Independence Daze
I just finish reading your article (Continental Divide, October) on the change for us from 505 to 575 area code. Your article is soooooo good and sooooooo true! It was quite hilarious but in the same time sad because it is true. We are indeed in the south quite different from the north part of the state, from the people to the culture and the arts and language. We are very different and very welcoming and laid-back (hence the "Mañana" name), and in a way maybe we would be more recognized if we were to split from the north and be called a different name. But I don't think we'll see that anytime in our lifetime. Just look at the Quebec province that has tried for decades to split from the rest of Canada; they haven't succeeded yet. So we might dream a little more longer but I don't see it coming anytime soon.
Keep those good and funny articles coming — never tired of them.
Micheline Lafortune
Las Cruces
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Just wanted to let you know that SOME of us are preparing already for the new state of Mañana you have proposed creating from southern New Mexico. This is the sign we put at our gate last week, after FINALLY deciding on a name for our 40-acre "estate" outside Deming.
"Kunuku" (koo-noo-koo) is Papiamentu (the language of Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba, aka the Netherlands Antilles in the southern Caribbean) for "country home" or "ranch" or "farm." We recently sold our house there, but brought this great word back with us.
Karl Larson
Deming
Home School Homerun
What an excellent article written by Donna Clayton Lawder ("Not in Public," September). I have in the past had an opportunity to visit with parents in the county who have chosen to home school their children. For a time I thought these people were a little weird and isolated. I quickly changed my mind when I saw that many of those who have chosen this avenue of education are very community minded and are active in projects that bring about a better environment in the community.
Though some who educate their children at home are uncertain of public schooling, most are not. They just see home schooling as a way to closely watch their children's education.
The article was very in-depth and gave information that is useful to all who are considering home schooling. I have also known two families who have had their children in the PACE Program, which is a good alternative to home schooling. I would have to say that I am a little "old school" and still have faith in public education, but I find these opportunities for parents extremely valuable.
Tim Matthews
Silver City
Tough Competitor
I was away most of September, so the minute I got back to Bayard, I rushed to find a copy of Desert Exposure to see if my story made it (Writing Contest, September). It didn't. Being a sore loser, I tossed the paper on the coffee table and didn't pore through it non-stop as I usually do. Nuts!
Two days later, my curiosity got the best of me and I finally sat down and read the winning stories. They were great and the "Some Memoirs of Mildred's" was fantastic. A friend of mine had just given me Madam Millie; Bordellos from Silver City to Ketchikan to read a couple of months ago, and that made reading Phillip Parotti's story even more fascinating.
I know we can't all win so I'll try again next year.
Teresa Ali-Olivas
Bayard
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