I Love New Mexico Memories: Bunny Terry

Episode Transcript

Bunny: (00:00)
Hi there. I’m Bunny Terry, and you’re listening to the I Love New Mexico podcast. Whether you’re a native new Mexican, who’s lived here for your entire life, or you’re just considering a visit, this episode is for you. Join us as we share a lot of New Mexico stories, talk about all things New Mexico, and include topics like what’s magical here, where you ought to visit, what’s happening, and the things you absolutely cannot miss in the land of Enchantment. We’re excited that you’re here, and we can’t wait to show you what an amazing place New Mexico is, because let’s face it, I love New Mexico. Hi there, friends. This is Bunny Terry with the I Love New Mexico podcast, and I wanted to take an opportunity this week in this special moment of two days before Thanksgiving 2023 to say hello and to say thank you. There are a lot of things to be grateful for, um, in New Mexico. There are a lot of things to be grateful for in my life, but as some of you may know who follow me on Instagram or Facebook or somewhere on the website, um, you may know that this has been a hard year in my family as well. Um, my parents who were the most steadfast, kind, giving, encouraging humans in the world, certainly in my life, both passed away this year. My dad on August 19th and my mom on November 6th. And while my dad had been ill for a while, it was a surprise to lose my sweet 89 year old mom who was in amazing health until the moment that she wasn’t. But this is not a podcast about loss as much as it is a podcast about celebrating and being grateful and finding time to say thank you to people that matter. Um, I wouldn’t be doing this podcast. I wouldn’t have the, I love New Mexico blog without their encouragement. So I’m, I’m just going to suggest today that you take a moment to think about the people that you love, who have been incredibly supportive or loving or kind, who have made you feel like the sky was the limit, and perhaps in the next three or four days, you could just text them or reach out to them and say, thank you. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for being a steadfast, kind, caring presence in my life. Because folks, I gotta tell you, you never know when those people are no longer going to be present to thank.

Bunny: (03:02)
So, I would just like to publicly thank Kenneth and Betty Terry for being who they were for helping me to become who I am for being so sharing and so enthusiastic about life and adventures. Everything, every single day was an adventure to my parents. And, and my mom said very near the end of her life, about two and a half weeks ago, she said, you know, we prayed every single day to go together. And the good news is that she only spent 79 days apart from the great love of her life, her husband that she was married to for 72 years. When people say 72 years, I say, Hey, they got married in 1950, but they started dating when they were in the fourth grade. So it was really more like 78 or 79 years that they were, um, one another’s, one and only. So I hope that everybody has somebody like that in their life, even if it’s not your parents, I hope that it’s somebody else. I wanted to take a minute, though, to look back on the blogs that we’ve created here at the I Love New Mexico, I’m sorry, on the podcast that we’ve created here on the I Love New Mexico podcast. You know, we started out, um, in 2021 as a gratitude podcast, um, a podcast about, um, lifesaving Gratitude, which was the name of my book, lifesaving Gratitude, how Gratitude Helped Me, um, beat Stage Four Cancer. So we started out talking about gratitude, and then we decided, um, back in the summer of 2022, that, that the Lifesaving Gratitude Podcast to had, you know, it wasn’t that gratitude was no longer important, it was that we were starting to hear the same stories. And, um, Johanna, my producer and I talked about what, what would we really like to talk about? And what we both agreed on was that we, the thing we loved the most, that we wanted to talk about the most was New Mexico. And so, back in early August, August 1st, actually of 2022, we began the I Love New Mexico podcast, and I just wanted to take a minute today to thank people, and I wanna direct you back to some podcasts that we had. I want to tell you the high points for me and express my gratitude to all of you who have shown up over the last year and a half as guests of the podcast, and to those of you who have shown up to listen. One of our first podcast was with my great friend Tanya Catan. If you don’t know Tanya, she is the author of the book, uh, creative, um, trespassing, which was an ama, which is, you gotta go out and pick it up tomorrow, and there’s a link, there will be a link in here to her book. But Tanya agreed to come on the podcast and talk about New Mexico Arts and Cultures. She talked about, um, how she had, she’s living part-time now in Santa Fe. Not full-time, but Tanya is all about how inclusive and inviting New Mexico has been for her since she moved here. Um, the, our second episode was with Cheryl Alters Jamison, who, um, will also include some links in this podcast to her James Beard Award-winning Cookbook on New Mexico cooking. Um, Cheryl has been a, um, a fixture on the New Mexico food scene in particularly the San, the Santa Fe food scene for over 20 years. And we had a long talk about favorite foods, about her journey of learning about New Mexico Foods. She wasn’t from here, but she and her husband were travel writers, and they decided that they would just take, take a leap of faith and start writing about food and about New Mexico, and, and they won James Beard Awards, which as you know, are the ultimate awards for, um, chefs, writers, et cetera.

