Browsed by
Author: Lisa

Lisa Maue lives in Carrizozo, New Mexico. Formerly a reporter, Lisa continues to write about the people and places in south-central New Mexico.
Buffalo gourd growing
Buffalo Gourd Hard to Love

Buffalo Gourd Hard to Love

Along the side of highways, often creeping along disturbed soil, tendrils of the buffalo gourd seem like something out of a science fiction film. Extremely fast growing, the large triangular leaves can take over large swaths of land, primarily in elevations below 7,000 feet. The plant is foul smelling and the flesh of the tennis ball-size gourds contain cucurbitacins which can be toxic if consumed in large quantities—difficult to imagine given its stunningly acrid taste. Despite these offensive attributes, buffalo…

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Movie poster of "A Bird of the Air"
A Parrot, a Librarian and a Highway Worker Woven in “A Bird of the Air”

A Parrot, a Librarian and a Highway Worker Woven in “A Bird of the Air”

“A Bird of the Air” (2011), romantic comedy-drama, starring  Rachel Nichols and Jackson Hurst, filmed in Santa Fe. Based on a Joe Coomer’s novel “The Loop,” this is a story of how a parrot brought two people together. Hurst’s character is Lyman, a man who knows little of his past and spends his present cleaning up a New Mexico interstate on the graveyard shift. (In Texas, loops around large cities are common, not so much here.)  Lyman meets a wacky…

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movie poster of "Before We Say Goodbye"
Faith Manifest in “Before We Say Goodbye”

Faith Manifest in “Before We Say Goodbye”

“Before We Say Goodbye” (2010), Directed by Paul Davids, written by Davids and Patricia Crespin, filmed primarily in Albuquerque and northern New Mexico and Mexico. Ramona Garcia is the matriarch of a Hispano family living in modern-day Albuquerque. Her family includes parents, a husband, four grown children and their children, each of whom have their own particular crisis. The problems they face both embody Ramona’s traditions and faith and threaten to destroy them. Some are comical (one child prefers Taco…

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