Previous | Next :: El Centro : Columbus : New Mexico | February 16, 2011, 2:05 am

At the edge of America.......... At the border of the state of New Mexico and the country of Mexico......... the US does not seem to come to a hard cut off ....... America sort of fades out and merges with Mexico......... in terms of the people and culture at least .......... interestingly a lot of kids come across the border every morning to go to school in America....... their moms might be Americans but not their dads or visa versa......... the kids have the right to be schooled in the States but the whole family cannot or does not choose to live in the US.......... kind of odd .... an example of the fluidity of the people and culture even if legally and physically it really is a hard edge...........

I shot this picture in the little town of Columbus which is a dusty desert place right on the border, the US side. Most of the dwellings are mobile homes some are old buses and even the odd converted refrigerated trailer.......... Its kind of odd, desolate and windswept and feels open and totally exposed to the desert ........ But I loved these brightly colored shops.... straight out of a zapped up Caribbean style Western....... They seemed untouched by the ravages of the desert heat and wind ........

El Centro and the Casita Restaurant were owned by a lovely lady who set up the restaurant 19 years ago having arrived from Mexico the year before......... she claims to have customers that drive 65 miles especially for her famous enchiladas .......... that seems a reasonable claim...... 'cos they were absolutely great......... and anyway there really is nothing else for a hundred miles on the US side anyway......... hehehehe................ :-)))

Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXXXX

www.jezblog.com