The Quarai Ruins

The sky was corn blue, and fluffy white clouds dotted the pretty sky and horizon. An occasional breeze swept past, cooling the back of my neck where sweat was beginning to run down in rivulets because of the heat. Yet it was cooler here, in this part of New Mexico, where my mother and I had decided to visit this hot June day.

We stepped from the car, walking the dirt and stone trail that led to the ruins, which we could see over the surprisingly green vegetation. The red adobe brick stood out brightly, and drew us
in, I could feel myself brimming with excitement. After all, this is part of why I am so proud to be a New Mexican, this wonderful history which surrounds me at every turn.



We had decided to come here to the Quarai Ruins (pronounced Kwai- Rye) partially because is was an easy drive from Albuquerque, and partly because the road home would lead us through the Manzano Mountains, which we wanted to photograph. Located in Punta del Agua, Quarai is part of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.

In 1628 Quarai was a thriving community of American Indian trade when the Spaniard Franciscans arrived in an effort to convert the natives and establish a self-sufficient community. Artifacts from todays ruins suggest the original inhabitants had been living there almost 400 years before the arrival of the Spanish. A large stone Mission, or church, was built and much of it still remains today to be viewed by lucky tourists like myself.



There were few people visiting the ruins when we came by. It was peaceful and lovely, bringing images to mind of what it must have been like as a bustling community so many years ago.




What remains of the ruins are low walls (high enough to stand over your head, but no longer with roofs on them as they once may have had) and trails, an occasional window and the high walls of the mission.



This made me want to go home and do something like this in my garden, bustling with wildflowers and sage it would be lovely.


Natural vegetation creates a feeling of paradise at Quarai.





Can't you image what this place once looked like with the locals living here hundreds of years ago?





If I were to to this again, I would bring a sack or picnic lunch, and more cool drinks, as there were no cafes or snack stands. We became rather hungry all of the sudden and had to leave to find refreshments, though we would have enjoyed a longer stay. However, it was a wonderful afternoon, full of sights and history, good memories and more. Well worth repeating.

You Know You're From New Mexico If...

If you're from New Mexico you've probably seen this list floating around for years. If not you may find some of these items on the list enlightening. :) I find some of them very true for myself, and know many people who would agree with them all.


1. You can correctly pronounce words like Tesuque, Cerrillos, and Pojoaque.

2. You have been told by at least one out-of-state vendor that they are going to charge you extra for international shipping.

3. You know what "T or C" stands for, and where it got that name.

4. You can order your Big Mac with green chile.

5. You buy salsa by the half-gallon.

6. You know what it means when they say it's from Hatch.

7. Your Christmas decorations include "red Chiles, a half-ton of sand and 200 paper bags."

8. Most restaurants you go to begin with "El" or "Los."

9. You price shop for tortillas.

10. You have an extra freezer just for green Chile.

11. You can't control your car on wet pavement.

12. You've had the skull of some kind of animal in your yard or garden as a decoration.

13. You think the biggest perk to running for state legislature is that you could speed legally.

14. You iron your jeans to "dress up".

15. You see boots and a cowboy hat as something totally appropriate to wear to a formal occasion.

16. Your swamp cooler got knocked off your roof by a Dust Devil.

17. Someone from out of state is surprised that you speak English so well.

18. You can actually hear the Taos hum.

19. All your out-of-state friends and relatives ask if they can drink the water when they come to visit.

20. When someone says "Las Vegas" you think of a small New Mexico town in the northeastern part of the state.

21. You iron your jeans to "dress up."

22. Tumbleweeds and various cacti in your yard are not weeds. They are your lawn.

23. Your other vehicle is also a pick-up truck.

24. Your city cousins from out of state come and visit you and don't get it when "going to do something" to you means to go hunting, fishing, hiking and theirs is hanging out at the mall.

25. You spent your 4 years of High School saying you were leaving this hell hole and never coming back; and when you left, you realized that there's no place like New Mexico, and will probably decide to retire back home.

26. You're relieved when the pavement ends because the dirt road has fewer potholes.

27. You see nothing odd when, in the conversations of the people in line around you at the grocery store, every other word of each sentence alternates between Spanish and English.

28. You've seen the bat flight at Carlsbad Caverns and have a t-shirt that says "Bats need friends, too!"

29. You could totally win on Survivor, because you've been doing all that hunting, fishing, hiking survival technique stuff since you were 5 out in your own back yard.

30. You've had Forts out in the desert or forest, which is also your back yard, so to speak.

31. You know what the night sky looks like full of stars and not pollution.

32. You've swam in an arroyo or an acequia..as a child or an ADULT!! LOL!

33. You love the smell of rain in the desert.

34. You know what a horny toad is.

35. You can identify a quail, peacock, coyote, roadrunner, cricket, etc...by the sound they make.

36. You've been to Mexico just to party.

37. Your Walmart sells snow sleds in the summer for the White Sands...but you can hardly find them in the winter.

38. You know that Christmas and weddings would not be the same without biscochitos.

39. You know what bartering is, and how to do it in at least 2 different languages.

40. You've had enchiladas for breakfast.

41. You know they don't skate at the Ice House and the Newsstand doesn't sell newspapers.

42. You expect to pay more if your house is made of mud.

43. A rattlesnake is an occasional hiking hazard. No need to freak out.

44. You think six tons of crushed rock makes a beautiful front lawn.

45. You own or have owned at least one piece of jewelry with turquoise in it.

From the Old to the New

My history means a lot to me. Unlike many people who have a background related to their race or country of origin, and therefore a plethora of cultural traditions and definable ancestors they can trace back and celebrate, my family has so many disappearing ties and broken legacies that what I have is dear to me.

I know some of my family is German, from my mothers maiden name, Snyder, as well as some Irish from the the family member, surname Reid, whom we've traced from County Clair Ireland on her side , and the bit of Mexican we have which is Martinez. On my father's side we have the surnames Couch and Allen, and photos of a great great grandmother who was undoubtedly full Native American.

When I lived in Sicily I was asked what nationality my family was. (American doesn't count to them, they know we are mostly immigrants unless we are Native American.) When I told them I didn't have a definite background, just "a little of this, and little of that" they were all horrified.

I do have stories from both sides of my family, my great grandmother came to the southwest in a covered wagon, and taught in a one room school house when she was young. My father has stories of our family during the civil war. It's all bits and pieces, but I collect them like tiny souvenirs to keep close. Proof of who I am and where I came from.

When I was a young girl in Albuquerque I was friends with a boy named Donny, the son of Lois Duncan who later wrote "I Know What You Did Last Summer". I thought she was the most amazing person I had ever met, and I still find myself sometimes looking back at her in the throes of hero-worship. The one major thing that stuck out for me was that she told me once that every year she had her children make a recording on a cassette talking about who they were and what they wanted to be when they grew up. (This is paraphrasing, it's been a long time since she told me this story.) She planned on giving them the tapes when they grew up so they could see who they'd been as kids, and how they'd changed. I thought that was the most amazing idea ever. A voice- time capsule. Brilliant. I wish I had something like that for myself. I wish I'd made something like that for my children.

Who you are has a great deal of where you came from, and who you've been.

The same can be said for any place. If New Mexico was a person, like me she would have a vast family tree with a ton of family names, cultural influences, great stories and dusty skeletons in the closet. Who we are as a state today is much of who we've been in the past. We are a large, unconventional family with a fantastic history to celebrate. This New Year is more than just a new beginning, it's our 96th birthday in just a few more days. We're growing up and growing older.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the older I get, the more I want to celebrate my past. Whether it is my personal past or the past around me in the place I live. Might be a good time to do some research. ;)