Sunday, July 06, 2008

Validation

I received a nice e-mail the other day from a woman named Deirdre Reilly, who’s a syndicated columnist in Boston. Deirdre went to school at ENMU and still has a warm place in her heart for Portales, which is how she came to e-mail me… she stumbled upon EIP while looking for stuff on the net about P-Ville. And she was kind enough to drop us a note that said very nice things about EIP.

Deirdre recently wrote a column about returning to P-Ville after 20 years (or so) had passed, and here’s an excerpt:

A few months ago I traveled from my home in Boston back to the town where I went to college: Portales, N.M. The college is Eastern New Mexico University, a jewel of southeast New Mexico and home of the Greyhounds sports teams. I was going to be in Phoenix for a few days and had decided to tack on an extra four nights – the plan was to stay two days in Sante Fe, doing the art galleries, and then head out in my rental car for Portales, which is about four hours southeast. I had not been to Portales for 25 years and had sometimes wondered if it even still existed.

[…]

As I drove my rental car (an enormous, silver Chrysler with the world’s coldest sir conditioning) away from Sante Fe, I felt a lightness and anticipation. The miles stretched out into endless ranch scenes and dazzling skies as the weather, which had been snowy, cleared, and the sun shone brightly. I listened to everything on satellite radio – politics, jazz, gospel, you name it. Not passing a car for about 40 miles, I called my 18-year-old and said, “Hey Matt – guess how fast I’m driving?” He laughed, miles away. He felt so close, though, his voice warm on the phone. How fast was I going, he wanted to know, and yelled, “All right!” when I told him 100 mph – and no one to stop me. I hated to let him go when we signed off.

Well, now! I can certainly relate to the 100 mph stuff…driving as fast as you want is one of the Great Good Things about living in the Great Wide-Open. I should probably knock on wood (you, too, Deirdre!), because while there aren’t many cops patrolling our back roads, there are a few. And they DO write tickets. Just ask SN1… But, I digress. There are any number of reasons to fall in love with The High Plains of New Mexico, and I’m glad to know there are other souls in this world that feel as I do about The High Plains and P-Ville. Or, in a single word: validation. Thanks, Dierdre!

Deirdre also has a web site, with links to her columns and other things. Go drop in!

8 comments:

  1. We've all known that EIP is quite the spot for social gatherings. Now you got celebrities comeing by too!

    Portales is an amazing little town.

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  2. Well that is pretty neat Buck!

    I agree with Lou, quite popular now aren't you Buck!

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  3. Wow. I think I like Dierdre very much!

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  4. nice that there are a few spots left in which to safely haul ass!

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  5. I suppose when you pay attention in any place you can find the beauty,but
    what makes it even more beautiful in my book is when someone shares the same feelings with you! nice post

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  6. The Internet/Blog making the world smaller.

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  7. Could it be that "The Jewel" may be being replaced by the EIP?

    (how's that a use for present perfect progressive)

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  8. Lou and Ash: "Popular" (in this case) is merely a function of google, eh? And one google hit doesn't make EIP a celebrity hang-out, LOL!

    Sharon: I agree!

    Phlegmmy: The trick is knowing where it's safe to haul ass and where it's NOT, eh? There are some NM back-roads that are in such a lousy state of repair that you're taking a chance just by doing the speed limit... but I suppose that's true of any place.

    Dawn: There are LOTS of folks that think you gotta pay too much attention to find the beauty in and around P-Ville. I'll admit to being less than impressed when I first arrived.

    Pat: Most definitely, and ain't it cool?

    Jay sez: Could it be that "The Jewel" may be being replaced by the EIP?

    (how's that a use for present perfect progressive)


    Pretty danged cool, to answer your parenthetical question. But I doubt EIP will replace anything in P-Ville. Jenny is my SOLE local reader (bless her heart), and that says everything that needs to be said in this space! ;-)

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.