Thursday, August 16, 2012  People and Place  Lots of people have
tried to describe what constitutes the enchantment of New
Mexico, "The Land of Enchantment."  It's a subject I've wrestled
with a few times myself -- not very successfully.  I've driven
out here dozens of times over the years. The first time we came
to New Mexico in 1982 was by driving hell-bent for leather from
California on the way to St. Louis (I had work there.)  There
was a moment and a vision on that drive -- and on every
subsequent one -- that triggered the sense of enchantment: the
cleft between those painted cliffs which I've long called a
Baroque Mesa at the border between Arizona and New Mexico.  This
is kennedymarijuanaseed's video that gives you some idea of the
gasp-worthy visuals at the crossing. (I have some photos, but
they aren't loaded to this computer, so...)  It's breathtaking.
And for me at any rate, the instant we cross over from Arizona
into New Mexico, we are in a different environment. The sky is
different. It's clearer