weekend notes: the Parkers & Old Mesilla

This weekend we were lucky enough to host our wonderful friends the Parkers for a night. As they traveled from one side of the country to almost the other, they made room for El Paso and we had a great time. It was low-key. A cookout in our backyard: brats, homemade speatzle, beer, cigars. The usual. With yummy strawberry shortcake for dessert. And lots of conversation. We caught up on all of our friends back at Fort Campbell and asked about the latest east coast news.

They'd just driven across TX, and Jim had a long day at work so it was a relatively early night for us. But the next morning we readied ourself for lunch at La Posta in Old Mesilla, NM. And man, were those tacos good. We made the trek and said our goodbyes outside the restaraunt (sniff, sniff) with plans to see them soon.

Then Jim and I decided to follow the music into the town square and were surprised that we had timed our Old Mesilla trip so well. It was a Fiesta Weekend! The trumpets were blaring, the street sellers were peddling, the mariachi band was singing, and the dancers were all over the place.

I was fascinated by this vendor because I've never seen such big or ugly piggy banks. The pig ones in particular. I think the were just glad to escape Mexico without the flu. They all looked so sad there, lined up with that blank stare in their eyes. Kinda creepy, really.

But we didn't leave before Jim could buy this:

It's a luchador mask, of course. Think Nacho Libre. Luckily it didn't come with matching underwear, tights and boots. But for $12 Jim can be happy for a day. And hot. Those things make you sweat!

One last picture of the day. This is our favorite cacti. They are all over the mountains as you hike. When we got here we were amazed at how dead they all looked. And it has the longest thorns I've ever seen. It's called the Crown of Christ because it was once thought to be used long ago to make, you guessed it, Christ's crown on Good Friday. It's very sobering to consider it because the thorns can be up to an inch and a half long. And thick.

But it true dessert fashion, things that look dead spring forth a life from within that is amazing. About a month ago, these cacti grew beautiful bright orange flowers at the tips. Every time we see them we're amazed.

Speaking of amazed, did you notice the growing belly?