Never Google "What to Expect in Your 60's."

I have always loved this old photo of me pushing my older brother, Kirk, in our baby sister's stroller. There is so much going on, plus you have to love the vintage baby carriage. My grandma Sylvia is cradling baby Cathy on her lap.  Grandma always wore a house dress and an apron.  I am betting that Kirk has Cathy's pacifier in his mouth, and the mysterious hand above me probably belonged to my oldest brother, Mike. I've aged a lot since this photo was taken. 

I'll be 60 years old in January. I made the mistake of googling what happens to your body when you turn 60. The first thing that popped up is how my skin will get drier and itchier - is that even possible? I have been battling dry, itchy, skin my entire life, starting when I could reach my legs with my fat little baby fingers. Next I read, "wrinkles, age spots, creases, and bruises will become more noticable." Yup, that's been happening for awhile now. Cray recently gifted me with a beautiful sparkly ring that I fell in love with. Of course, I asked her to take a photo of it on my hand. I had planned to show the ring off on FaceBook, but my hand simply looked too old to me. I have since adjusted my attitude, afterall, I've earned every wrinkle!

My beautiful new handcrafted ring on my almost 60 year old finger. 

I am grateful to be alive and healthy. I accept that I am aging and I realize there are people older than me that wish they were 60 again.  I absolutely subscribe to the belief that age is a state of mind, not a place in time, but I still don't like what is happening to my body... and that's just the honest truth. 

I don't have to like what's happening to my body, but I do need to practice gratitude. I have so much to be grateful for: I'm retired, I have a devoted wife, a loving circle of friends and family, I'm wintering in a warm climate, and I'm having tons of fun doing it. I still have all my teeth, excellent vision - with my glasses, and I can work as hard as I did in my twenties. I've spent the past 30 years improving my character and beautifying my heart...I think that's what's really important. 

Last But Not Least...

I am wrapping up my top ten list with the final two reasons to love Las Cruces.  I am eager to move on to new topics - there are so many new adventures and "Ruby-isms" to blog about.

#6 Murals With a Purpose.

"Art With Heart" is a community project that started in 2020 during the pandemic when a teacher, walking a bike trail, saw disturbing graffiti on a wall that lined the railroad tracks. The teacher contacted the property owner and offered to paint over the graffiti, which is how the project began. Now locals can volunteer to paint their own positive and family friendly mural. It's fun to see the different art styles, and the murals make the dusty desert trail way more interesting.

#7 Farkle.

Of course people play Farkle in Iowa. It's a popular dice game and we've been playing it with family and friends for years. Why is Farkle on my ten 10 list of reasons to love Las Cruces, you ask? Because, not only does Bonnie's good friends, Pam and Nancy, like to play Farkle, they play it better. Yup. I was understandably skeptical at first. I mean you can't change the rules of the game, right? If you don’t play Farkle you can stop reading right here and go pour yourself another cup of coffee. 

The object of Farkle is to score the most points by rolling six dice. To get on the scoreboard you have to score at least 500 points. After that you can stop rolling and claim your points whenever you want, but if you don't roll a 1, 5, or 3 of a kind, you 'Farkle" and lose all the points you've rolled that turn. Once a player reaches 10,000 points, the other players get one more turn. Once that's completed, the player with the highest score wins the game.

What does Pam and Nancy do that has changed the way I'll play Farkle forever? The formula is simple.  They pass on their points and remaining dice to the next player. I know it sounds crazy, but it works. The next player can accept them or reject them. Here is an example: Cray is on the scoreboard. She rolls three pairs for 1500 points. She rolls again and gets three fives for 500 points. She decides to stop and keep her 2000 points, instead of rolling the last three dice and risk a Farkle. I am sitting next to her and it's my turn. I am already on the scoreboard - you have to be on the scoreboard to do this - I can choose to roll her last three dice (or I can decline and roll all six dice as usual). If I roll a 5, 1 or three of a kind, I get her 2000 points PLUS the points I just rolled. If I don't roll a 5, 1 or three of a kind, I lose my turn and I don't get Cray's 2000 points. If I score, I can keep on rolling the dice and racking up the points. The "passing of the points & dice" continues until someone Farkles or declines, and can start up again at any turn. 

Try it and see what you think. 

I've Fallen in Love With Goat Cheese.

#3  Goat cheese.

