive choice, mostly. Not a good person.

[begin_within]

10. About the scorpions...

Are they a problem for living there? Do they come in the house?
Are there black widow spiders? Or brown widows (which have become common in southern California)
Are there brown recluse spiders?
I'm interested because I may move to New Mexico someday.
Thanks

[Warpy]

12. No, and the sting is about like a wasp sting. They're more a problem

down south and (for some weird reason) on the western side of the Rio Grande. The dangerous bark scorpions live in hotter areas, like the extreme southern edge of NM and much of Arizona. The ones here are pretty harmless, just annoying.

I guess the worst thing I've run into is the Apache spider. They're really beautiful animals, glossy black spiders with a fur coat on the back that ranges from maroon to taxicab yellow. The bite is vicious and painful, but again not dangerous. I'd still rather deal with them than mosquitoes. You only see those suckers near the river.

[begin_within]

17. OK thanks

[madamesilverspurs]

6. Love NM!

Graduated high school in Albuquerque ('66) and went back for a few years in the '70s. Last two class reunions I was soooo frigging lost, it's really grown since way back then. Still love to visit, just don't get to nearly as often as I'd like.

Sidenote: From New Mexico I went to Virginia, where I was asked the rate of currency exchange for those who might want to tour there . . .


-

[oldhippydude]

7. I was asked the rate of currency exchange for those who might want to tour there . . .

that's easy bring money, spend it here.... like it much better now that we elect Democrats!!

[Warpy]

14. An idiot who graduated from Harvard and then Harvard med school

(so he wasn't really stupid) asked me what kind of visa I'd need to move out here.

My corneal transplant was delayed for 24 hours because some ignoramus at the eye bank routed the tissue through San Diego for efficient transit to Mexico.

Lots of people in the US still don't know we're a state.

[oldhippydude]

15. good thing they kept an eye out..

NEW MEXICO magazine years ago had a regular feature "one of our fifty is missing"... dedicated exclusively to that phenomenon

[TwilightGardener]

8. Love New Mexico. Beautiful state.

[pinboy3niner]

13. Makes my mouth water for fry bread and sopaipillas

Happy Birthday, NM!