a very sandy halloween...

Ah! I really wanted to get one more post in before the conclusion of October. Alas, it was not to be. After a fun filled day of conquering sand dunes and racing through wally’s to get food, we rolled back into zozo at about 9pm, then had to make dinner (at that hour! Gasp!) and chowed down on veggie burritos while watching “Planet Earth” as David Attenborough skillfully lead us through “Deserts” (it seemed fitting). By the way, for all of you loyal Planet Earth watchers, is anyone else in love with David Attenborough’s voice? Especially in the “Deserts” episode where he talks about the Atacama desert in Chile. The way he says “Atacama” makes him sound as though he should be at a cocktail party at the Royal Palace in Britain. And he’s not even talking about anything swanky. “in the Atacama desert, camels eat cactus flowers to gain moisture.” He makes that sentence sound profound and enlightening. I can only aspire to ever sound that haughty and intelligent.

Digressions. I’m full of them lately.

Yesterday was Halloween, which was so weird. Firstly, it is still between 70 and 75 degrees here during the day. 75! On Halloween! That, my beloved readers, is not Halloween weather. Halloween is supposed to occur on chilly evenings with trees mostly bare, their spindly branches in stark contrast against the night sky. Halloween is supposed to be brisk, spooky, children trying to keep warm in their SpongeBob SquarePants and assorted horror figure masks. Andiepants fondly remembers her childhood Halloweens in the arctic, and having to fit her costume over a snowsuit. I ask you, how in the world are you supposed to look little and pretty when you have to fit your fairy costume over a sixteen layer parka? Halloween in Buffalo meant choosing between looking cute and hypothermia. Difficult, indeed.  

This was our first Halloween in the southwest and since we don’t have many friends around for which to party with, and we didn’t want to sit around our living room by ourselves in our costumes, we decided to do something different. So off we went to White Sands National Monument. Friends, clear your schedules and buy your plane tickets now, because if you have never been to White Sands, you need to form an orderly line and GO. This place is like nothing I have ever experienced in my entire life. Located smack in the middle of the desert in southern new mexico, it is a giant sea of snow-white sand dunes. A quick turn off of Highway 70 gains entrance into the park, where you are greeted by the vistors center. It is at this fine establishment where one can purchase a sled to launch yourself down the dune. I highly advise you to do this. As you drive along the windy road, deeper into the park, dunes of glistening white sand appear, small at first, and spotty with vegetation. Farther into the park, the landscape begins to look downright alien, with giant white dunes soaring from the ground, surrounding the road 360 degrees, with very few spots of vegetation, tenaciously clinging to life in the barren, arid climate (..... do i sound like David Attenborough yet?) 

Mike and I parked Howie with his nose to the dune and started climbing, taking great care to note where the road was using the mountain range behind the dunes... “ok,  the car is toward smooth peaks, not toward craggy peaks…”, because once we got about two dunes in, we could no longer see the road, or any type of civilization for that matter. As andiepants spun in a slow circle, digging her poorly-painted toes into the soft sand and scanning the landscape, the only things in view were the giant desert sun, the majestic peaks of the mountain chains surrounding us, and the incredible white dunes.

And I have to admit, friends that it was at this moment that the prickly fingers of anxiety began to settle around my body and catastrophic thoughts of becoming lost, dehydration, sun stroke, alien abduction, tsunami, murder, insert your disaster here began to set in. The feelings of being completely isolated from society, in an unworldly and foreign environment can be liberating for some, but not if you struggle with panic or anxiety. Then it becomes terrifying, looking out for miles and miles and seeing nothing but sand. Andieadvice: if you have an anxiety disorder and you make the decision to go to White Sands, go with someone who has been there before and whom you trust deeply and completely. It was only with Mike’s patient guidance and confidence that I was able to tell my budding panic attack to go to hell and get on with enjoying my day. I tentatively took my first steps away from the safety of my Howie and toward the adventure before me…. And had an amazing time!!

We found our first sled worthy dune within the first 20 minutes. I put the sled down on the sand and began to scoot cautiously toward the edge. After failing at this attempt, I relinquished the sled to Mike who stated that he was going to “show me how it was done.” He took a running start, holding the sled out in front of him, jumped, and landed very hard on his chest and stomach, going absolutely nowhere. This was the funniest thing I had seen in quite some time. We finally conquered that dune and moved on to pursue bigger and steeper challenges. however, I did not anticipate how difficult it would be to walk back up the dune after sledding down. My lungs were burning and legs were screaming as I climbed up the steep face, finally giving up my upright posture and clawing my way up the dune, collapsing onto the sand at the top. 

On the next dune, which was approximately 45 feet high and quite steep, I had a very successful initial run. I picked up some speed, kept my balance and slid nicely to the bottom. I decided to try it again, requesting that Mike take photos of me to document this momentous occasion. But then! Disaster! About halfway down, the sled began to slide around to the left, spinning me backwards. I started to throw my arms and legs out to the side to try and right myself, but then decided that I should be brave and go with it. Well, friends, I certainly went with it. As the sled made a complete revolution, one of the edges caught in the sand, halting the sled, and launching andiepants into the air, to come to an abrupt and painful stop at the bottom. In the split seconds of my departure from the earth, I remember thinking to myself “don’t break your glasses! Don’t break your glasses!” (this could be a fantastic advertisement for contact lenses… ‘worried about shattering your glasses and blinding yourself as you bust your ass at white sands? Choose contacts’..) so at the last possible moment, I arched my neck, lifting my face out of harms way. This unfortunately was bad news for my solar plexus and rib cage which took the majority of the blow. Wipeout. I lay for several seconds, yelling “ow” as mike roared with laughter on the dune above. That’s love. 

I was able to gain some sweet revenge on the next dune. This giant white beauty was even larger, topping close to 60 feet and very very steep. After several successful trips down the dune, Mike decided to spice things up a bit and launch himself down the dune facing backwards. Show off. He was successful during the majority of his trip, but did not anticipate how difficult landing might be while backwards. As the sled made contact with the hard packed sand at the bottom of the dude, Mike was launched backwards, ass over face, as his sled slid serenely to a stop. Oh, karma. Andiepants took great pleasure in this. We spent the next several hours sledding on every possible surface we could find, writing notes in the giant canvas of sand and taking in the incredible view. The sun was streaking colors against the sky, intense shades of red, orange, purple and pink, when we finally made it back to Howie. We finished off the day with photos of mike jumping into the air, soaring several feet and plummeting down into the sand. Boys have so much energy. 

We then began the intensely irritating task of grocery shopping at Wally’s, although shopping there on Halloween made it mildly more enjoyable. Apparently the Wally’s employees had been encouraged to dress in costume for the day, so there we were, getting directions as to where to find a blender by a large man dressed in a Teletubby outfit. Perfection. I wish Wally’s employees would dress in costume every time I shop there. Shopping at the evil institution might not be so bad if Elvis checked out my purchases. Maybe I’ll write a letter….

This was a very different Halloween from those that I had been accustomed to, but was very enjoyable nonetheless. There were no costumes, no beer, no parties, no trick or treating, etc. There was only Mike and I surrounded by billions and billions of grains of white sands, and playing, really playing, like I haven’t done since I was a kid. Happy Halloween, indeed.

Be thankful,

Andie.