Bunny: (07:24)
So, I would encourage you to go back and listen to Cheryl’s episode on August 16th, 2022. A link to that is included here. Cheryl was an amazing gift, but what she also gave us was a look at the backstory of exploring Northern New Mexico restaurants and chefs and dishes, uh, primarily in the Chi Mayo community. So thank you, thank you to Cheryl for being a guest. Um, another episode that I’m really grateful for that worked out particularly well for us was that Anne Hillerman came on just at the moment that I was getting addicted to the Dark Winds episodes. Um, if you don’t know Anne, uh, perhaps you know her dad. Her father was Tony Hillerman, and he wrote a series of mysteries, 27 books in all, I believe, in his lifetime based in the Navajo Nation and where the protagonists were. Navajo police officers. And if you’ve ever been to the Navajo Nation, you know that being a police officer out there is, um, takes a level of guts and courage that a lot of us might not have. I mean, you’re frequently a hundred, 150 miles from, um, backup, and you are, while you’re in this amazing landscape, you’re also frequently on your own or out of radio or cell range. So, so Tony Hillman’s books were, the Leap Horn and Q series was what he called them, and they were about two officers. One the senior, um, older officer who sort of brought, um, Jim Chilan. I hope I’m getting that right. I hope I’m not getting them backwards. But, um, Anne Hillerman, after her dad’s death took up the series and she added a, uh, female officer who really became the primary, um, the primary, uh, for lack of a better term, um, I, I was gonna say tough guy, not the tough guy because she’s female, but the, the primary protagonist and the officer who really was the one who, um, solved all the mysteries. So we talked a lot about, um, her series, how she’s carried on her father’s tradition. Um, we talked a lot about the Navajo Nation and about the landscape there. And, and then in sort of an, an amazing fit of generosity. And Hillerman agreed to donate a dinner to the sweetheart auction of the Cancer Foundation for New Mexico. So, not only is that podcast episode one of my favorites, but it ended up being, um, Anne Hillerman and a guy who wrote a biography of Tony. It ended up being, um, donors to the Sweetheart Auction and, um, donating one of the items that was the hardest spot after, um, last year in the 2023 auction. And by the way, while I’m talking about this, I wanna thank everybody who has ever donated anything thing to the Cancer Foundation for New Mexico, because that’s another piece that I’m really grateful for in this time of Thanksgiving.

