COVER STORY

The Nature of Albuquerque
by Beth Donahue
Photos by Marie Leslie Photography

FEATURES

Traditions and Celebrations
By Valerie Santillanes

A Hand Up from Barrett House
by Renita Freeman

The Nature of Albuquerque
by Beth Donahue
Photos by Marie Leslie Photography

There isn’t anything that is more beautiful than what nature provides. At the unique and contemporary Albuquerque Biological Park, nature’s beauty is always on display. The Albuquerque BioPark is the number one tourist attraction in the State of New Mexico with 1.1 million visitors a year. The BioPark consists of the Rio Grande Zoo, the Albuquerque Aquarium, the Rio Grande Botanic Garden, and Tingley Beach. The BioPark provides delightful family entertainment, a place for the perfect first date, the best zoo birthday party for children, or a unique setting for the wedding of your dreams.

Future plans for the BioPark include expanding the elephant yard and creating the Asian Experience exhibit, which also means acquiring more Asian animals. A Japanese Garden and Insectarium are presently under construction at the Botanic Gardens. Major plans for the Aquarium include the Pacific experience, a half million gallon, 28 foot deep, 40 foot wide coral reef tank that will house sharks and reef fish. Seventeen other exhibits of the Pacific Ocean that are planned will include giant octopuses and sea dragons. The exhibits are funded through bonds that will be on the ballot next year.

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Traditions and Celebrations
By Valerie Santillanes

In New Mexico, we celebrate the holidays in ways that might seem downright odd to outsiders. Where else do revelers decorate their homes with hundreds of burning candles nestled in paper bags, ladle thick red chile over mashed potatoes and roast turkey, or hang edible wreaths made of tiny but potent peppers on their front doors?

In the Land of Enchantment, we’re proud of our traditions, some of which date back hundreds of years. But there’s more to us than primitive lights and an obsession with spicy food. Truth is, we cherish our mainstream traditions, too, with a kitchen filled with cookies, a freshly hewn tree emanating its mountain aroma from beneath glittering ornaments, a cheery gathering of loves ones, or a successful shopping expedition. Just as people all over the world, we celebrate with traditions that we’ve inherited, created, borrowed, and continually adapt to our changing lives and circumstances.

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A Hand Up From Barrett House
by Renita Freeman

According to the 2005 U.S. Census Bureau Report, more than 17 percent of our State’s residents live in poverty. That statistic translates to include a lot of New Mexicans, many of them single women with children, barely getting by and living from paycheck to paycheck. What if they lose their job and have no savings to fall back on?

 I heard another statistic recently that said more than half of all Americans are two paychecks away from homelessness—what a staggering thought.

Many of us have no savings plan or family to fall back on in the event of job loss, illness, or a run of bad luck that could turn us into one of these statistics. We go about our lives with little thought about those who find themselves suddenly on the street. But rather than pretend homelessness is not a reality, Barrett Foundation is addressing the need for emergency shelter, one person at a time.

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