I've talked about how delicious New Mexico cuisine is in previous posts, but I haven't mentioned "goat cheese." I don't like goat cheese. In fact, I typically hate goat cheese - it's just so "goaty." So, when Bonnie wanted to buy goat cheese at the farmer's market I was skeptical... even when the Luna County goat cheese vendor said it didn't have a strong goat flavor - something to do with using - or not using -  "rennet" and possibly because their goats live blissfully on an organic farm. I really wasn't too interested, but being a good sport, I tasted the cheese. Surprisingly, the goat cheese sample was smooth, nutty, a little salty, with absolutely no tangy, goaty, bitter, goatyness. I fell in love with it! I have since returned to the market to buy more and I plan to freeze some to bring back to Iowa. 

#4 The Organ Mountains. 

The Organ Mountains still surprise me when I look up and see their towering mountain peaks “peeking” over the top of a house, or when I catch a glimpse of them in the distance while driving around Las Cruces. I never get tired of seeing this picturesque rugged backdrop to the city. I have yet to hike on an Organ Mountain trail, as I lack hiking boots and was told they were a must, or maybe I'm just waiting for the rattlesnakes to hibernate for the winter.

#5  Historic Old Mesilla. 

The Mesilla Plaza is a National Historic Landmark located in the heart of Mesilla, a small village on the western edge of Las Cruces. I love exploring the adobe buildings surrounding the plaza that house unique shops. The thick adobe walls were initially built to protect the early settlers from the Apache. So much history! It's cool to roam the streets of old Mesilla where Billy the Kid and Pancho Villa once walked. Mesilla is a popular tourist destination complete with a historic Catholic church - pretty much every small town and city in New Mexico has an old Catholic Church.  We've been to Mesilla many times to shop, eat, and sight-see. Currently, some streets around the plaza are blocked off while Mel Gibson (or Bruce Willis) shoots a film. They may both be there making a movie, or they may be in the same movie - the facts are unclear, either way, Mesilla Plaza is a bustling hub of activity and security right now. 

Our Minnesota bestie, Ellen, watched a program about a famous haunting in old Mesilla, so of course we had to check it out. Turns out there are lots of ghost stories and hauntings associated with old Mesilla (there's been much blood shed there), but the most famous haunting allegedly occurs at the Double Eagle Restaurant, built in 1849 by a wealthy family who owned a import/export business. We stopped by the restaurant to look around, and even though we didn't experience anything remotely creepy - the dark paneled, heavily ornate, antique ladden, Victorian-era former mansion turned restaurant, definitely set the stage for supernatural activity. Google the "Double Eagle Restaurant" to learn more about the hauntings there - it's scary stuff!

There Are Flowers Still Blooming in New Mexico.

The #1 reason to love Las Cruces is THE WEATHER! 

Yes, I realize I skipped from #8 to #1, but I just couldn't wait. I decided to reverse the order of my top 10 list and I can do that, because I'm not getting paid for this, lol. 

I snapped this photo of a bee doing it’s "bee thing" and thought to myself, "I wouldn't be seeing any bees in Iowa right now!" I read that in Las Cruces, the summers are hot and partly cloudy; the winters are short - like from the middle of November to the middle of February - cold and clear, with temperatures ranging from 29 degrees Fahrenheit to 60. On average there are 294 sunny days per year, and Las Cruces may get 2 inches of snow.  That's right, 2 inches of snow per year! It's very dry here year round....that would be hard to get used to. The famous Rio Grande is totally dry. People ride their motorcycles on it. Most yards are sand, rocks, dirt, and prickly weeds, unless they are consistently watered and groomed, which is not the norm. However, there is one yard nearby that is as green as green can be (for a desert anyway) and, of course, Ruby always wants to pee on it. 

I could live with the dryness and lack of  green grass, just to stand in the sunlight and look up at the endless blue skies. Oh, and I just finished hanging laundry outside on the clothesline…I may have gotten a slight sunburn on my bare shoulders. 

The #2 reason to love Las Cruces is the beautiful skies!

The skies are beautiful. Even people who live here full-time text each other and ask, “Have you seen the sky?”  Seriously, if I saw a painting with all the brilliant colors of the sky here, I would think the artist was taking magic mushrooms. The colors are that vivid. 

 

How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways.

There is really only one (giant) reason not to love Las Cruces  - the obvious fact that my family isn't here. Everyday, I experience new things I wish I could share with them... and that longing motivated me to write this blog, so for Heaven's sake they better be reading it! 

There are so many reasons to love Las Cruces and it's hard to list just ten, but I'll try.

