By Karima Alavi
In my last Abiquiu News article, In Search of a Different Path, I indicated that I’ll be writing a series of pieces about Dar al Islam, the mosque and madressah (retreat and educational facility) in Abiquiu, New Mexico. As we all know, a project of that scope has to begin with an idea and a dream. It also helps when different parts of a puzzle fall into place to create a finished picture of what was meant to be.

That takes us to a hot, sunny day in Saudi Arabia in 1979. Two men prayed next to each other at the holy mosque of Makkah before striking up a conversation. Stephen Durkee, who had taken the Islamic name, Nooruddeen, was in Makkah to study Islamic faith and practice. Accompanying him was his fellow student and wife, Noora Issa.

As it turned out, the man praying next to Nooruddeen was a Saudi industrialist by the name of Sahl Kabbani. Nooruddeen mentioned the American Muslims in Santa Fe who held a strong desire to have a mosque to pray in. At the time, local Muslims were holding their Friday prayers in a carpet store near the plaza. Kabbani wanted to offer something back to America in recognition of two things he had received here: a graduate degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and his American wife, a woman to whom he sent a bouquet of flowers every morning since their wedding day.

The conversation moved to the critical subjects of finding a site, and funding the purchase of land, at which point Mr. Kabbani offered to donate the down-payment for whatever property was selected. He would eventually succeed at obtaining enough donations to pay off the land of the first of two purchases, creating the beginning of a debt-free foundation for the many young, enthusiastic Muslims who saw the seeds of their dream taking hold in northern New Mexico. There would be a second purchase of land at a later date.

Nooruddeen was quite familiar with this area. He and his first wife, Barbara, co-founded and lived at the Lama Foundation, an educational and religious retreat center north of Taos, New Mexico. During that time, their friend, Ram Das, returned from his first journey to India where he studied eastern spiritual traditions with a Hindu guru. It was at Lama, that Ram Das wrote his book, eventually titled, Be Here Now. The book was published and distributed with the help of the Durkees, until it was picked up by Random House Publishing who turned it into a classic icon of 1970’s spiritual writing in America.
The Lama Foundation attracted seekers of many faiths. With time it also became a gathering place of newly converted American Muslims who traveled to the center to meet fellow Muslims and study their faith together. Several couples who spent time living at Lama were destined to be part of the force behind the founding and building of Dar al Islam.

By 1980, the time had come for Nooruddeen and his second wife, Noora Issa, to return from their studies in Saudi Arabia and find a site for the Dar al Islam mosque, along with input from other New Mexico Muslims. A realtor led the group to a cattle ranch called Rancho de Abiquiu. When the Muslims from Santa Fe and neighboring towns stood on the mesa overlooking the Chama River and Abiquiu Pueblo, they decided to look no further.  

It was important to the early group of Muslims that the mosque be built at the exact center of the ranch’s mesa. To that end, they divided into two small groups. One remained on the mesa. The other climbed to a ridge that overlooked the site. Through hand signals, flag waving and very loud voices, the sweet spot that seemed to mark the center was selected.

Amidst a gentle wind that carried the scents of chamisa and juniper, one of the men planted a green flag into the ground. Written against the green background were the white lines and curves of Arabic letters proclaiming the Islamic declaration of faith: There is no god but Allah (the One God,) and Muhammad is his prophet.

​The group lined up in a row before prostrating with their foreheads to the ground in gratitude to their Lord. Finally, they had found a new home for their prayers.
 

A Conversation with Hilary Lorenz

BY Jessica Rath

Abiquiú is almost synonymous with Georgia O’Keeffe. Because of her, the area has attracted a steady stream of artists over the years. The annual studio tour just celebrated its thirtieth anniversary, with over fifty participating artists. However, there’s a number of residents with other fascinating interests and occupations: for example, I’ve interviewed paraglider Mario Manzo (a photographer also), or model railroad builder Bob Dolci, or geologist Kirt Kempter.
 
When I heard that Hilary Lorenz is an ultra-marathon runner, I was curious – a WHAT? Is it longer than a normal marathon? Why would anybody want to do this? I must confess that I had never heard of ultra running, so I was eager to learn what this is all about. Hilary (who is also an artist, by the way) kindly agreed to an interview and answered my questions.
 
