On the road home with Dada Kuralt this last Sunday.

Sunday we went to dinner on the other side of the mountain with friends. Afterwards, on our way back home over the mountain, we were so impressed with the atmosphere and resulting clarity of the landscape that we pulled over to take a few pictures.

Mrs. Dada and I tried to live in Oregon for a couple years when first married. I was born there. Had lived there for a year during my internment in 8th grade. Other times, I spent much of each summer when school was out, as California refugee, on the farm of my sister and brother-in-law and their three children (very close to my own age).

So I was very familiar with Oregon, a place I dearly love. But I wasn't nearly as familiar with its winters. As I learned from my first one after moving back, they can weigh dismally on someone who is a natural born pessimist. (Well, politically, at least.)

And so it was, when the Oregon winters rolled in as they coincidentally do each year just after fall, I would get laid off from my seasonal job. That's when I noticed a strong correlation between that and the seasonal affective disorder that would start to ravage my mind. It may have been, without work to occupy my thoughts, I had more time to attend to the politics of the nation which, at that time, were under the thumb of another despot, Richard M. Nixon. But I digress.

Overlooking Northwest El Paso (green, here in foreground), Mount Cristo Rey
(middle ground) and the mountains of Mexico in the background. Click to enlarge.

Oregon was new to Mrs. Dada. But she, too, thought it incredibly beautiful. We would take drives during which her only complaint would be, "What a great view this must be, if only you could see it for the trees." I often shared her frustration. I guess even back in the early 70's, I was more of a desert rat than I would admit to myself.

So one of the several things we enjoy about the desert is, when being on a rise in the desert floor, the vistas can be incredible. I swear you can see for 370 miles. (Hell, you could probably see all the way to Phoenix if those damn mountains didn't get in the way! Well, maybe the mountains are a blessing in some ways after all?)

Zoomed out -- a wider view.

If you zoom in on this photo, you can see (on extreme left in the middle ground) the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) smoke stack rising 828 feet above the valley floor. The reopening of ASARCO is a strong point of contention for many, many El Pasoans that I have blogged about here at Dada's Dally in the past.

Continuing further right from the ASARCO landmark, one ascends Mount Cristo Rey. Staying in this middle ground area, further to the right of that is northwestern Juarez, site of the very hotly contested struggle for the land between Mexican homesteaders of Lomas del Poleo and the Zaragoza family which has recently surfaced claiming they own this disputed land. Maybe the fact Lomas is targeted to become a very busy border crossing between Juarez and Santa Teresa, New Mexico, has something to do with their sudden interest in a land nobody but homesteaders wanted 30 years ago; settlers who are now being intimidated, driven from their homes and, in some cases, murdered by hired terrorist thugs.

Having never been there, I'm sorry I can't pinpoint more specifically the exact location of Lomas del Poleo in that photo, but it's there. I have mentioned it on occasion here at Dada's. Border Explorer, a frequent visitor and commenter here has been to "Lomas" and has blogged about it far more extensibly.

Turning the opposite direction (to the northwest), we could see hints of the
upcoming beginning of our monsoon season we had no idea was about to hit us.

As I looked to the northwest, I could see a preview of the monsoon rains that would begin the next day, dropping high temperatures into the upper 70s to mid-80s ever since. On Tuesday afternoon over three inches of rain would fall on us in a matter of a few hours! Next day on the news, among those whose homes were flooded were families in a brand new housing development just a mile or two from us. The story highlighted a couple who had moved in just a month ago. It showed three and 1/2 feet of water had invaded their brand new dream home as well the homes of their neighbors. Some developers should be shot!

But I thought Mrs. Dada taking pictures just a 100 feet away with the forboding background was nice. Being so close I thought, "How can I miss her?" So, while she was totally engrossed in snapping pictures, I shot her!

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