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The 2012 version of the annual conference that I've attended in Austin, Williamsburg, Kyoto, Fullerton, Eugene, and Montpellier was held in Albuquerque. It was a charmed coincidence that allowed me to return to the desert just over a year after my move to Amsterdam. As in January when I had a conference in San Diego, I stopped in Phoenix for a few days to visit family and friends.

From my mom's house, to the northeast

From my mom's house, to the northwest

Interstate 10, facing north toward Camelback Mountain

And as in January, I felt like I'd walked into a different world, where biking and walking don't exist, where cars, grocery stores, and people are expansive, and where clouds are non-existent. There was something more this time - the heat and dryness that I grew up in but hadn't experienced for years (I was last in Phoenix in the summer in 2009, I think). Within three hours of arriving, I felt parched in a way I never feel in Amsterdam unless I've exercised. The trip to Phoenix afforded a rare opportunity to see dear friends and family whom I am only able to correspond with electronically. But it also hit home my preference for where I am now. Living for 20+ years in the desert makes me feel like this damp, dark, cool former marsh known as Amsterdam is a paradise. And the lack of expansiveness I referred to earlier is a bit more my speed.

After a three day weekend in Phoenix, I flew to Albuquerque. The arrival was a bit different than what I'd experienced in Phoenix. Walking through the small Sunport (airport) felt like much more of a homecoming than my visit to Phoenix did. This might partially be because Phoenix is so large, and all the places I knew when I lived there are either far from where I'd visit now (houses in Mesa and Gilbert) or have changed so much since I lived there that they're almost unrecognizable.

But the three places I lived in seven years in Albuquerque were all in the same area, and Albuquerque is much less of a hotbed for expansion and change than Phoenix has been for the past thirty years. Things felt good - natural - as I waited for a ride at the curb of the airport. The sky was blue and expansive, and the west mesa rose up to the west as the Sandias rose up to the east. The dry 90 degree weather and constant breeze felt great.


During my time there, I was mostly busy with my conference and preparing for (and giving) a talk. But I had the chance to walk around some of my old neighborhoods, spend lots of time in Satellite, and meet up with several friends who still live there.

My apartment, June 2010-May 2011

Looking northeast toward the Sandia Mountains, from the Ridgecrest neighborhood

Albuquerque's not-uncommon intersection between streets of the same name

Pool on the Casa Rodeno grounds

I stayed with Annie and Paul, two of my best friends (and, whom I might ad, a couple whom I doggedly - and perhaps obnoxiously - tried to set up as a couple in 2005), and their daughter, Josie. Annie was still pregnant with Josie when Annie and Paul dropped me off at the airport for my move to Amsterdam in May 2011, and it was my first chance to meet her. So that was somewhat special.

Annie and I at the Casa Rodeno tasting room

Annie and Josie near the Casa Rodeno pool

Josie on the floor of the tasting room

Cristin holding Josie

In addition to getting an everything bagel with cream cheese and tea at Satellite, going to Il Vicino, Scalo, El Patio, and Marble Brewery, and seeing a lot of friends, I also made a hike in the Sandias a goal for the visit. Steve, one of my Ph.D. advisors, and an occasional hiking companion, agreed to drive us up the back side of the mountain to take a short hike (~3 hours) along the North Crest trail, one of the more scenic paths in the Sandias.

The trail skirts the edge of the crest of the mountain range, and there are frequent views of Albuquerque and the hundreds of miles of expansive high desert around it down below. It's a small part of the 26 mile hike that Paul and I did in 2006, when we hiked all the way up and down the range, from the north side to the south side. Despite the 100 degree temperatures in Albuquerque, the air was comfortable and cool at over 10,000 feet. Nevertheless, I got my first (mild) sunburn in well over a year.

Flowers near the edge of the North Crest Trail

Looking south down the North Crest trail back toward the trail head

Looking north toward Placitas, where the North Crest trail falls descends toward Placitas

Looking down toward the Rio Grande

Aspen on the North Crest Trail

Small trees framed by the radio towers on the North Crest Trail

And now, as the post below indicates, I'm experiencing some very different scenery.