First of all: yes, it is longer than a marathon run which is 26.2 miles. It can be 50, 100, 200, and more miles. There are also timed events, with participants running for 6, 12, and 24 hours, and even multiday races. But let’s start at the beginning. ​

​Hilary Lorenz was born in Michigan but spent most of her life in New York City, before moving to Abiquiú. As an award-winning print media artist, she was chosen for a residency at the Santa Fe Art Institute in 2005, and fell in love with the mountains while hiking on weekends. A friend suggested that she check out Abiquiú before returning to New York, and just as it happened to so many people who end up here: “I found it incredibly charming. And the landscape just was so unlike anything I had ever seen that I was a bit smitten by it,” she told me. But it took a while before she would move here.

​Hilary continued: “I went back to New York, and about five years later I was training for the Boston Marathon but got a very bad stress fracture and couldn't run that year. Instead, I would fantasize about buying a second home, either in upstate New York or New Mexico, neither of which were really realistic. But then this house came on my radar, and I ended up buying a casita in 2010. I  built a studio here over the next two summers, and came out many summers and worked in my studio and ran. And then I decided to move here in 2021.”

Of course I was curious: how did she get into running? And when did she start?
Hilary started running in sixth grade, she said. They had to run for gym class, and for one of her first runs the whole class had to go around a two mile block.
 
“That wasn’t a big deal,” Hilary told me, “I ran it, came back, and was instantly accused of cheating, because I got back so fast. My teachers wouldn't believe that I ran it so quickly!”
But even at that age she would already run two or three miles  two or three times a day. She was on the track team and on the cross country team, she would run before she went to school, she would run at track practice, and sometimes she ran again later at night. She has run almost her entire life, she never stopped  – how amazing is that!
​
I was guessing – it must make you feel good? Her answer was somewhat surprising.

​“Yes, it definitely feels good, but sometimes when you're racing, it is painful, it is severely painful. But all competition is like that,” Hilary explained.  “I really want to do well and push way beyond my limits. I want to get the best out of myself.”

And  how did she get into marathon running, I asked.
​
“I haven't run a marathon for a few years,” was her answer. “I'm far more interested in running a 50 mile or 100 mile distance. To put it in context, I turned 60 this year. On my birthday, my plan was to run 60 miles.  Then in April, I'm going to compete in California in a 100 kilometer race.  Hopefully I will do well enough to earn a spot in a lottery to get into this other race called Western States.”

I looked this up. From their website: “The run starts in Olympic Valley, California, and ends 100.2 miles later in Auburn, California. The Western States Trail climbs more than 18,000 feet and descends nearly 23,000 feet before runners reach the finish at Placer High School in Auburn.” The map below gives you some idea about the ups and downs of this race.

​Hilary went on: “As part of my birthday celebration I will be running with a group of friends in May. This isn’t a race but an adventure: we’ll run 200 miles across Tajikistan. We're going to start near Afghanistan and run to China and go up into Kazakhstan.”

​“In August, I have a 209 mile run which starts at the northern part of Iceland, running to southern Iceland, and then we'll celebrate in the hot springs afterwards. And then I have one final 100 mile race in New Hampshire. That's how I'm celebrating my birthday. And the really cool thing is that the 100 mile race in New Hampshire is happening on my birthday weekend!”

​This isn’t most people’s first choice for a birthday celebration. How did Hilary get there?

“When I first started running as a kid, I would compete in the mile and two mile race. I never ran short distances. I'm not a sprinter. My first marathon distance was the New York Marathon, and my goal was to run a fast enough qualifying time so that I could run the Boston Marathon. I've run New York a few times, I've run Boston a few times, I've run Chicago, and then a lot of my friends were doing 50 milers. So I ran my first 50 miles, at least 10 years ago, and that was a JFK 50 in Maryland. And it was really fun. It was fun until I felt: this hurts so bad! When I got to the end, it was as if my legs didn't want to work. But an hour later, they were fine, and I was completely happy.”

​“Then I started doing 24 hour races, or timed races. In a timed race you usually have six, nine, sometimes 12 or 24 hours. You pick your number of hours. It's a set course, sometimes it's as short as a mile, sometimes it's twelve miles, sometimes it's 20 miles. My first one was 24 hours, a one mile loop in Crissy Field in San Francisco. And in that year there was a blood red full moon.”

