Instead of watching John McCain accept his party's nomination, Maria and I decided to go watch the OTHER Old Man Gloom.
If you're unfamiliar with Zozobra (aka live in Oklahoma), it's this party where 40,000 people pile into a park and watch a giant paper mache marionette burn to the ground. So correct! It is the most useless/best thing ever!
Burning Zozobra is supposed to rid yourself of gloom. You're also supposed to bring pictures, divorce papers, lawsuits, parking tickets, things like that, to be burned up with Old Man Gloom. It's nothing but an excuse to party. But it's also neat to watch something large be lit on fire.
It was the first time I'd been and I went expecting the worst. Once again, I really hate Santa Fe. And the organization of their public events completely lived up to my expectations. You would think, after having this event since 1924, that maybe, just maybe, there would be some organization to it. And you would be completely wrong. Finding parking in Santa Fe is bad enough. Try finding it in the middle of 40,000 people. You'd think maybe they would have have a Park n Ride from somewhere. Once again, you'd be wrong.
Maria and I left Albuquerque about 6:30 after ATMing and eating. Various internet sources told me that there was in fact, a park and ride at "the mall". Limited Santa Fe knowledge tells me that "the mall" is Villa Linda, or Santa Fe Place as it's called. WRONG. The "Park n Ride" was actually at DeVarges Center which can park about 500 cars. Maybe. And it's a mile from the park they have Zozobra. Maria and I lucked the freak out and found a spot at the DeVarges Center when someone left. We then walked a mile, got herded, crossed a few tiny bridges, and got into the actual park at about 8:00. I was terrified we were going to miss it.
But we didn't!
Our timing was actually near perfect. We didn't have to stand too long, he started burning at about 8:30. Because it's Santa Fe, there was a whole lot of modern dance before they get to the actual fire, which lasts under a minute. I guess they want you to feel like you're getting a show out of Zozobra, but I don't think they realize the only thing people care about is watching the dang thing burn.
I'M IN UR FIESTAS, BURNIN UP UR GLOOM.
But, considering I got about 15 minutes of entertainment for a 4 hour ordeal, I still had a lot of fun. I think there is some karma in it and the crowd was super excited about it.
But, and this is very important, do you know what started today? Do you? Because I do. AND IT'S THE FREAKING FAIR. I. LOVE. THE. FAIR. So, wine festival on Monday, Zozobra on Thursday, and Fair on Sunday? Yeah, best week for New Mexico ever.
2 comments:
Check out the Zozobra themed political spoof we made for Ben Ray Lujan
http://swingstateofmind.com/?p=446
True story: when I was little (i.e. before third grade) and we lived in 'Burque, one thing we had to do was write up "what we were scared of/what caused us gloom" and then they sent allllll the paper to make Zozobra and we were alllll supposed to feel better. YAY! Except for in my little kid life Zozobra was THE SCARIEST THING IN THE WORLD, so I always wrote, YOU, ZOZOBRA, YOU!!! I hate that damn thing, in short.
BUT WHAT I DON'T HATE IS THE STATE FAIR. And I'll be in town for a thrilling three day weekend (Saturday, Sunday, Monday) next weekend SO let's do it uuuuuup!
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