Bunny: (10:47)
You are helping us save lives in Northern New Mexico by doing that. Um, throughout the podcast, we’ve been really blessed to talk to people who are experts in ways that I could never be an expert on New Mexico. I’m really just a sharer of other people’s ideas and stories. But one of, one of the fun, a a really fun, um, episode that we had was the one where we talked with the Santa Fe Brewing Company, Brian Locke. He came on the podcast in September of 2022 and talked about Santa Fe Brewing, but he also gave us, um, an overview and a history of brewing in the state of New Mexico. Um, we are ever grateful for Santa Fe Brewing because, um, we tend to drink a lot of their beer, and we tend to go to the headquarters when we can’t think of anything else to do on a Sunday afternoon. And I know you’re gonna wanna take another look at Santa Fe Brewing and maybe pick up a six pack a social hour and let me know why you like it so much. Um, the other, one of the other fun podcast I’m just gonna tell you right now that I’m grateful for every guest we’ve ever had. I’m just giving you a quick overview of some of those that stick in my head as having been, um, the contacts we made as being sort of changing. We interviewed Eric Griego at FS two Supply Company, and if you don’t know FS two, they’re the premier provider of, um, New Mexico themed apparel and merchandise. And at the time that we interviewed Eric, they were just starting a, um, a Santa Fe rail yard location. That episode opened up a friendship with us. Um, they also have donated to the sweetheart auction and given us a basket of goodies for 2023 and hopefully for 2024. We talked a lot about how, again, um, as business owners in New Mexico, they took a leap of faith and decided to start first selling their wares at craft fairs. And then they went on to, um, showing up at larger venues. And then every time they would go somewhere, they would almost sell out. And so then they created a website, and then they created this, um, this location in the rail yard where anytime you are in Santa Fe and you’re in the rail yard dropped by FSS two, and you’ll see what an incredible success they’ve been. I’m so proud to know and be a fan of FS two Supply Company because they’ve really, really made a difference in their community. They employ a lot of people. And, um, you, you’re gonna see their caps in their T-shirts and their Yeti cups all over the state of New Mexico.

Bunny: (13:46)
We also talked to Ashley Biggers. Um, she talked about her book a hundred Things to Do in Albuquerque, and she, Ashley is really a New Mexico expert, expert she’s been writing about and sharing her love for New Mexico for years as, um, a journalist. And she is part of Guest Life New Mexico, which, and, and she’s also written for the University of New Mexico Press. But we talked about her, the book that she had written, a hundred things to do in Albuquerque Before You Die. And that, I’m telling you, would be a great gift to give somebody, you know, who either lives in Albuquerque or is thinking about visiting there, because Ashley not only talks about things to do in Albuquerque, she gives you tips like where you should park, you know, what you should bring along, should you bring along snacks, should you bring along, um, an umbrella or a a, um, picnic chairs or a blanket. She talks about great restaurants. She talks about events, the things that you expect like Balloon fiesta and things you don’t know about. So we are going to ex include a link to the podcast, and we’re also gonna include a link to her book, a hundred Things to Do in Albuquerque Before You Die, because you’re gonna wanna know all about that. We had a guest, we had Jess Griego on the podcast from Bosque Brewing, and I wanna say right now that I’m grateful for Bosque Brewing because they, there are always things I learned on the podcast that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. And what I learned about Bosque Brewing is that they’re also the company that created Restoration Pizza. And Restoration Pizza is a pizza company that because making pizzas is a relatively, um, scalable and repeatable task. They created, um, restoration Pizza and employ a number of people who are, who are perhaps, um, challenged in ways that, that keep them from getting, um, employment in the mainstream. So thank you to Bosque Brewing first for being on the podcast and then for telling us all about Restoration Pizza, which is, which is now one of our favorite pizza places in town. One of the amazing things that I, that has happened while we’ve been doing this podcast is that I have found, I have, I’ve learned things about people I thought I knew very well that have surprised me. In the middle of, um, talking to my friend Valerie Moore about the podcast, she said, you know, bunny, um, maybe you would like to speak with, um, some of, some friends that I know who are experts on diving. And I said, what kind of diving? And she said, oh, you know, like scuba diving. And I said, Valerie, I don’t know anything about scuba diving, and we are miles and miles and miles from the ocean. And she said, well, um, there are people who are really amazing scuba diver instructors here who have gone on to do really important things. And, and then she started telling me her story, and I was like, wait a second, Valerie. I don’t need to talk to somebody else. I want to talk to you. Uh, Valerie Moore, who is a friend of mine in the real estate business, um, was once scared to death to go in the deep water. And her mother-in-Law, they were going on a trip where, um, the men in the family were going to be scuba diving. And her mother-in-law said to her, Valerie, if you don’t get certified to scuba dive, you’re always gonna be the person sitting on the boat waiting for everybody to come back. And Valerie is like, I am not interested in that at all. But she did it and she did it so well, and she liked it so much that she went on to become a certified instructor.

