Happy Ghosts Visit the Moon of the High Mountain Desert of New Mexico
So you might be asking what do ghosts and New Mexico have in common…
Not really anything unless you hear the howl of a wolf or the yipping of coyotes. However, my table reflects everything Southwest and living in the mountains (which is called the high mountain desert) you can hear all sorts of sounds, especially at night. I do have a (sort of) ghost story to tell. As many of you know, we lived in the remote mountains of New Mexico for about 15 years. One evening, while sitting outside, around a cozy, crackling fire… with visiting family members…we heard what sounded like a woman screaming. The men grabbed rifles and headed through the deeply shadowed piñon and ponderosa pine trees towards the sound. (The oldest brother was convinced it was a mountain lion, but whatever the sound was… they wanted to check it out.) We ladies were more concerned that someone (a woman to be exact) might be in trouble and in need of help. We were fortunate to own quite a few acres on which we ran Santa Gertrudis Cattle and quarter horses. Many times “city slickers” would climb over the 5 foot high barbed wire fences (or cut them) or cross over the many cattle guards and picnic or swim in our spring fed ponds. They assumed the land was available for public use. I have to preface this by saying this ranch had been in my husband’s family for many many years. So the 4 brothers that were visiting that evening (there were 6 in that family) were very familiar with the ranch and the surrounding land. Long story short…they found a mountain lion in a tree down by one of the outbuildings. They left the mountain lion alone after firing a couple shots to hopefully scare it away so no livestock would be in danger. I will never forget that scream…it did sound like a woman.
I love the Land of Enchantment, otherwise known as New Mexico, and after living there for several years, it will always be in my heart. Don’t get me wrong, I still love Southwest Florida. But…..There is something about the Southwest high mountain dessert where our ranch was located in New Mexico (which means Nuevo Mexico in Spanish),…. that every now and then,…well, it calls to me. It is like the Call of the Wild. You know, like the howling wolf?
Let me give you a bit of Mountain background….Rocky Hills Ranch, our ranch, …you know I name everything, was/is located (7500 feet elevation) deep in the mountain chain of the Manzano Mountains, (which means apple tree in Spanish),…..which is a continuation of the Sandia Mountains, (which means watermelon in Spanish),…..which is a continuation of the Sangre de Cristos Mountains, (which means Blood of Christ in Spanish),…..which is a continuation of the Rocky Mountains, (which means montañas Rocosas in Spanish),…..which is a continuation of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Whew! Did you get all that? Collectively these make up the Rocky Mountains, a mountain system that stretches from Northern British Columbia through central New Mexico, which is part of the great mountain system known as the North American Cordillera. (Actually, This cordillera extends from Alaska to the southern border of Mexico.)
Ok, now that we have established this mountain chain, let us move on to my love of the state of New Mexico.
I have shared many recipes and pictures and stories on this blog… from this most mis-understood state.
Some people think New Mexico is NOT a part of the United States, while others think it is all barren desert. Not true. Below is a picture of Albuquerque. And we lived in those mountains surrounding the city, which by the way, Albuquerque is at 5000 feet elevation. The same as Denver, Colorado.
The New Mexican landscape ranges from wide, rose-colored deserts to broken mesas to high, snow-capped peaks and heavily forested mountain wildernesses which cover a significant portion of the state! So now that we have that all cleared up…lets talk tablescape!
Several years ago, I found these salad plates and my heart and mind went immediately back to New Mexico. Naturally, my decor when living in New Mexico was definitely Southwest, from Pueblo Indian rugs to rustic hand made tables situated near our wonderful native stone fireplace!
Luckily, I still have a few Southwest pieces like this piece of driftwood that I found on the Ranch while chasing after stray cattle….yes, on horseback. It was the best way to travel through all the trees, gullies (arroyos) and canyons on the ranch. Oh, and a quick note…This was in the late 70’s and I was sort of like the Pioneer Woman, but without a blog… which I didn’t start until we moved to Florida. I have collected dish ware, etc for many years.
The Table Elements:
The cactus napkin rings I picked up at Pier 1 and the chippy ivory chargers I have had for years. I like putting a white dinner plate on the charger for interest in the white colors.
I already had the heavy, hand blown water glasses rimmed in cobalt blue and have used them in Cinco de Mayo tablescapes before. I picked them up when living in New Mexico.
The flatware has brown wood handles and the napkins are a blue patchwork that I feel goes very well with the Southwest theme.
The stemmed goblets are called medallion and have just the right shade of blue to go with the water glasses. I like the unexpected look for the plain SW style. I call it a ‘collected’ look.
I placed votive candles and various cactus around the burlap table runner which adds to that rustic Southwest feel.
My dinner menu was simple. Enchiladas Casserole, Green Rice with Hatch Green Chilies, New Mexican Cornbread, Pica de Gallo with shredded lettuce, cheese and tomatoes.
Recipes can be found under the main dishes category on this blog.
You can see there is really nothing scary about this tablescape…and that is because I don’t like or ‘do’ scary. I am not that fond of Halloween, per se, but the little kiddos like it, most likely so they can dress up in costumes and get candy. When I was younger, I did the same and so did my children. I do smile at friendly ghosts. Recently, we have not had trick or treaters at our home, even though we turn on our porch light and are ready with candy to hand out. However, we do buy huge bags of candy and give to our church for the Harvest Trunk and Treat night …where car trunks are decorated in the church parking lot and candy is given out, along with tracts to all the little goblins and ghosts. We usually have about 1500 little ones with their parents on the 31st of October visit our church parking lot.
Proverbs 29;18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish:…”
I do have a ghost with a black bow (I believe it is a ‘she’) and a ghost with a pointed hat that make me smile. I found them on Amazon along with a large black spider. They are on a light timer and are definitely friendly like Casper.
Have a great day and blessings always
- “Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. “Psalm 20:7
I want to thank our leader, Rita of Panoply...the trooper that she is… who despite a recent fall down the stairs… (which sidelined her for a bit), … She stepped up to the plate, bit the bullet and with comminuted fractured wrist, and one (or two) fingers, managed to get the Blog Hop on schedule and got the job done. 🥰 I, with the other bloggers, say “Thank you Rita!” 💕 Below are Halloween tablescapes for more inspiration.