Top ten list continued:

#8  The friendliest people live in Las Cruces. I thought Iowans were nice, but people here are even nicer. The lack of snow and ice may have something to do with it, but I think there could be something in the chiles! Or, maybe, it's the prevailing attitude of "Manana" implying "we'll get to it tomorrow." Everyone, is just a little more laid back. Ruby and I met a friendly woman with an obvious accent on a morning walk. I recognized her accent as Dutch right away, because I was once to married to a Dutchman who's family immigrated from The Netherlands in 1952 and had the same "hard G" that sounds like a growl. Her name was Ria and later when asked her last name she said, “Ill have to spell it because it's Dutch.” She had no idea that I grew up near a Dutch community and was immersed in all-things-Dutch for many years. Of course her last name began with "Van." 

Off the topic of friendly people in Las Cruces; sadly my former Dutch mother-in-law just passed away. She loved me from the start - or at least I think she did. Often she would speak in Dutch - she always spoke with a heavy Dutch accent - and sometimes she would look at me and say something in Dutch to a Dutch speaking family member. I may have just been paranoid, but it was definitely a new experience for this 18 year old girl who grew up in small town Iowa. Also, when she immigrated here with her husband, Tunis, their American sponsor couldn't pronounce her Dutch name so he gave her a new one. Guess what he named her? Carrie! Spelled exactly the same as my first name. When she stood in front of the immigration judge he asked her about a middle name. She picked "Kay" after her Aunt Kay who always thought Carrie should have been named after her. She was the original Oma (grandma) Carrie and will be greatly missed by all her knew her. 

Here is a photo of Tunis, Carrie, daughter Micole, and granddaughter Ava. This photo was taken this year at a very special book release. The book includes stories of Carrie and Tunis’s time in The Netherlands during WWII. Both of their families hid Jews from the Nazi’s and secretly transported weapons for the underground resistance. It’s been an honor to know them both and to have called them family. 

Carrie and Tunis Van Walbeek on their wedding day in Baambrugge, Netherlands. You can see all the fresh hope for the future on their faces. 

I’ll return to my top ten list tomorrow, but right now I’m thinking about my past and how the people I’ve met helped shape who I am today. There is no mistaking, I’m a better person for having known this celebrated woman we called Oma.

Top 10 Reasons to Love Las Cruces

There are so many reasons to love Las Cruces.  I know I’ll be adding to the list, but here are my current favorites:

#10  The Farmers & Crafts Market of Las Cruces. I’ve already mailed little gifts to family that I bought at the market. The farmers market takes up about 7 city blocks and has hundreds of vendors, live music, it's pet friendly, and happens year-round!  Stuff you don't find at the Des Moines Farmers Market: agua Frescas (drinks made with fruits, cereals, flowers, or seeds blended with water and sugar), chile-charged foods, biscochitos (little melt in your mouth butter cookies seasoned with sugar, cinnamon, and anise), lots of desert and mountain themed art. chile ristras (chile peppers drying on a twine), fresh locally grown pecans, and people walking their little Chihuahuas. Did I mention the farmers market is open year-round?

#9 People here love their pets! Almost everyone seems to have a dog or a cat here. When I am walking around Bonnie's neighborhood, I see all kinds of dogs in people's fenced yards from little chihuahua mixes to big rottweilers and pit bulls and often one of each. Not to mention Ruby's new besties -  Buster (Bonnie's long haired chihuahua), Paksi (Kaye's Corgi and her senior dog Bandit), and two new dog friends Ruby met on a walk named Wally & Josie that belong to a friendly Dutch woman - but more about that later. There is a walking path along the railroad tracks with fences on both sides. Occasionally, a dog will jump up onto the fence and look over at you when you are walking by. So far no dog has jumped over a fence, but it is a fear of mine!

"To be continued....."        

Ruby Should Have Been a Sheepdog.

Ruby likes to spread Bonnie's basket of dog toys out all over the house.

She may spread her toys all over, but she likes to keep her pack of humans herded together. She hates it when one of us goes outside to do something and leaves her behind in the gated front courtyard. She communicates with very specific sounding barks and her "how dare you go without me bark" is painfully sharp and persistent, similar to her  "there is something under the couch I want" or her "my water bowl is empty" bark, and equally as annoying. 

First thing Monday morning, we loaded the dogs in the truck and took a leisurely country drive to visit a friend of Bonnie's in Santa Teresa, New Mexico about 45 minutes south of Las Cruces. Santa Teresa is a suburb of El Paso, Texas and we ate our Carl's Jr. charbroiled burgers in an El Paso park, while Ruby and Buster stretched their legs (and lifted them).