Bunny: (17:49)
And then she made connections with people elsewhere. And I think we called the, um, episode, um, talk the, I love Brave New Mexicans, and it was because, was really afraid of the idea of scuba diving and eventually became such an expert and such a deep diver that she was on an expedition that, um, in one of those small submersibles that we know was the subject of some controversy earlier this year when, when one of them, um, didn’t make it back to the top of the surface of the ocean. But Valerie Dove, um, years ago and helped, um, her friend, um, James Cameron, who she calls Jim, do some of the research for the Titanic. So it, that it was just an example to me of how this podcast has led me down paths that I didn’t expect. I didn’t know these things about Valerie. And that episode aired before the submersible accident. Um, she, it was on May 16th of this year, but we, Valerie and I gotta spend time talking about things that I knew absolutely nothing about. So, so this, when I talk about the, um, when I talk about the podcast to other people, they say, oh, it’s such a cool thing you’re doing . And I’m like, are you kidding? This is a gift to me. Every time I get on this on the microphone, I’m like, are you kidding? I get to learn more about a place I love, but I also get to learn things. I’ve, I would never, ever, ever have suspected. In April of last year, we talked to Bill Lee, who is the executive director of the Gallup Chamber of Commerce. And I learned from Bill that the absolute coolest flea market in the state of New Mexico, according to him, and I tend to think he might be right, is in Gallup on Saturdays. So if you are in the mode of Christmas shopping and you’re interested in picking up some, um, New Mexico, some perhaps native treasures, I would suggest that you drive to Gallup and go to the flea market that he says is every Saturday might wanna check the, the Chamber of Commerce website. But I never would’ve met Bill, I never would’ve known about what is the, one of the coolest flea markets in the state of New Mexico. I also got to talk to, um, Andre and Jessica Kimpton, who run Wild Leaven Bakery, both in Taos and in Santa Fe. I got to learn things about bread and baking that I never would’ve known before. Um, I’m a little, perhaps a lot, but I can’t, I can’t give up bread. I’m a little gluten intolerant. And Andre explained to me that so much of that intolerance comes from, um, the time that, um, that breads the, the time that it, see, I’m not even gonna get the, um, vernacular correct, but, um, it has to do with how bread is baked. So I’m going down to Wild Leaven Bakery, actually for lunch later today, because they are now set up in chomp Santa Fe. But I want you to know that if you, if you want to hear about how bread is baked and how it’s baked, well, you should pick up the episode that we did in March with Andre and Jessica Kimpton at Wild 11 Bakery. We, we did a, uh, we, we had a, an amazing surprising, um, podcast episode with, um, Charlie Overbay and Vanessa Dewell. He has Lone Hawk hats and Lone Hawk hats happened to do all of the hats for the television series 1824. Am I saying that right? You know, it’s the Yellowstone prequel and there, it was fascinating, but it was also interesting to hear how they had found their way to living in New Mexico in the middle of the pandemic. They had come out here to visit, and they had been part of a fundraiser for, um, during Covid helping, um, the Navajo Nation raising money for food and food safety and, um, clean water on the Navajo Nation during Covid. And they ended up moving to, um, Madrid, which is out between Santa Fe and Albuquerque and opening Lone haw hats and Hollywood Vintage, they found us because we put out a call for guests. And, and I’m gonna tell you right now, if you would like to be a guest on the podcast, you should just reach out to us at I love New Mexico blog@gmail.com, because we, there, there are no, um, parameters here. We just like to talk to people. So we’ve now been at this podcasting for, um, about 60, 70 weeks. So there’s a podcast for every single week except, um, the week after my mom passed away when the truth is, uh, neither Johanna nor I could figure out anything that we wanted to talk about or anything we wanted to share. But I’ll just tell you, if this is your first time listening to the podcast, I want you to know that we’ve done podcasts on, um, haunted New Mexico, which, which included the la the Logic Cloud crop. Those are very recent. We did those in October, the Logic Cloudcroft, um, several places in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, the Double Eagle Restaurant in Macia, the St. James Hotel in Cimarron. Um, ghost Tours in Tuum Carey. Um, we talked to some folks in dimming who have a coffee shop. We talked to our friend Eric Castillo, who does Free Walking Tours in Albuquerque. Um, Marissa Thompson at Corkin Lodge. We talked about forest bathing, which I mistakenly thought was, um, perhaps taking all your clothes off, getting naked and getting in a stream in northern New Mexico. But it’s really, um, just, um, nature therapy, being in the woods and getting back in touch with their self.

