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Teressa Jackson

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Teressa Jackson

  • Teressa Jackson, Artist
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Prehistoric Billboards

November 21, 2016 Teressa Jackson

As magnetic as the pull is to White Sands National Monument, I kept driving past its glimmering granules yesterday. My car ventured past Holloman Air Force Base, around Alamogordo, and north to a land between the San Andres Mountains and the Sacramento Mountains. 

I'm goofy. :-)

Around 600 years ago, the Jornada Mogollon people made the area of Three Rivers Petroglyph Site their home. It is not believed that there are any living descendants of these people, but it is apparent that they lived a rich and vibrant life. It is also clear to me that they were a very intelligent community.

I hiked up the mountain ridge along the trail, but quickly diverged from the beaten path. Unlike many other sites of this type, visitors are allowed to wander and explore throughout the area. 

I spent hours venturing from one place to the next, finding treasure after treasure, imagining what life must have been like in this village and what the Jornada people meant when they inscribed the over 21,000 petroglyphs that cover the landscape at this site. There were circles, animals, faces, patterns, and symbols everywhere and I was playing a great game of hike and seek with them. 

I finally had to force myself to stop and begin the journey back to my car, but not before I made the discovery that some of the most striking creations were on the highest sheer rock faces that look out on the San Andres Mountains. Someone clearly knew what a billboard was long before modern humans came up with the idea. I have to say, I like their version better.

In Locations, My Journey Tags White Sands National Monument, Holloman Air Force Base, Alamogordo, San Andres Mountains, Sacramento Mountains, Jornada, Mogollon, Three Rivers, billboard, hiking, mountains, petroglyph
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Thankful for a November Home

November 2, 2016 Teressa Jackson

Bound for Las Cruces, New Mexico, I was excited to see mountains on the horizon, and couldn't wait to get closer to them. I was also eager to meet the place I will call home for the month of November. 

I'm not really sure how I ended up selecting Las Cruces as my first major stop of this year of reflection and relocation. I suppose that browsing around on Airbnb will take you to some interesting locales. One of my goals has been to spend the majority of my time during this trip in places I have not previously been. Another aspiration is to skip cold winter weather. Last, but not least, I wanted a complete change of scenery. Las Cruces fit all of those criteria.

The drive proved to be as wonderful as I had hoped. The mountains grew in size and quantity as I wound through Ruidoso and Alamogordo. Usually, I would have stopped more to explore at these little outposts, but I was both impatient and tired. My inner explorer needed to recharge her battery. 

White Sands National Monument

The temptation became too much to resist, though, when I reached White Sands National Monument. I had been looking forward to seeing it, and thought it would be nice to have a preview for when I returned. As a holder of an America the Beautiful National Park Pass, it was also a free preview. 

After snapping a few photos and winding my way along the drive plowed into the white gypsum sand, I was back on the road. The Organ Mountains grew larger and more spectacular, and soon I was descending through them into the Mesilla Valley, my new home. 

My house has more room than I could ever need, seeing as my earthly belongings consist of four totes, a suitcase, an art portfolio, and a small SUV. It is comfortable, bright, and has a lovely oasis of a backyard. It will make the perfect spot to paint my impressions of the beautiful places I have seen so far on this journey, and it welcomed me with a spectacular sunset to kick off that inspiration.

In My Journey, Locations Tags Las Cruces, New Mexico, November, Airbnb, Ruidoso, Alamogordo, Organ Mountains, White Sands National Monument, America the Beautiful, Mesilla Valley, minimalism, national park
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