Voices of New Mexico, Too

© 2013, 2014 Rio Grande Books

All rights reserved.

Rio Grande Books

Los Ranchos, New Mexico

www.LPDPress.com

Printed in the U.S.A.

Edited by Paul Rhetts and Barbe Awalt

Book design by Paul Rhetts

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information retrieval system, without the permission of the publisher.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data

New Mexico Voices, Too : a project of the New Mexico Book Co-op /

edited by Paul Rhetts, and Barbe Awalt.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-936744-17-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-936744-701- (ebook formats)

1. New Mexico--Civilization. 2. New Mexico--History. 3. New Mexico--Social life and customs. 4. New Mexico--Biography. I. Rhetts, Paul Fisher. II. Awalt, Barbe. III. New Mexico Book Co-op.

Cover illustration: Jan Oliver, janoliver1@msn.com

Contents

Foreword

Beauty

The sky wasn’t the limit . . .

Interview with Barbara Awalt and Paul Rhetts

A Poem

She Paints in Moonlight

We New Mexicans

Our Sandia Mountain

Territorial Governor David Meriwether: An Unpopular Politician

My Dad the New Mexican

An Unlikely Scholar: Elaine Mingus

Heart Rot Trilogy

Chants on a Clear Day

Church Of My Heart:

Clyde Tombaugh: Character of New Mexico

Mystery at Socorro: The Lonnie Zamora Story

buggies and frybread

the old ways

the double-doll

Ancient Dirt of the Ancestors

Bosque Bird Watch

Soliloquy of a New Mexican Sojourner, 1862 -1869

Doña Cora de Wagon Mound

Gregorita Peña and Anselmo Chavez

Noche--- The Horse of Don Diego de Vargas

Silver Rain Dance of the Coyote

Tell her wrong

The Gringa Teacher

Contributors

Foreword

Voices of New Mexico was a certified hit and surprised us all. The book had great sales, a number of events and signings all over New Mexico, and won two awards. It also inspired Silver City literacy leaders to put together Young Voices of Silver City which also will be released this spring.

Volume II of Voices of New Mexico was also inspiring and begged to be published but with a twist. This book is about people: historic, mentors, family members, and even gives our beloved Sandia Mountains with human characteristics and the influence it has over people in the area. People are the spine of New Mexico and one of the reasons we are strong and frankly interesting.

Voices has given writers, especially beginning writers, a chance to put their toe in the whole book process. It also gives established writers a chance to write about a subject that may be a little different from their book projects. Voices has art, photography, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction – something for everyone.

A special thanks goes to cover artist, Jan Oliver. Her paintings make the books very attractive and a must have.

This book is a project of the New Mexico Book Co-op, with the over 1400 members, who are passionate about books. In this time when kids can’t read and people find texting more gratifying that reading a book, we will have to join together to present the important aspects of the book. Reading is fundamental and it gives the reader a view of a different world. This book does just that.

Enjoy Voices of New Mexico, Too. Many of the writers have received awards and the new writers may be the next great voice. A voice is a terrible thing to go without someone to listen.

Barbe Awalt & Paul Rhetts

Founders, New Mexico Book Co-op

Beauty

...finding it in the Santa Fe Farmer’s Market

by Joan Brooks Baker

Who doesn’t love beauty? And, who desn’t want to be in its presence as much as possible ? But what is beauty -- really ?

John Kenneth Galbraith said: There is certainly no absolute standard of beauty. That precisely is what makes its pursuit so interesting.

The Egg shown below in its box of straw, seen at the booth of Skip and Jeff Lynch at The Santa Fe Farmer’s Market, is beautiful. Its shape is perfect - everything we’ve been told it should be. The color is a heavenly blue pastel. It feels delicate in my hand, yet substantial, worthy of the fine hen that produced it. I look at it, I hold it, I put it next to my cheek and then return it to the others, all of the same pedigree, in their nest of straw. I ponder the origin of this egg: I think the mother must have eaten correctly in a nice yard, free of pesticides, full of lovely delicious crawling things. And I sense that Skip and Jeff must care greatly about their brood. Certainly, the presentation of their brood’s product is carefully thought out - beautiful.

Beauty is a simple yet complex idea. We probably use the word with ease at least ten times a day. We turn the corner and say, ah... look, she, he, the landscape, the vase - it is so beautiful, it’s breath-taking. Breath-taking is often what occurs; in fact, when we first see a sight of beauty, we do have an intake of breath, or specifically we gasp...

