I’ve had a thing for El Paso since my time at the Border Art Residency around a decade ago. Finding myself synched with this big cat mural during a recent left me feeling all warm and cosmic. That my lifelong pal Emily captured the glow was icing on the rainbow, considering she inspired this double reunion.
It was fun to wander around with her, visiting some of the spots I’d enjoyed during the handful of times I traveled in from La Union during the residency—the degree to which my homebody nature reigned during that period actually unsettles me a little—but I guess my response to a gorgeous live-work loft space is not to leave it very much. We had a couple of beers at the Tap which is just as red and dark as I remembered and discovered that a baked potato will arrive in a strange and welcome way when you order a plate of tacos al pastor. Not to be content without tacos at every meal, the ones we stumbled upon at Elemi were likely the best things I’ve tasted outside of old Mexico, well worth a taste.