Saturday, July 3, 2010

The not so missing manual

I had heard that I needed a copy of the "Annual Manual" that the Santa Fe Reporter publishes every year. Subtitled "The Locals' Guide to Living in Santa Fe." Happily, they put that apostrophe in the right place. Can't stop reading things with a professor's critical eye.

I learned a lot reading this today. I learned for instance that the average first frost is on October 10, and the average last frost is on May 1. That's a pretty long winter. Average snowfall is 32 inches, average rainfall 14 inches. I think we had about a third of that last night in a spectacular storm which washed away a lot of my street.

There are a lot of interesting display ads. Ecodiversity.org has educational videos about everything "from beekeeping to using algae for food and fuel." More gardening in the desert, ads for waterwise plant greenhouses, and hydroponic indoor gardens. Ads for clay wall installation, bioshield healthy living products, and of course stone. Under the Health & Wellness section (ampersand used) are ads for a dentist who has a picture of a seated buddha, and the text "Not Dental Chair. Seat of Knowledge." Mercury free dentistry, Rubenfeld Synergy training (what on earth is that?) Herbal Medicine, natural skin care products ("Never put anything on your skin that you wouldn't put in your mouth.") There are 20 public elementary schools, four middle schools, six charter schools, three high schools. Numerous prep and Indian schools. A school called "The Gentle Nudge School" and one called "Academy for the Love of Learning."

In the Media section, 16 publications produced here, newspapers and magazines included. Twenty-six different websites having to do with Santa Fe, including blogs. I will be checking some of these out but most of them seem to be whining about what doesn't work in government here. What else is new. Two women are running for governor to succeed Bill Richardson. Neither one looks too appealing to me.

Sports, transportation, museums, restaurants, places to do and get things, all are in the Annual Manual.