The verb to gasp has its origins in the Greek word aisthesis which means at root taking in and breathing in - a gasp, that primary aesthetic response. This particular translation goes on to say that the taking in means taking to heart, that we become intimate with what we see because the object shows its heart and reveals its soul....

But to gasp is the response to beauty, not the definition.

People I have asked how do you define beautygave answers that included: balance, essence, real, simple - not perfect, it must sing, it must move you. They frowned with thought and continued: nature is beauty, it comes from the Divine, it has life, it gives a feeling of well-being.

All the answers made sense to me. But I particularly liked: it gives a feeling of well-being. Yes, I said to myself, that’s true...when I walk into the Farmer’s Market, I am connected to the community of farmers. I am allowed in on their secrets; they are sharing their work with me and the results are proudly presented - the beauty of their products is for all of us. There is a sense of fulfillment, of celebration and I am drawn in. I feel a generosity, a desire for me to partake of their work’s results. Here, taste this. I picked these this morning, or let me tell you a story about Chili - if it’s very light in color, that means the grower was too lazy and left too many seeds.

Tables are decorated, displays are thought out - one table’s color, as well as the sellers clothes, is lavender; their product, or course, is the plant lavender. Smells are dizzying. I hear: Do you know the best way to cook these shishitos ? I will tell you, says Matt Romero, with a welcoming grin. Just throw them in olive oil with plenty of garlic and of course, sea salt. That’s it, best thing you’ve ever tasted.

It’s true there is no set standard of beauty, and I agree with the Greek concept mentioned; we do become intimate with what we see. The connection to beauty is personal and the result is often a feeling of inspiration, wonder, even of peacefulness.

I am certainly not always in conscious pursuit of beauty. A few Saturdays ago I was in a hurry, having arrrived at the Market a bit late. I only wanted to grab six ears of corn from the over-flowing bounty of the Schwebach truck, then I wished to run to Stan and Rosemary’s for their earthy shallots and garlic. I had to see Inga and David and gasp at the hibiscus with four huge purple flowers. As much as I knew I should get going, I couldn’t help lingering with my friends, Phil and Ruby, and bask in their warm presence. I ate most of Phil’s sauteed sliced potatoes he had out in a bowl for passers-by. Oh, I wish I hadn’t I made that appointment, I don’t have time. But, I wanted to see Victoria and needed to put her garland of marigolds in my hair. Finally, I made my way through the indoor market and, with a quickened step, looked straight ahead so I wouldn’t be diverted. I was almost out the door when I turned for a last look, and I felt it - I felt elated, I was high, my soul was stirred, I had become intimate with the Market; in fact, my heart was activated and it sang.

Beauty. It has magic.

The sky wasn’t the limit . . .

by Kathy Barco

You gazed at the stars –

discovered a new planet.

And then there were nine.

Clyde Tombaugh – Astronomer

Unidentified?

Not your high flying objects.

Roswell’s Rocket Man.

Robert Goddard – Professor, Rocket Scientist, Inventor

You occupied the

lunar module pilot seat.

Final moon mission.

Harrison Schmitt – Geologist, Astronaut, United States Senator

Three men of science.

Their imaginations soared

way above the Earth.

Interview with Barbara Awalt and Paul Rhetts

by Joanne Bodin

Barbe Awalt and Paul Rhetts are two New Mexicans who have made a huge impact on the writing and publishing community. They are founders of the New Mexico Book Co-op, the New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards, LPD/Rio Grande Books, and Nuevo Books. Their publications have received numerous awards with over 150 titles currently in print, making them the largest independent book publisher in New Mexico. They are also instrumental in bringing the first Southwest Book Fiesta to Albuquerque.

1. What brought you to New Mexico?

We came here in 1990 to attend a friend’s wedding. We looked around and liked it and decided to sell our PR company in Maryland and move to Albuquerque to retire. But once we got to New Mexico, people found out what we did and there was a huge need for PR and marketing since there weren’t many PR people at that time. So we managed the ISE (Ideas in Science & Electronics) Tradeshow at the Convention Center in Albuquerque. It was the biggest electronics trade show the Southwest had ever seen to date. Then in 1994 we published our first book in New Mexico. It was called Charlie Carrillo: Tradition and Soul/Tradición y Alma, about artist, Charles Carrillo. We ended up selling over 7,000 copies, which at that time was considered a huge success.

2. How did you come up with the original idea of a Co-op? Most organizations have a vision to accomplish a certain goal. What is yours for the New Mexico Co-op?

The most driving reason was that other than the New Mexico Book Association in Santa Fe, and the Southwest Writers’ group in Albuquerque, there was not really a venue for authors to meet and talk to one another once they had published a book, or