A stretch of the road canopied by a grove of pecan trees.

The pecan trees create a colorful tunnel. 

This is something you don't see in Iowa!

We stopped by a cotton field so Cray could take photos. Ruby sniffed around and found a good spot to pee. Cray snagged a piece of cotton to examine closer, while Bonnie and I kept a nervous eye on the farmer working nearby, fearing he might come after her for stealing his crop! Bonnie shared that the New Mexico State University in Las Cruces (where she previously taught sign language) has an agricultural research program working to improve cotton production. 

Admittedly, the swiped cotton was pretty cool to dissect.

Rural New Mexico and small town Iowa seem to share similar economic struggles. We passed through small towns with boarded up businesses and empty parking lots, neighborhoods and rural landscapes scattered with pristine houses next to crumbling ones, towns where traditionally built family homes are replaced by more affordable pre-manufactured ones ..... and where the evidence of a poverty is palpable. 

The San Miguel Catholic Church.

Cray got out of the truck on the way back to Las Cruces to take photos of this Catholic church rightly named after the small town where it exist.  The church's Facebook page promotes their "back by popular demand" homemade gordita’s which they appear to sell often as a Parish fundraiser.  Bonnie shared a bite of her gordita with me recently and it tasted amazing. I searched "what is a gordita" and found this: "The gordita - which translates to "chubby one" or "little fat one" - is a pastry made with Masa (cornmeal dough) and stuffed with cheese, meat, or other filling."

Don’t you want to eat a gordita now?

Jousters, Jugglers, Swashbucklers, Dancers, Costume Wearers, Bag Pipers, and Pastrami Sandwich Eaters.

    Posing with a member of the Royal Court.

Saturday we accompanied Bonnie to the 50th Annual Renaissance Arts Faire. She volunteered us to help the Center for Spiritual Living assist the Temple Beth-El to sell giant pastrami on rye sandwiches, kosher hot dogs, dill pickle spears, and chips out of a cardboard castle. We arrived two hours before the doors opened to set up the food stations, hang signage, and arrange the pay & order tables for the booth. Sadly, the inflatable pickle costume failed to inflate and the disappointed pickle lady went home. 

Despite the absence of their beloved mascot, people flocked to buy a pastrami sandwich. We volunteers had a moment of panic when we realized we didn't have any pickles. The Temple Beth-El's seasoned leader, Dave, calmly made a call for a temple member to rush the pickles to the park. Mere minutes before the booth was set to open, someone shouted “the pickles are at the gate” and we all cheered! 

 

Now, that's a lot of pastrami! 

We worked the booth until noon when a new set of volunteers arrived to relieve us. Of course, Bonnie and I conspired to share a pastrami sandwich after smelling the mouth watering aroma for four hours - the sandwich did not disappoint us. Bonnie's neighbor and close friend, Kaye, joined us for a walk around the place. I particularly loved seeing the people wearing traditional medieval costumes, but the most interesting people to see were dressed up like fantasy characters. I saw pirates, wenches, elves, fairies, rogues, warriors, people with animal tails, painted faces, steampunk attire, and a couple young wanna-be-Irishmen teens in kilts and cowboy boots. 

The delicious food and festive music didn’t end at the Renaissance Faire. When Kaye finished her volunteer shift at the pastrami castle, she had us over for her famous vegetable beef barley soup, which I have renamed, "Kaye's magical healing soup, aka, the best soup I've ever eaten." Cray didn't make the dinner party, because she didn't feel well. We brought her home a bowl of soup, which she ate before bed. When she woke up the next morning she was as good as new!

  

Kaye’s dad made these dulcimers. She comes from a musical family and she sings and plays the ukulele, which she did for us that night. Her little dog Bandit howled along to the music and had us all in stitches. 

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Does everyone have a corgi these days? Here I am throwing a ball to Kaye’s corgi named Paksi. 

I brought my ukulele to dinner and Kaye tuned it for me with this cool little guitar tuner called a “Snark.” Then she taught  me a couple cords to practice on my beginners instrument. Kaye has a very grown up ukulele and believe me she knows how to play it!!

Kaye is an amazing cook, musician, and she puts together adult Lego sets like this truck - you can even look under the hood at that engine.

She has a typewriter like this one put together and it looks so real!

The photo of this Lego piano doesn’t do it justice. There is an app that connects to it and plays piano music. Never a dull moment at Kaye’s house!