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| Good thing we have sun glasses, these candles are bright. |
Here is part two of our December blog. When we arrived at Elephant Butte, we helped fold paper bags for luminaries whenever we worked at the visitor center. In all, that totaled 4000 bags. On Dec. 8 the volunteers and the rangers on duty got together to put sand and candles in 4000 bags. It took a while, but we finally figured out a system to efficiently put the bags together. In addition to the rangers we had
extra help from the local school kids. After the bags were filled and candles inserted we loaded all of the 4000 bags on trailers and on the floor of the maintenance building. The annual luminary beach walk was on Dec. 10. Roads were plowed along the beach and different groups and businesses from Elephant Butte and Truth or Consequences set up trailers along the beach roads. They decorate the sites, have huge bonfires and pass out all kinds of food and drinks. Most popular was a Mexican soup called posole, which is made with green chiles (of course) and hominy. Delicious! All donations went to Make A Wish Foundation. I'm getting ahead of myself...on Saturday morning we all met up and started to place the 4000 bags out 4 steps apart and in as straight a line as possible.We lined the roads and parking lots in the campground with the 4000 luminaries. We also lined the beach walk and the road coming from town. . This took about three hours and then we all got together again around 4 P.M. to light all 4000 of them. When it was dark with all of the decorations and fires it was beautiful and well worth the work. On Sunday morning we had to go pick them all up. Did I mention there were 4000 of them?
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| Now which one needs that candle? |
All of the night shots were taken by a couple that were camping here. They gave us permission to use these great shots in our blog.
It was a beautiful nite, the sky was clear and we had the most beautiful full moon. We had a great turnout. Most of the male volunteers helped park cars and direct traffic. By the time I had a chance to walk around and enjoy the festivities a lot of the food was already gone but I did manage to get some green chile stew, some kind of Frito burrito, as well as some green chile soup. I didn't go away hungry. Love those green chiles!
These shots were taken at the entrance to the park and at the park office. Did I mention there were 4000 luminaries?
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| Really this is New Mexico not Michigan. |
I know this looks like Michigan but it really is New Mexico. The Friday before Christmas we had a winter storm that covered the whole state. We had heavy snow (6 inches here), high winds and cold temps. The main highways, I-40 east and west, I-25 north and south were closed. We had snow drifts across the roads here in the park. I even managed to get hung up on one but was able to get out by myself thanks to my training from back home. I even had to break down and shovel the snow in front of the door because I was tired of having wet floors.
Well that just about covers December. As you can tell we stayed busy. Holly made "puppy chow" and we gave it to the other volunteers and the rangers and staff for Christmas and it was enjoyed by all. To the right is a picture of our tree, it was a little different having Christmas with just the two of us but it didn't take nearly as long to open the gifts. The best part is that when it is time to take down the tree all I have to do is fold the branches up and slide it back in the box and put it back under the bed. In 2012 New Mexico will celebrate their centennial and will have the road over Elephant Butte Dam open to foot traffic. We have volunteered to help with that on Jan. 7. I should be a big help because I am so knowledgeable about dams and am such a great public speaker. We've been here three months now with three more months to go. We will head home
for a few weeks before we take off again. Hope to see some of you when
we are home. That's it for this month. We wish everyone a Happy New Year and the very best to all.
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