impressions of new mexico

leaving the pressurized cabin of the canadair regional jet into the terminal of the albequerque airport, i immediately noticed something different about the air. sure it was hygenic, ventilation system air, but it was naturally warm. hopping into a rental car and hitting interstate 25 south this thought popped into my head again and again. it was very noticable outside, with the air being saturated with the various smells of spring. it's almost as if i was put into a coma and awoke in penticton in june.

driving that highway was fairly uneventful and uninteresting as it was dark and i was tired. the most immediate thing one might notice though is the brightness of the stars. once we had left the albequerque area the sky lit up with a brilliance i have not seen in a long time. god's gift to the desert i suppose.

arriving into socorro at 1am, thoughts had shifted from spring-time air to food. the wonderfully romantic symphony of my frontal lobe was muted, being replaced by the dull thud of my brainstem beating me over the head with a steak. probably a rare steak, fleshy and bloody.

the steak beatings eventually brought us into a roadside diner. my initial reaction upon entering was a feeling of deja-vu. this was undoubtedly due to the diner's look of classic americana. in fact, every single horror movie, modern-day western, or drama set in the midwest could have been filmed in there. the next thing i noticed: 5 19-20 year olds covered in green body paint, celebrating their 1/64th irish heritage, waitresses wearing paisley-patterned aprons, and a gruff man sitting up front simply enjoying having a fu manchu and a cowboy hat. sean and i sat up at the counter drinking decaf coffee at 1am, listening to the drunken college kids, and discussing our favorite movies until we got tired enough to drag our feet down to the NRAO guest houses.

waking after a meagre 4.5 hours of sleep, sean and i trekked over to a posh coffee shop in downtown socorro. after ordering my americano, i peek out the window and notice a slightly unfit man booking it down the road, shortly followed by an even more unfit cop. the runner took a sharp turn into one of the businesses along the road: a hardware store. everyone went back to business-as-usual after that. a common occurrence i suppose.

after breakfast, we are travelling across the desert, through explosive test fields, up to 7000ft in altitude to visit the VLA. more on that later...