Commentary: I moved to Las Cruces in summer 2016 and have enjoyed my time here. Sun, mountains, great food, day trip opportunities, this is a great place to live. However, there are things you can only learn about this place by experiencing the joys or frustrations by living here and figuring out the oddities and intricacies of the town. Here are a few observations:
Avoid Lohman between 4:30 a.m. at 9:45 p.m. every day of the week, every week of the year, every year from now till the end of time. You can’t cross traffic pulling out of a store parking lot or strip mall. Ever. Even when you’re turning left at a traffic light, you’ve got to move fast because the light will stay green for 1.53 seconds at most. If you get caught anywhere near Lohman and Telshor around 5 p.m., you will never get out of that traffic. Phone your family, tell them you love them and that they should go on without you; you’re never coming home.
You can get a sunburn in November. It doesn’t help that I need sunscreen SPF1547 to begin with, basically strong enough to stand on the sun, but I need to be far more cognizant of my time outside and how I’m covering up.
Where ever you stand in the city, there are at least three Mexican restaurants within two blocks. Two of the three are delicious. The third? Well …they get a C plus for effort.
You have to learn all street names in triplicate. I don’t think there is a single street, avenue or boulevard in this city that keeps the same name from beginning to end. Why? I don’t know. I’m sure there are some wonderfully bizarre historical reasons, probably involving personal grudges, property or water rights, annexations, Billy the Kid, NMSU and/or we didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.
Dry heat is a wonderful thing. I moved here from a moderately humid state, Kansas. I used to visit Houston a lot; Houston is the most humid place in the universe. New Mexico’s dry heat is a wonderful thing. Granted, I’m an inside worker, and I might have a different opinion were I a farmer, roofer or street paver, but 0% humidity is one of the most wonderful things I’ve ever experienced.
Las Cruces is a city, not a college town. I’ve lived in college towns and one of their hallmarks is that the town empties out overnight when classes end. It’s a wonderful thing. That doesn’t happen here. In cities, traffic and population don’t change with the academic calendar. I came to this realization stuck in traffic on Lohman around 5 p.m.
There are four seasons in Las Cruces: Windy season, Monsoon season, “But It’s A Dry Heat” season and Chile Roasting season. I moved here from a state renowned for wind: Kansas – tornadoes, Dorothy, the whole megillah; so I know wind. The difference between KS wind and NM wind is what is carried in and upon it. Kansas wind carries leaves, newspapers, red-tailed hawks, cottonwood fluff and wicked witches; New Mexico wind carries dirt, dust and desert detritus. I first found this out on a windy spring day when I left my new car’s windows cracked. That will never happen again. I believe Monsoon season is ironically named, that summer days over 100 degrees with dry heat are wonderful, and that the sights, smells and final products from chile roasting season are divine.
Green chile cures everything, is good for soul, spurs creativity and tastes great on almost everything. I haven’t had green chile beer or green chile frozen custard (frankly, they don’t sound too tasty), but I have had green chile meatloaf and green chile lasagna (both an enthusiastic thumbs up). Green chile can add a lot of flavor without overwhelming a dish with the worst flavor of all – hot for the sake of being hot. Green chile has spurred the economy of southern New Mexico for hundreds of years, and if I were a spiritual person I’m sure I’d find a Green Chile deity to worship. I’m also pretty sure that green chile has kept me relatively healthy since my arrival.
I enjoy it here. I just wish these things had been in the visitor brochure when I came down to interview for my job.
Phil Wilke is a recent transplant to Las Cruces, is currently sitting in traffic at Lohman and Telshor, and is a freelance writer. He can be reached at wilkephil@yahoo.com.