A Day at the Farm

This week marks UNM's fall break, an event that ordinarily would mean nothing, except for the fact that I am teaching there on Tuesdays and Thursdays, meaning that I had today off. As fate would have it, today was also Isaac's field trip to the Wagner farm in nearby Corrales, so I went along.

Corrales is a village north of Albuquerque on the west bank of the Rio Grande, nestled in between the bustling Westside and the rapidly-growing suburb of Rio Rancho. This old farming town holds vestiges of its agricultural roots, with horses and orchards, while at the same time being home to a plethora of B&Bs, small mansions, and art galleries. It's the nicest town in the area to have dirt roads just off the main route and a noticeable lack of sidewalks.

The farm we visted has been in operation for nearly a century, growing corn, pumpkins, and apples. A few years ago they, like many farms, diversified their business to include a corn maze, pumpkin gathering, and other touristy stuff. It's both a sad commentary on the state of family farming in America and a great opportunity for city folk like us to get a taste of the rural life.

Here's another fun tidbit from the outing: there were 17 kids from Isaac's class, accompanied by 15 adult chaperones. When you're dealing with 5-year-olds, that's the kind of ratio you want.

My group consisted of me, Isaac, and Josiah. When we arrived, we had to wait for a few minutes before getting to the corn maze, so the kids entertained themselves in the corn pit, a sandbox-sized pool of dried corn kernels.

The first stop was the corn maze, which is always a good time, but, since it doesn't lend itself to many good pictures, we'll skip ahead to the pumpkin patch, where everyone got to pick a gourd.

We then went on a hayride around the corn field. One of my favorite things about this area--including both Corrales and the North Valley of Albuquerque--is the view of the Sandias you get from the agrarian space in the valley.After lunch and an hour of playing, we made our way back to the school. We climbed on a hay stack, visited the orchard, and learned a bit about the various household products made from corn. All told, it was a pleasant day (temperatures in the upper 70s) in mid-October. Better than working for a living, I suppose...

Art, Hiking, and Autumn

Allyson had a friend over for a sleepover Thursday night (Friday was the kids' Fall Break), so we took a holiday Friday to play. After a lazy morning, we went out for lunch. Then we went to our main destination, the city's Open Space Visitors Center. This facility at the edge of the bosque is a great place to visit in the fall, when the leaves turn, the air is crisp (although our visit was quite warm), and, in a month or so, the migrating cranes arrive.

Our main goal this time, however, was not the building, but the hiking trails that run through the bosque. The city has installed some landscape art along the way, and we wanted to check it out.

We hiked a for a mile or so and saw about five such pieces. The first few are simple poles, adorned with natural materials local to the bosque--leaves, branches, and such. Another piece was a a reclaimed jetty jack (used for flood control, and, I guess, to make the bosque look like a war zone). There are a few more that we didn't catch, but it was fun to view art and hike, all at the same time.

After returning the visitors center we rested a bit and then went up to the roof. The view from there is great; you can see the mountains in the distance, the bosque gradually yellowing in the autumn, and the field across the way, where before long a few hundred cranes will spend the winter.

Here are some pictures from the outing:

The outside of the visitors center--itself a cool building:

On the hike, the first of the poles:And Isaac with a piece called "The Cube." A Cottonwood trunk surrounded by wire, it represents the urban space of the modern city built around the natural space of the river:A bosque Cottonwood with the Sandias in the background:The boys at the "Tree of Life" sculpture:The view from the roof:

Fall Pictures

Summer and the kids have been feeling under the weather on and off lately, so I took a day off today to let her rest and recuperate. This afternoon, Evan and I went outside to get the mail, and we paused to take some pictures of our fall colors. First, the one pumpkin plant that did any growing this year (though no producing) as it weaves through the trunks of the Desert Willow and past the pots:
Here's Evan with a pumpkin that Summer bought and place out in front of the Cottoneaster, itself bright with Autumn color:
Here's another view of the pumpkins:
And here's my favorite, from behind the pumpkins: