Off To New Mexico (and a birthday!)

So today I start a new travel log. In October of 2025, we decided to take yet another trip to New Mexico. As you know, we’ve made that trip a lot. It’s one of our favorite places in the world.

But this time was going to be different. It was a birthday celebration, and it was going to be special.

Specifically, it was Martha’s birthday. I won’t say which one. Because a gentleman never mentions a Lady’s Age. And because I don’t want her to kill me. I’m sensible that way. And my mama didn’t raise no foolish children. One ugly one, sure. That’s obvious. But not a foolish one.(1)

Anyway, it was an important birthday. It had a zero in it. Always watch out for birthdays with zeros. They’re extra special. And, for a non-observant husband, potentially problematic. As in sleeping on the sofa for six weeks problematic. Not good. And, as I’ve already indicated, I’m no dummy.

About the photos: We have a lot of terrific memories of New Mexico. Following are some shots I’ve taken over the years. First, here’s Martha and her friend/adoptive sister Judy in Albuquerque’s Old Town. Second, here’s a sunset from the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. Third, and finally, a street in Santa Fe.

And it was one of those birthdays that are kind of a major life-marker. I had originally planned to make it very special, indeed. I wanted to take her to Italy. She’s always wanted to go to Italy. We were eying Venice. Or maybe Florence. What can I say? We’re good Renaissance types. And just don’t insult us at cocktail parties. Think Borgia.

Anyway...

But, sigh, things got complicated. And the year I’d set aside to prepare for the trip flew past in a great hurry. And there was politics to consider. (Would air traffic controllers be back to work given the shut down? How would Europeans react to Americans given our current Administration? If there was a recession, could we afford a trip like that?) And we had some medical incidents...both our own, and some belonging to friends.

And, well, the trip to Italy just didn’t happen. Which was disappointing, and I was angry at myself for not making it occur. But, I had a long conversation with Martha on the subject, and she came up with an alternative. She’s a New England girl, and she loves Autumn, with all its leaves, red and gold.

You don’t have much of that sort of thing in Central Texas. Things tend to be green here year-around. Or, if not green, then brown. I’m looking out the window of my little casita at the moment (it is October as I write this), and I see nothing that’s particularly Autumnal. The lawn is greenish, with splotches of tan, and the trees are, indeed, bare...but the leaves fall off them in a steady stream without display. They are all simply brown. They wasted no effort on color.

And it can be warm here, even late in the year. Oh, we’ll get some cold weather in December and after, but not in October. We were still hitting the 90s by the end of that month. It is a terrifying thing to be sweating in October. Somehow it just seems unnatural. Unless you’re in a blast furnace or the Australian outback. Six of one.

We toyed with the idea of going to New England for a vacation, but again, circumstances got in the way. However....

However...

...New Mexico is cool by October, and its trees can put on quite amazing displays. There are tons of Cottonwood trees, for instance. And they’ll go gold with a fury come Fall. Take walk down along the Rio Grande, particularly in the North, and it can be stunning.

We also thought we’d enjoy going someplace a little different this time. We usually go to Albuquerque, and maybe Santa Fe. But, for her birthday, we figured we’d go to those towns...but also Taos, which is a beautiful little city up way north in the state, almost to the Colorado border. For winter sports fans, it is known for both its own ski area, and for its proximity to a number of other such areas -- Angel Fire, Red River, Sipapu, etc. For not-so-sports fans, it has long tradition of arts and artists in residence.(2)

As an aside, Martha and I also have some personal history with Taos...some of it quite good. Some of it involving my mother and father. Some of it involving my son. And I’ll go into that later on.

It is also adjacent to the Taos Pueblo, a fascinating Native American community, as well as a World Heritage Site. It’s been continuously inhabited for at least a thousand years, and probably much longer. Martha has wanted to visit the area for ages, and now it seemed we had a chance.

Cool, foliage, arts, and Pueblos... what else could you ask? Martha made reservations at a couple of hotels and B&Bs, and we expended some of our travel credits on Southwest tickets...and next thing we knew, we were headed down I-35 toward the airport.

So stay tuned. We’ve got some high desert adventures...with cold and low oxygen adventures coming right up.

Until next time.

Footnotes:

1. As should be obvious that I am referring here to my non-identical twin brother, Tazmodious T. Tucker, the well-known Sousaphone Player and three times champion of the Eww Ick Fugly Guy competition. Not me. Of course never me. I’m a handsome young lad. A veritable Adonis. You betcha.

(Okay, none of that’s true. I’m an only child. There’s no Tazmodious. But Martha hates it when I do self-depreciating humor. She gets kinda huffy about it. And God knows, we don’t want no huffs ‘round these parts.)

2. Taos has hosted a long list of painters, writers, and other artists. Think Georgia O’Keefe, R. C. Gorman, Nicolai Fechin (with whom we have a special, albeit indirect connection, more about which later), and Ernest Blumenschein.

Copyright©2026 Michael Jay Tucker

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