Hilary painted this glorious picture:  “We were running, running, running, and the Golden Gate Bridge is there, the sun starts going down, and  this  enormous moon comes up, and the things that you see and experience during that time –  even now it gives me shivers, because it's so extraordinary. It's this totally transformational process.  It's so beautiful that you don't want to go to sleep, you don't want to stop.”

So there must be a number of other runners who like long distances, I asked.
​
“Yes,  there are many people that run ultra distance,” Hilary replied. “The 100 miles race that I'm going to do in New Hampshire in October, another friend of mine  in New Hampshire is also running. We were texting each other and got on the computer right when it was going to open, so we could sign up. There were so many people trying to sign up to get in the race that the servers crashed! I got kicked out of it twice. I finally got registered, and  within nine minutes, it was completely sold out.”

I ​ wanted to learn more about the 200 miles run from  Afghanistan to Kazakhstan. 

“This isn’t  a race,” Hilary explained. “We'll do probably 30 or 35 miles a day, and take a break and camp in the dirt. We'll be running through a desert and through very rural, uninhabited places. But running 30 miles day after day after day is hard on your body. I would rather just run it continuously, straight through, because then it would probably take around 95 hours, I'm guessing, but I've never run for 95 hours.” 
​
Hilary is also a coach for endurance training and told me how she got into that. “When I was working as a Professor of Art in New York, and while I was teaching, I was looking for something else that I could do, and I decided to take classes at the university. So I got my Masters of Science in Exercise Physiology in between teaching my classes, and shortly thereafter I was working for a coaching company. Next, I started my own coaching company where I do strength training with people. I train runners, most of which have really big goals, whether it's qualifying for the Boston Marathon, getting a sub 3-hour marathon, or running a 100 mile race.”

​“Let’s say someone wants to qualify for Boston and commits to eight or nine months of solid training. Now, imagine a nor’easter rolls in on race day—a tremendous storm. After all that training, you’re not going to give up your run. But if you’ve trained through snow, rain, and tough conditions, you’ll be ready. It’s not fun to run in pouring rain, but preparing in all weather means you won’t be thrown off when race day conditions are less than ideal. It’s all about being ready for anything.”
​
I was curious: what is the average age of runners? And what are the extremes – how old is the youngest,  and the oldest?

Hilary had to look up the youngest, but found it: “There’s a nine-year-old kid from Santa Barbara who ran his first Ultra. Nine years old. But there is a tremendous number of people in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s, and they listed several people  in their 80s who ran the 100 mile race. The most decorated over 80 year old female is 82 year old Erlinda Biondic.” I’m so impressed!
“There's definitely a lot of 20 and 30 year olds who are really strong, but people tend to get better later in their 30s and early in 40s, because they've been running for so much longer.”

HB290, the Vibrant Communities Act has been moved to Monday, February 24 at 8:30 am.
Thank you for reaching out to members of the House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs Committee.  Please reach out to all the representatives from districts where your organization provides services.

If you can show up on Monday, February 24 either in person (Room, 305) or via Zoom that would be terrific!
~ Shel Neymark

​Food Depot

Santa Fe, NM — The Food Depot joins nonprofits across New Mexico in a call to modernize the state’s anti-donation clause. The outdated constitutional provision prevents efficient, trusted community services from directly accessing awarded state funds. The delays or legal barriers have blocked critical projects for food banks, libraries, community centers, mental health organizations, and other essential services.

To access state-awarded funding, The Food Depot, headquartered in Santa Fe, has relied on Santa Fe County to act as its fiscal agent while serving nine counties and more than 80 nonprofit partners. During the pandemic, the county administered the food bank’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. This created extra administrative burdens on the county and a complex web of procurement, contracts, and ownership between the food bank and the county. In 2022, awarded funds through the Governor’s Hunger Initiative were subject to the anti-donation clause. The assets obtained through this grant–a fleet of vehicles and warehouse equipment–remain the property, and uncompensated management burden, of the County.

“The Food Depot is fortunate to have a strong partner in Santa Fe County, a municipality with a clean audit”, said Jill Dixon, Executive Director of The Food Depot. “But for more rural counties, the anti-donation clause, while intended to protect taxpayer dollars, creates disparities from one community to another. Currently, the clause makes it nearly impossible to channel critical funding into rural and frontier areas that lack a municipality to take on the administrative burden.”

Nonprofit organizations in communities without a fiscal agency, and ultimately the people who rely on them, are forced to go without essential services.

In Mora County, Chicanos Por La Causa, an organization operating in 21 counties across New Mexico, has been forced to downsize a planned community outreach hub. The hub, set to provide mental health services, employment services, emergency food, and more, was supported by federal dollars and anticipated state funding. However, because Chicanos Por La Causa does not qualify for state funding without a qualified fiscal sponsor, the project is at risk. The lack of access to awarded state funds is also jeopardizing federal funding, which requires a state match.

“The clause must be modernized so not-for-profit entities that have the ability to obtain federal dollars are not at a disadvantage or placed in a situation where federal dollars are lost due to the inaccessibility of matching funds,” said Joseph Greigo, president of Chicano Por La Causa. “Not-for-profit entities in the state of New Mexico play a pivotal role in providing much needed services not covered by state agencies.”

Across the state, multiple nonprofit partners of The Food Depot have stalled or abandoned projects funded through state funds due to their inability to work directly with the state instead of through an approved municipality.

In Gallup, The Community Pantry and the City of Grants have struggled to move forward with a strategic expansion to the food bank despite securing funding having been awarded by the State of New Mexico. The management of procurement and lease agreements places an uncompensated administrative burden on the City for maintenance of additional equipment and property. Over two years later, the new location is set to open within the next few months. In the interim, critical food security services have been delayed.

“For nonprofits, the inability to operate without constraints and use funds as they were intended is essentially prohibited,” said Alice Perez, Executive Director of The Community Pantry. “Instead of allowing the awarded organization to use funds aligned with their strategic planning, the current process prioritizes the timeline and resources of the fiscal agency.”
 
The Food Depot and its partners urge lawmakers and the public to support legislative reforms that modernize the anti-donation clause and remove outdated laws and obstacles that prevent nonprofits from delivering essential services. Lawmakers are currently considering reforms. House Joint Resolution 11 proposes amending the New Mexico Constitution to repeal and replace the anti-donation clause, which will be decided by voters at the next election. House Bill 290, the Vibrant Communities Act, establishes a mechanism that maintains safeguards and transparency. These modernizations create a path forward for state funds to serve their intended purpose.

About The Food Depot
Established in 1994, The Food Depot aims to make healthy food accessible to communities across nine counties—26,000 square miles—of Northern New Mexico. A dynamic network of nonprofit partner agencies and unique hunger-relief programs provides an average of 700,000 healthy meals each month to more than 40,000 individuals. Resource navigation, wraparound services, and statewide advocacy efforts also support clients as they work toward food security. The Food Depot is proud to be a Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce Nonprofit of the Year, a Santa Fe Community Foundation Piñon Award winner, and a Charity Navigator four-star nonprofit. Learn, advocate, donate, and volunteer with The Food Depot by visiting thefooddepot.org.

To get involved, give time, give food, give funds. Visit www.rrfb.org,or follow the food bank on social media.
 
About The Food Depot
Established in 1994, The Food Depot aims to make healthy food accessible to communities across nine counties—26,000 square miles—of Northern New Mexico. A dynamic network of nonprofit partner agencies and unique hunger-relief programs provides an average of 700,000 healthy meals each month to more than 40,000 individuals. Resource navigation, wraparound services, and statewide advocacy efforts also support clients as they work toward food security. The Food Depot is proud to be a Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce Nonprofit of the Year, a Santa Fe Community Foundation Piñon Award winner, and a Charity Navigator four-star nonprofit. Learn, advocate, donate, and volunteer with The Food Depot by visiting thefooddepot.org.
 
 
###

BY SAGE FAULKNER
On Friday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. in the Lower Pavillion at Ghost Ranch, the 9th Annual Rio Chama Congreso will screen Thinking Like Water: Episode 1 “Willing to Try Things” as part of this year’s theme focusing on riparian health and river restoration in the Rio Chama watershed. The premiere along the Abiquiu corridor is free but you must register at www.sanjuanchama.org or email Sage Faulkner at [email protected].

“Thinking Like Water” is an exciting docuseries on real land and life opportunities for improving watersheds in this region”, says Caleb Stotts, Chama Peak Land Alliance executive director.  Episode 1 of the docuseries, “Willing to Try Things” dives into restoration pioneer’s Bill Zeedyk’s personal and professional arcs, as well as his philosophies and methods, that have inspired thousands to adopt nature-based solutions to restore degraded lands and waterways.

