Happy Holidays From The Land of Enchantment

Traditions - The Christmas holidays in Albuquerque, New Mexico are, like most other places, a time to share traditions by getting together with family and friends, exchanging gifts, and having festive meals together. In New Mexico, however a rich cultural blend of native and imported traditions add enchantment that makes a difference. The traditions of 19 native pueblos combined with enriching ideas from a constant trickle of people relocating from across the nation and the world have create varied and interesting blend of holiday traditions in the state.

The experiences start in the pueblos. Whenever I visit a pueblo, residents invite me to return to celebrate Christmas or New Year's Eve with them because each pueblo has pride in its unique traditions, all of which include light or bonfires. If the weather should permit, this is the year I will make it to one.

The Posadas, probably dating back to the arrival of the first Spanish settlers, and still celebrated in pockets of the community across the state, Las Posadas offer another opportunity to participate in an uniquely New Mexican Christmas tradition. Whether your are Christian or not, on Christmas Eve you can join the party re-enacting the Christmas story and accompany Mary and Joseph going from house to house seeking a shelter or you may choose to simply go to your church  as Christians all over the world will do.

Also on Christmas Eve, you can drive through New Mexico city neighborhoods to see the display of lights. Many displays, lending the landscape a distinctive southwestern appearance, are the farolitas or luminarias that outline sidewalks, driveways, and rooftops. Many are still hand-made, assembled with sand, paper bags and candles. others are modernised electrical. Nob Hill and Old Town, Albuqueruque neighborhoods close streets to traffic to allow people to stroll and enjoy the enchantment of the glow.

Dining Out - On Christmas Day, the pleasures of a rich cultural heritage continue in the interesting blends of flavors of traditional and other foods that grace the holiday dinner table. Whatever else you may have, be prepared for the unique New Mexico red or green chile flavor in dishes like posole and tamale. If you are a newcomer to New Mexico, the Christmas table is a good place to start preparing for the question you will be asked everywhere when dining out in New Mexico - red or green?

Happy Holidays from the Land of Enchantment!

(This post is a rewrite of a previous post)
Eloise Gift
Gift Realty NM

History of Rio Rancho -City of Vision

I read an abbreviated history of Rio Rancho,  currently the fastest growing city in New Mexico.  it stated that the city  was started by a group of con artists who sold parcels of vacant, undeveloped land to unsuspecting people in far away cities (mainly New York) who had no idea they were buying real estate in the City of Vision.

Presbyterian Hospital Under Construction

After the sale of those parcels and the construction of the first homes in 1962, building began in earnest in the seventies and has never stopped. From a city of about 100 in the 60’s Rio Rancho has grown to be a city of some 70,000 to 80,000 people and  is expected to compete in size with Albuquerque in the near future if growth continues at the same pace. From vast, undeveloped spaces Rio Rancho is being rapidly transformed into a vibrant city of thousands, City of Rio Rancho - Official Site.

One consequence of growth is the relocation of the city center several miles north of its former site. A bright new City Hall, the anchor of a proposed vibrant, modern city center, for several months, had as its only neighbor, the Santa Ana Star Center. That has changed with the construction of the  Hewlett Packard Customer Center and the CNM building, just two of the many that are a part of the vision of the city center.
Every quadrant of the city, except perhaps the far southwest has communities of homes already built or being built. Southeast Rio Rancho, where some of the first homes were built some 30 to 35 years ago includes Rolling Hills, and Country Club with detached homes, condos, apartments, and a still functioning golf course and club house. These older communities in splendid isolation for many years, are now losing that isolation as new developments like Cabezon (far south), Mariposa (far northwest) and others in between fill out the wide open spaces that created the isolation. The borders between Albuquerque and Rio Rio Rancho are becoming blurred as housing developments merge on the edges of both cities. In the north,construction in Enchanted Hills and Bernalillo adjacent areas with easy access to I-25 is creating bedroom communities for Santa Fe and Albuquerque as well as planned adult communities that attract retirees attracted by the beauty of our landscape and favorable climate.
The entire landscape of Rio Rancho is changing as clusters of  houses spring up across the wide open spaces. North Hills,  High Resort. and Loma Colorado (a Pulte project complementary to Mariposa planned community) have slowed, but are still underway in the mid-north. And construction, as we pointed out earlier, is not limited to housing as seen in the addition of buildings in the new city center. Further south, the Presbyterian hospital is taking shape near Cabezon. Not to be forgotten are the schools that have been built to meet the growing student population, the churches, and the shopping center, new construction  that keep changing the city skyline and filling out the vision.

People relocating to the City of Vision in New Mexico have many choices in buying a home. They may choose new or resale, (none older then 35-40 years) custom or production built, and in a variety of neighborhoods.  Choices are increasing in Rio Rancho, not only in residence but with the addition of commercial spaces, also in jobs and services as the city continues to fill out its vision.


 (This post was first written in 2008 and revised October 18, 2010. So much has changed in two short years!)

Eloise Gift
Gift Realty NM