Life on the Mesa: Northern Exposure. Northern NM, That is . . .

Do you remember that TV series, Northern Exposure, that was popular back in the 1990s? I think it was set somewhere in Alaska, but it could have been some other place in the Pacific Northwest. Anyway, in Northern Exposure, the episodes revolved around a small town where everybody knew everybody, and because it was such a small town, any little incident that occurred was overly dramatized within the minds of the residents. If you've ever lived in a small town, you know first hand that this really happens. Having grown up in a small town, myself, I appreciate every aspect of of that particular lifestyle.

So you can imagine my delight when we moved here. This isn't even really a town. It's considered a village. We don't have a restaurant, or a gas station, though we DO have a Post Office (which also serves as a weaving shop for an, apparently, quite famous local weaver). We probably even have the proverbial "village idiot," though I've yet to decipher who that person is. Oh, and we also have a volunteer Fire Department. No, strike that. We used to have a volunteer Fire Department. The old building still stands--right across the street from our Post Office/Weaving Shop.

Now, I have to relay a story to you, but before I do I have to tell you about the person who relayed it to me--our good friend, Andres. He grew up in Santa Fe, moved away during his years in the military service, got married, and moved back to New Mexico; eventually landing here in our little village about 18 years ago. Picture a tall, Hispanic Groucho Marx. That's Andres. He even does the "eyebrow thing" sometimes when he's talking and feeling particularly animated. It's pretty cool.

So, anyway, as the story goes, once upon a time our little village had a volunteer Fire Department. Keep in mind that New Mexico is the 2nd poorest state in the nation, and our particular county (Rio Arriba) is one of the poorest in the state. Now, you can probably imagine that our Fire Department's official fire truck probably wasn't the newest one around. In actuality, it was quite old and to say that it worked, even intermittently, would be an exaggeration. So, whenever there was a fire, bells would ring and people would come running from all directions to the volunteer Fire Station. They'd roll up the door, run inside, get behind the official Fire Truck, and push start it.

Today it's raining. In fact, it's been raining and/or drizzling for the past few days. The clouds are hanging low, and there's a very slim chance that there will be any fires around here. I'm thankful. Because even though the New & Improved volunteer Fire Department has a functional fire truck, it's about a half hour's drive from here.

So, it's a perfect day for staying inside and doing something creative. I was inspired by Mary Ann's new journal pages, so I decided to get out a book that I picked up at the Los Alamos library recently, and begin altering it. Don't worry. I didn't check it out from the stacks. I bought it for about 25 cents from the book sale room. It's a book on "Flight," and is mostly photos, so it's perfect for altering. Once I get the pages "ready," I might just use it for a journal.