The Village Of Tijeras

Located 6,322 feet above sea level, The Village of Tijeras (which in Spanish means "scissors") is located about 15 miles East of Albuquerque. 15 miles doesn't sound like a whole lot of distance, but it was enough that I had a completely different experience growing up than any of my high school friends.

The Village of Tijeras is a mountain town (as in, my childhood home was literally on top of a mountain). The days are shorter due to the sun having to peak over a mountain before it hits your window, and the high elevation means it's an average of about 10 degrees colder than Albuquerque temperatures. Winters were not fun; I can't count how many times our car got stuck in the snow and we had to trudge uphill in our snow boots for the last mile of our trip home. Still, there was something so peaceful about living up in the mountains. I remember when I took my high school boyfriend up to my house for the first time, he was actually freaked out by the lack of noise. You don't realize how much background noise there is in a city until you are cut off from it.

Because Tijeras is so small, there weren't a whole lot of kids my age growing up. It's not like in a big city where you have next door neighbors who have kids and they naturally become friends with your kids. In Tijeras, you were lucky to find someone that lived within 5 miles of your house. And I don't know about you, but as a kid, my mom wasn't about to let me walk or bike 5 miles to go play with my friends. So I played by myself a lot, but it really made me have an appreciation for nature. There was just so much wildlife and naturally occurring plants and so many big, beautiful trees to climb. It's every kids dream, really. Plus, the town's size meant that it was relatively safe. It wasn't like living in one of those cliché small towns you see on TV where everyone knows everyone; it was more like the houses were just so few and far between that you didn't have to worry about anyone else being around.

As I got older and I started to drive, my friends and I would spend way too much time at the village's only burger joint, Burger Boy, just because it was something different to do (their milkshakes are to die for, by the way). To this day, I still haven't had a milkshake better than Burger Boy's. Pretty much every time I come into town, I make sure to stop by there. It's the overall vibe that the place has to offer; very small-town without actually knowing everyone that comes through the door.

When I look back on it now, The Village of Tijeras was such a remarkable, unique place to grow up. While it had it's ups and downs, the peacefulness of the mountainside far outweighed any drawbacks of the excessive snow and below freezing temperatures. Instead of firetrucks and ambulances, the sound of chirping crickets and wind rustling the trees put me to sleep every night. On clear evenings, the entire night sky was completely engulfed by stars. And let me tell you, you have never experienced the true beauty of a sunset until you are doing it from on top of a mountain.