jon d wilke's blog

Florida to Sprinkle Glass on Beaches

I love irony, and this story should be become the classic case study of it. 

Fun times still call for responsibility, and Florida has a handle on that.  Even with all the spring break fiascoes, MTV specials and overconsumption, the state is strict when it came to glass bottles on the beaches.  I've seen a Panama City Beach police office deliberately pass by some hard-partying minors to cite one older man for drinking from a bottle. 

Now, some county officials are debating the use of recycled glass to bring back that sparkle and make up for lost sand volume.

"Going Native"

"Going native" is the new trend in travel. 

On the popular Travel Channel show "No Reservations," Anthony Bourdain does some cultural snooping, talking with the natives, eating native dishes, participating in native religious practices and drinking lots of native hooch (whatever that culture's specialty).  Similarly, I've tried "going native" for years now, eating at locally-owned cafes, bistros and sidewalk stands, finding friendly locals and asking questions as well as using my poor language skills to span the spoken divide.

In New Mexico, "going native" is a bit different though. 

To read more, click here.

New Mexican Expectations

Editor's Note: This post is in response to the common question, "How do you like Albuquerque?"
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Sometimes adults become numb to setting high expectations in life, maybe because of a bad Christmas, a broken heart, a lousy prom date, etc.  Rarely have I found my expectations trumped or surpassed.  Yet, Albuquerque has all that I expected and much more!

In the short time I've been here, I've immersed myself in the "touristy" things, i.e. driven Route 66, eaten green chile, shopped in Old Town, taken the Tram to the top of the Sandias, explored the Rio Grande, hiked and ran some trails, cheered at an Isotopes game and occasionally taken a wrong turn for the fun of it.  Unlike the myriad of other places I've visited, I have yet to scratch the surface on the culture, the food, the fun, the adventure and the opportunity here. 

This place is so much better than I expected. 

• The weather is more enjoyable. 
• The food is more delicious.
• The culture is more rich.
• The scenery is more spectacular. 
• The people are more colorful. 
• And even the traffic is more tolerable.

Leaving from rural Kentucky, I expected more tumble weeds, sand storms, heat, noon-day shootouts and public hangings.  My expectations for "the West" were framed by Hollywood and other pop culture meccas, and I knew it.  I expected to be in shock over a few things, just not so many.  Culture shock is not a new status for me, but rather a familiar friend whom I warmly embrace.

Click here for a photo album.

The View

The view from my front door is amazing.  I did not anticipate having a front-row seat to this daily nature show.

Never did I expect the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico to be so massive, so beautiful or so close.  Click the picture for a larger version.

Record-breaking Integrity

Pro baseball player Barry Bonds broke the All-Time Home Run record last night, surpassing Henry "Hank" Aaron's long-standing record of 755.  The moment was historic, newsworthy, controversial and fake.

What sacrifice, what hard work, what obstacle did Bonds endure and overcome to achieve this record?   I believe the answer is: his integrity.  How much sweat, pleasure and payoff did he miss because of his use of performance-enhancing drugs?  I believe the answer is: all of it. 

When I think about the method Bonds used to topple this sports milestone, I get that feeling inside when Biff Tannen, the flat-topped bully in Back to the Future, crawls into the car with Lorraine and attempts to cheat his way into her arms.  I get angry because Biff didn't earn her love nor her consent.  He was trying to take "it" the wrong way, and at that moment in the film, it seems "the good guy" is losing. 

You can bet that I will be watching when a real athlete steps to the plate and swings away Bonds' tainted record.  When that ball clears the fence, I will let loose a triumphal shout (like when George McFly knocks out Biff; when right overcomes wrong).

The baseball record fell, but so did the man.  The decline of real men overcoming real obstacles is fast decreasing.  With no more savages to tame, no more lands unclaimed, real men need real heroes.  Ironically, as I was watching the morning news and sports shows, I caught an ESPN interview with my childhood sports hero, Herschel Walker.  This athlete won national football championships, the Heisman Trophy and set or broke other records.  The main difference is that Walker performed with integrity. 

In his time, Walker was a huge man, but he used to work out by merely doing push-ups everyday -- 1,500 of them to be exact.  When he got too strong for those, he went to one-handed push-ups.  When he got too strong for those, he had his son sit on his back, then his wife, then his wife and son.  Walker didn't "juice up," cheat or cut corners, he worked for it.  He earned the accolades and my respect.  Bonds did not.

Monsoon Season

"How's the weather in Albuquerque?" I asked.

"We're having monsoon season right now," my friend Adam confessed. 

"What the heck is Monsoon Season?"

"Well, it rains real hard for about 10 to 20 minutes everyday," he said. 

"So, it's kinda like Florida without the beach," I replied.

Monsoons are no joking matter.  You can see these storms coming.  Early in the day, large, dark clouds begin to form over the Sandia Mountains in the East.  Then around 5 or 6 p.m., the weather lets loose with huge drops of cold rain, driving gusts of wind (up to 40 mph) and lightning displays that rival any Midwestern thunderstorm.  Some weather experts claim this year's storms are lasting longer and dumping more rain than ever.

Download monsoon.jpg

What's makes this dangerous is that Albuquerque sits in a massive valley.  From east to west, the mountains rise, then the land steeply slopes down until leveling out near the Rio Grande river.  Continuing westward from the river the land rises into the high plains, meaning anytime it rains, all the precipitation flows toward the middle, flash-flooding arroyos, swamping streets, soaking the city and swelling the Rio Grande.  Then after the rain, the temperature drops to about 70 degrees, the storm passes and the sun shines until it sets.

In fact, the weather is the talk of town here; everyone is gabbing about it.  In just two days, I've heard the apartment manager, the retiree, the cable installer, the painter and the maintenance man all mentioned the monsoon season.  On top of that, every local newscast I've watched has begun with an extreme weather update.  All this talk is driving me crazy, because in Kentucky we called this weather summertime.

Never would I have associated "Monsoon Season" and "Albuquerque, N.M.," no matter how poor my mental condition.  I've been in South America and Central Africa during their "rainy seasons" with downpours, washouts, mudslides, etc.  I've even experienced a month in Germany with constant cloud cover where I only saw my shadow for about 10 minutes, but I was not expecting this type of weather in Albuquerque.  Where are the 95 degree days with little to no humidity?  What happened to the "310 days of sunshine" the brochure promised?

Links
The 10-day forecast
New Albuquerque weather chief story