Thursday, January 27, 2011

360 Degrees of Uninterrupted Blue


Yesterday I drove up to Santa Fe for a meeting with a potential client. Living where I do, that means taking the "back way" up along the Turquoise Trail, a 65 or so mile scenic amble up and down the Ortiz mountains through the historic towns of Golden, Madrid, and Cerrillos before emerging into a section of short grass plains and the startling menace of the New Mexico State Penitentiary. A few miles later, the Trail terminates in I-25 and its handful of exits leading into Santa Fe proper.

The day was so sunny and so warm, I was getting drowsy from the drive and was most certainly overdressed, even though I wasn't even wearing a coat. My potential client's home, a ubiquitous several-million-dollar green-built construct situated in an exclusive subdivision made possible by the displacement of dozens of species of our state's native wildlife, was warm like a sauna and so bright thanks to huge banks of windows and skylights, we were all squinting at each other across the table.

People who make a living measuring things like this have deduced that New Mexico enjoys about 312 days a year, give or take a day or so, of clear skies. Not semi-clear, not partly cloudy, but 100 percent crystal clear blue, whose only interruption is the occasional bird or jet contrail.

I've been here all my life and all this light still has the power to amaze me on the few times a day I emerge from my office to go play ball with the dog or check the gate for a package from UPS or run the Jeep over to the mailbox. It's the retinal equivalent of a knock on the head, which probably explains why so many out-of-staters with the economic means, like my potential client, find themselves thoroughly smitten enough with New Mexico to discard their former lives and make the Land of Enchantment their new home.

All this light!

All this space!

All this cultcha!

The process of shedding their former corporate selves is accomplished with remarkable speed: off with the power suits, on with the batik and Birkenstocks; bye-bye to the crisp reliability of generations of Presbyterian heritage, hello to candles and crystals and new age incantations; see ya later 401ks, whose depths are plundered to fund magazines and foundations and holistic lifestyle initiatives that hire natives like me who try not to giggle while cashing our checks. Because these hippies? They got cash.

Which means that although my future may not be as bright, at least I gotta wear shades.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've always been fond of hippies and I think holistic lifestyle initiatives are outstanding.

Ask them if they need any trolls, okay?

czar said...

go, moi, go! sound like my kind of clients. liquid. the best kind.

Anonymous said...

Hippies. They radiate joy and love and cheer. Truly, the salt-of-the-earth. Gosh, I like hippies!

Anonymous said...

I wish that all of hippie humanity had a single ponytail.

So, I could gently braid it and attach flowers.

Karl said...

Good afternoon Moi,

Well that was a long way to get to a punch line. Although I must say the prospect of clients that pay upfront with no red tape is most appealing.

moi said...

Troll: Oh, dear, are you feeling okay? Head ache? Fever? Upset tummy? Perhaps you should go lie down . . .

Czar: Liquid, yes. Pay on time? We don't know.

Troll: A drink, maybe? Demerol?

Karl: I do tend to ramble. Again, we know these folks gots funds; whether they part with them in a timely manner, we'll see.

Jenny said...

300+ days of sunshine?

That's too bright for me to even contemplate. My eyes! My eyes!

Rich Hippies aren't really Hippies are they? Can't we come up with another word? They've really messed up the whole
"Turn on, tune in, drop out"

But I'm glad about a new client!

Jenny said...

should we be worried about The Troll?

moi said...

Boxer: Trippies? Yippies? Flippies? As for Troll, he'll be fine. I put it down to one of his Y2K moments.

Buzz Kill said...

I could use that kind of sunshine here in South Jersey. It would help melt some of the snow before the next storm on Tuesday.

@Boxer - I think your PNW skin would burn up like a vampire's in New Mexico. And I'm sure the Troll can make friends in prison.

moi said...

Buzz: I can't believe how heavily you all are getting pounded! And I feel for you on that wet stuff, too. Wet snow is just no good. We get feet, too, but our snow is like talcum powder, baby. Which makes using the snow blower a heck of a lot of fun. Especially when you aim the outflow at a dog :o) Hang in there.

LaDivaCucina said...

Cash is KING! We loves cash. I can just imagine that bright light...ick, I would have worn my sunnies inside but that's never a good look when CASH is involved (I know I like to look in my client's eyes!) Glad you got the gig, my little Go Getter!

Yes, hippy is not the right word for I know hippies and the hippies I know are the granola eatin', hackie sack playing, underarm hair sportin, dreadlock havin', Grateful Dead listenin', tie dyed shirt wearin' crusty live off the land types that don't have a pot to cook the lentils in. So, your peeps sound like Yuppies without the urban.....or the young! How about this: RPC's, Rich Paying Clients? Hmmm.....

moi said...

La Diva: “Hippies, hippies . . . they want to save the world but all they do is smoke pot and play frisbee!” - Eric Cartman. Me, I prefer Punk.

LaDivaCucina said...

Of course you do! Me too! But I did go through a tie dye wearing rasta phase when I worked at the reggae bar and listened to a lot of African and "world" music. NOt so much hippy but hipster? And I always worked! And shaved my pits! xo

CHEESY POOFS!

moi said...

La Diva: Oh no you di'ent! I'm trying to figure out how you make tie-dye work with Louboutins.

Aunty Belle said...

Hmmn...at least we git a puffy cloud or two wif' our sunshine; still we need shades fer retinal relief, an' retinol relief fer shadows left on the skin after all this sun.

Hope ya' land the clients--if thar's Yuppies an' Buppies, mebbe Huppies? ( hippie urban professionals) or, Heppies ( Hippie elder professionals)?

Pam said...

First, I think Troll done gone lost his mind. Or has he been partying with the hippies recently? Hmmm.

Second, I totally appreciate how you feel about that bright blue sky. We get the same here, just with less scenery and probably more wind. Some of our powers-that-be want to capitalize on those sunny days and attract retirees here to live. Bigger tax base and all that, dontchaknow.

Third, I hope you get the potential new client as a reality new client! :)

Fourth: Re Idol re-caps, I put up a lets discuss over on my page ... You or Boxer can write it up this time around while I save myself for Project Runway? Or, I'm glad to carry on!

moi said...

Aunty: Nice to see you out and about! I like your suggestion of Huppies :o)

Pam: Unfortunately, you know these nice spring-like days we've been enjoying? Look out. The smack down starts tomorrow night. Arctic temps and snow, snow, snow. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

Roses said...

*whimpers*

Sunshine. Warmth.

*sobs pitifully*

It was 5 months ago since my feet went without shoes outside, 5 months since I could wear one layer of clothes.

*runs off wailing*

moi said...

Roses: S'okay. We're getting bitch-slapped with an arctic front starting tomorrow night and I'll be miserable once again.