In addition to the film screening, the full 3-day event schedule includes 2-3-2 Partnership Meetings on Feb. 27 and 28, Tours on Feb. 28 and Congreso on March 1, 2025.  The joint committees will bring the two water-focused agendas together in a multi-layered opportunity to meet key partners and see a variety of projects and funding currently happening in the watershed. 

For more information and registration, please go to the www.sanjuanchama.org.  Be sure and follow San Juan – Chama Watershed Partnership on Facebook for the most current updates on the Rio Chama Congreso. 
​
More info on the series at www.thinkinglikewater.com

By Alex Brown | Siteline
Source NM

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — President Donald Trump’s moves to slash the federal workforce have gutted the ranks of wildland firefighters and support personnel, fire professionals warn, leaving communities to face deadly consequences when big blazes arrive this summer.
​
“There’s going to be firefighters that die because of this, there will be communities that burn,” said Steve Gutierrez, a union official who served 15 years as a firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service.

Gutierrez now serves as a labor relations representative with the National Federation of Federal Employees, which represents government workers. He said thousands of wildland firefighters have had their jobs thrown into limbo by Trump’s government-wide hiring freeze.

Brian Fennessy, chief of the Orange County Fire Authority and president of the California Fire Chiefs Association, echoed that concern. “The public needs to know they’re at risk,” Fennessy said. “If the public knew all of this, they would lose their minds.”

Federal agencies depend on an army of seasonal firefighters to fill their ranks during the months when wildfires are most active. Scott, a Forest Service firefighter with six years of experience in the Western United States, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym to avoid retaliation, is among those whose role has been thrown into uncertainty.

“It’s just going to be a disaster for the wildfire response this season,” he said.

Scott was slated to move to a new Forest Service fire station this spring. But following the federal hiring freeze, he was told by his captain that it’s unclear whether his new job still exists. Thousands of his colleagues are in a similar state of limbo.

In a statement to Stateline, the Forest Service said wildland firefighting jobs are considered public safety positions that are exempted from the hiring freeze, and the agency is working with the federal Office of Personnel Management on those positions. The agency did not respond to follow-up questions about the number of unfilled positions under review.
The U.S. Department of the Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs did not grant Stateline interview requests.

Bill also requires increased disclosure of chemicals

By Hannah Grover
​NM Political Report

​HB 222 would ban PFAS and require increased disclosure of chemicals used in fracking or other downhole oil and gas operations.

The House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee discussed HB 222 on Saturday, but ultimately chose not to vote on it to allow the sponsors to make changes to strengthen the legislation.

Oil and gas companies disclose some of their chemicals on the website FracFocus, but they are able to avoid making some of the formula public by claiming it is a trade secret.
New Mexico would not be the first state to ban PFAS in oil and gas operations. Colorado passed legislation in 2022 banning PFAS in oil and gas operations.

“This is a really important…foundational bill for where we’re at in the development of oil and gas and the development of considering use of produced water,” Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, said. Steinborn is among the bill sponsors, along with Reps. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, and G. Andrés Romero, D-Albuquerque.

Produced water is a byproduct of oil and gas production and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last year proposed using treated produced water in industrial processes.

Steinborn said the bill provides the public with important information.

“We have a right to know fundamentally what chemicals are being put into the earth. We have a right to protect ourselves as well,” Steinborn said.

The state’s Oil Conservation Commission is currently going through a rulemaking process that could result in similar prohibitions and requirements. In the HB 222 fiscal impact report, the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department warned the bill could impact the ongoing rulemaking.

Ashley Wagner, vice president of government affairs for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, cited the rulemaking while expressing opposition to HB 222.

“Enacting this bill bypasses a very democratic process that included a great deal of public participation on both sides of the aisle, which should not be ignored by the Legislature,” she said.

Andrea Romero said the rulemaking process does not create a law.

“What we’re trying to do here is ensure this is in statute,” she said.

Steinborn said the state has had rules overturned when administrations change. He gave the example of a rule enacted under Gov. Bill Richardson regarding the storage and disposal of waste — often referred to as the pit rule — that was then relaxed by Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration.
​
Some of the advocates pushing for HB 222 are also behind the current OCC rulemaking.
WildEarth Guardians petitioned for the OCC rulemaking. The group is also pushing for HB 222 and has petitioned Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to ban PFAS in oil and gas operations through an executive order. Tim Davis, a staff attorney at WildEarth Guardians, served as an expert witness during the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee discussion.

