Glitziest New Year's Ever

    T'was the glamd-est New Year's Eve ever in--of all places--Las Cruces, NM.  Primarily due, everyone acknowledged, to David.  That would be David Chavez, style and manners maestro of the old downtown Mesquite section of town of primarily adobe homes built before and after the turn of the century. Not this one, the last one.

    David's handiwork might not have showed so glimmerously, if the shindig had not been in Mel's place. That would be Mel Stone, owner of the Mesquite Street Gallery, whose collection provided the classy backdrop for the evening's proceedings. In the front hallway, a charcoal of a real horse on rockers, commenting, it seemed, on the spurious use humans make of these elegant  animals. Mel's own photography provides glimpses we seldom get of them and the southwest around Cruces.

    A sharp left turn brings one in a large room dominated by Cassis among the Pyramids, the portrait of a perspicacious-looking cat, next to one of a dog and cat gossiping. In this spacious room, which is presumably usually devoid of furniture, there were elegant U-shaped tables set with white table cloths, silver, tall sparkling flutes and wine glasses. Down the middle at of each of the tables snaked a silver rope, it's convolutions graced by tennis-sized filigreed silver balls, and silver and gold fairy dust. Large white gold-trimmed dinner plates, alternated with navy trimmed ones.

   The island in Mel's kitchen was being set with paella and other Spanish--as in Spain--specialties. Irishwoman I am, I figure at 9 p.m. on New Year's Eve, libations aren't far, and right I was: Corona, Guinness & IPA for the cerveza set, Moscato and port for the sweets and for the dry winers, a nice Shiraz and Chardonnay.

    My predilection, certainly, but the most entertaining piece in Mesquite St. was in the barroom, a funky rendition of a cool couple emanating a great deal of colorful, contradictory energy. You can see these pieces for yourself, at 340 Mesquite St. in Las Cruces, NM on Thursday or Friday between 11 and 5 or between 2 and 5 Saturday.

    It's a little more involved to get invited to New Year's Eve, but you have a whole year to work on that. Among the discussion of the pitfalls and problems of adobe--it's assets are obvious in summer--we took our ample plates and filled them Spanish specialties, ate, toasted and wished one another the finest for the New Year 2016, which I wish all my readers.