Bunny: (24:34)
We talked about Red River. We’ve, um, talked about folks who are coming to New Mexico to do something special like Kelsey Linman. We’ve heard some family stories about families that came here in Covered Wagons. Um, we learned about the Children’s Reading Alliance, which is a group in Las Cruces that gives free books to kids. I thought it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard. I met my new friend, Sarah McIntyre, who is a photographer who has a great love for New Mexico and especially for its historic churches. We talked to folks who have an in in Aba q and a young woman who’s, um, searching out great fun things for families, young families to do in Northern New Mexico. Um, I, we, we have had so much time, so much fun talking to people. We talked about gardening in New Mexico and we talked about the Abba Q Dome, which none of us knew other than the people who own it. A lot of us didn’t know what that adorable building was in Abba Q. And now we do. Um, we, I’m so grateful that we have consistently stuck with talking to people who live in or wish they lived in, or, um, love New Mexico. It’s been such a gift in my life, and I know for a fact that my mom and my dad loved it. Um, and those, the two of them were also guests on the podcast, um, last fall at this time. I sat down with them and said, you know, I don’t know if you guys wanna do this, but I’m just gonna hold the mic while you talk and tell stories. And, um, I can’t, so I’m gonna tell you and I’m gonna get choked up. But that’s the greatest gift that the podcast gave me was, um, you know, over an hour of storytelling online with my mom and dad who are no longer here to tell those stories. So what I would tell you today is, um, I’m grateful for you as our listeners. I’m grateful for everybody who has shown up and been willing to tell their story on the podcast. Um, I, we did a re-release of Mom and Dad’s podcast on August 22nd and August 29th. And I, I can’t, I’m so grateful to the people who have reached out to say how touched they were by those stories folks, we, I say often on this podcast that I think stories save us. They remind us who we are. They inspire us the way that all of my podcast ha podcasts. Excuse me, I can’t even talk that all of the podcast guests have inspired me along the way. And, I’m gonna tell you some days, this is hard. You know, this, the last two weeks have been really, really hard for us, losing my mom after losing Dad so fast. But I gotta tell you, it’s such a gift to get to talk to people about what they love and what we all love, which is New Mexico. So, thank you. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for the way that you’ve cared for this podcast. And for the, for those of you who are yet to come on the podcast, please, we’re dying to hear from you, get in touch, and, um, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Take care out there. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to listen to the I Love New Mexico podcast. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please feel free to share it with your friends on social media or by texting or messaging or emailing them a copy of the podcast. If you have a New Mexico story that you’d like to share with us, don’t hesitate to reach out. Our email address is I love New Mexico blog@gmail.com and we are always, always looking for interesting stories about New Mexico. Subscribe, share, and write a review so that we can continue to bring you these stories about the Land of Enchantment. Thank you so much.