Rep. Mark Murphy, R-Roswell, argued that PFAS use is not widespread in New Mexico’s oil and gas operations and the documented PFAS water contamination in New Mexico is primarily linked to operations at Air Force bases. Murphy is president of Strata Production Company, which is an oil and gas exploration and production company based out of Roswell.
“I think that this is a solution in search of a problem,” Murphy said.

By Felicia Fredd

Note: Since 2002, Felicia Fredd, owner of Enchanted Garden Productions, has specialized in residential landscape and garden design complementing both traditional and contemporary Santa Fe architectural styles while developing an ecologically and aesthetically rich design ethic.
Visit Enchanted Garden Productions online
​
​For all the great press native plants have received, they are still hard to find relative to traditional ornamental nursery stock - particularly in terms of species diversity. The muddling of the very definition of a native plant is also problematic. We see more and more native cultivars, or 'nativars', casually represented as native plants. This is tricky because while they may be fundamentally native, they may not function normally as part of an ecosystem.

If at least one of the reasons we want to use naturally occurring natives in the garden is as an important part of a specific local ecosystem, what exactly is the point of a modified 'nativar'? Why not just use another hardy ornamental? There are increasing studies indicating that alterations in host plant forms (flower patterns & colors, leaf arrangements, plant size, etc.) can have a profound effect on wildlife feeding and reproductive behavior.

So, I want to cut to some things to consider if you're interested in cultivating truly local native plants, but maybe aren't sure which ones, or how to get them into your garden. I fear that some of these suggestions may seem a little madcap, but they are at least a few ways 'plant people' get good stuff.

1. Get your own information: The most useful and meaningful native plants live right near us - usually in the most neglected places. I know that getting correct information with regard to plant identification is challenging (Google Images is not a reliable way to do this) but if you can get a plant's precise scientific name, you can open up a world of important information about native range, history, compatible plant communities, cultivation requirements, etc. Knowledge of plants makes them more interesting and endearing. Fingers crossed, but I am planning on posting some solid leads on community resources for plant ID. It's important to approach sellers with exact scientific names.

2. Try what some are calling 'slow gardening'. For my own personal gardening, I get most of what I need by finding local native plants that need to be rescued from road beds, or from drainage swales that will eventually dry up on newly emerged plants, or by transplanting volunteers within my own property. I also ask for pups, cuttings, and collect seeds, etc. This kind of 'shopping' may not be for everyone - transplanting desert plants is a delicate business, seed collection, storage, and germination techniques are complicated, and making a spectacle of yourself collecting on the side of the road is uncomfortable (legal for seed only) - but it can work. Slow gardening could also include encouraging volunteers by setting up conditions for plants to germinate and grow themselves while you focus on something else. I've even used existing 'weeds' to function as seed traps, or 'connectivity modifiers' (https://www.nps.gov/articles/cany-conmods.htm) that encourage potentially desired plants from seed that just blows in. I don't do these things because I think it's cool, but because I really do need not only broadly native, but endemic, plants that I will not find otherwise. Things can look pretty shabby at first, but oh well.

3. Think about shifting your thinking. Design thinking expands your options; it's what allows you to 'frame' something you do have, or can get, beautifully. Maybe your perception of that less than perfectly gorgeous native plant already on your property can be improved by placement, color contrasts, a little pruning, distance, interesting massing, complimentary companions, etc. You could topiary your snakeweed, play up beautiful fall backlighting effects on those native asters, or go uber minimalist with just one or two bigger things. I think one of the most photographed parts of the Georgia O'Keeffe Home in Abiquiu, NM is the 'salita doorway patio' containing just a few old gnarly big sage. That sage, by the way, is Artemesia tridentata, and it must be about 70 years old by now.
​
All things considered, I would say that finding your own local native plants is no more difficult, or time consuming, than conventional planting. In many ways, it's actually much easier, but it does require more consistent interest, observation, flexibility, and creative cultivating. I have a client who calls spending time evaluating the garden doing "a walk-about". I don't know where she got that from, but it's the most pleasant time we spend together in the garden.
For anyone in the Abiquiu, NM area better convinced to just go and buy container plants this season, here are some local natives that ARE available as grown out container plants:

• Native Chokecherry; Prunus virginiana: Abiquiu is named for this plant. Abiquiú used to be a Tewa settlement called Ávé-shú', meaning Chokecherry Path. Native Chokecherry is a beautiful deciduous shrub that has a white bloom in Spring, followed by dangling clusters of deep red berries by late summer. It makes an excellent jam or jelly.
• Showy Milkweed; Asclepius speciosa: The Institute for Applied Ecology was here last summer planting milkweed (obligate larval host plant) in a series of ‘rest stops’ for endangered monarchs along the Rio Chama/Rio Grande River corridor. Showy milkweed has a very beautiful blooming phase, but the leafy parts can look a bit 'rangy'. Consider growing them among Yellow Indian Grass (described below), or Little Bluestem (described below) which obscures the less attractive lower leaves - triple gorgeous. Last year, I noticed Showy Milkweed growing along the ditch between the fire department and transfer station.
• Indian Grass; Sorghastrum nutans: Indian Grass is a tall and gorgeous warm season upright bunchgrass (about 5' ht.) that develops a flashy golden flower structure prior to seed set.
• Little Bluestem; Schizachyrium scoparium: Little Bluestem is another gorgeous local warm season bunchgrass (around 3' ht.) with fine-textured foliage, silvery seed heads, and a striking blue-mahogany purple fall and winter color.
• Colorado Four O’clock; Mirabilis multiflora: A non-stop flowering perennial with vibrant magenta colored flowers that open in late afternoon and close by morning. Four O'clock is very deeply rooted, and very xeric.

By Zach Hively

In which I dig myself deeper.
​​
To be clear: I am not one of those people who leave the Christmas tree up until February.Oh no, I’m far more insufferable. I’m one of those people who leave the solstice tree up until February.

In my own incriminating defense, I have, for years, put up living solstice trees. Not cut-down-and-slowly-drying-up living trees, but root-ball-in-really-heavy-dirt ones. And by “put up,” I mean, “drag to the front of my house.”

I can’t bring the tree inside. For one, I cannot lift it up the front steps. For two, staying outside keeps the tree from thinking it has retired somewhere like Phoenix or, based on my thermostat, Juno.

I have to keep the tree where it still, sometimes, at least traditionally, gets cold in winter. Or else it might put roots down through my living room floor.

Outside, though, is also windy. And it is where crows and ravens live. For these reasons, and not for laziness reasons, I do not put ornaments on the solstice tree. It’s mostly just a tree.
But I do add twinkle lights.

This process proved, in the end, to prolong my joy in planting the solstice tree in the solstice tree forest. I:

a) made tangible progress each day I remembered to dig;
b) never committed more than four minutes in a single go;
c) stopped when I realized these were rocks and not more frozen sand; and
d) received Mother Nature’s incoming-cold-front nudge to drag the big ol’ pot o’ dirt down to the hole before I became one of those absolute insufferables who leaves up the solstice tree until March.

Although I suppose—at the risk of digging myself deeper here—it could have become an equinox tree, had I left well enough alone.

Gratitude for one reader showing me I can do better.
​Zach Hively

A Follow-up to "Getting away with murder"

Hi all—I try hard not to bombard you, but this follow-up on today’s piece is worth it. Because now, as much as ever, it’s important that we all learn to do better, even when we have the best intentions.
​
Today’s post, “Getting Away with Murder,” offered an important learning moment for me:
One reader wrote me privately to express disappointment in my reference to “the R-word” in this piece. I'd like to honor her privacy while thanking her. Suffice it to say that she is the proud parent of a child who, she pointed out to me, would be in that class on the other side of that hole in the wall.

The section in question begins:
I remember only one rule, strictly enforced: never use the R-word.

My impact with that section may not have lived up to my intent with it. Its purpose (for what it’s worth) was to show how my teacher, Ms. Galvin, taught us all to think about how our language affects other people. At the time, the R-word was in heavy use, and we students didn’t usually think about its origins or its hurtfulness.

I’ve revised that section to, I hope, convey more of what Ms. Galvin impressed upon us. I hope this also stops that part of this piece from inadvertently harming anyone.

We all need to learn to do better about making amends when we mess up. I'm open to continuing to improve this piece, and my writing, and my thinking in general, when it means treating others with more genuine respect. Especially those who have to work far harder to earn it.
Gratefully,
Zach