PFLAG Picnics in Farmington and Carlsbad by Sheila Mink

PFLAG Picnics in Farmington and Carlsbad by Sheila Mink

The month of October 2008 was the time for two PFLAG picnics, one in the NW and one in the SE part of New Mexico. And, they were on consecutive weekends. Knowing this information was the motivation for two road trips.

Shortly before noon on Saturday October 11th Katherine Palmer & I were ready to leave for Farmington, New Mexico. The wind was blowing briskly, to say the least, as we headed for Albuquerque, stopping there long enough to fill our gas tank. We continued on from the gas station and arrived in Farmington later that afternoon.

Next, we decided to look for the park where the picnic would be held the next day. After a bit of driving around we located both the park and the pavilion. The wind was still blowing very briskly.

Early on Sunday afternoon we ventured back to the pavilion in Lions Park, in time for the start of the picnic sponsored by the Farmington PFLAG Chapter. The temperature, having cooled considerably from the previous day, was about 55 degrees, but fortunately the wind had slowed down to about 25 miles per hour. And, thankfully, the sun was shining brightly, which helped to warm things up a bit. While we ate and talked we were also able to watch the people nearby in the park who were playing Frisbee Golf.

Monday morning in Farmington was very cold, setting a low temperature record of 22 degrees for October 13th. However, as we left for home, we were still basking in the warmth of the good time that we had at the picnic on Sunday.

The next weekend brought us another opportunity to attend a PFLAG picnic, this time on October 18th in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

A little bit past noon on Friday the 17th we were on our way. The weather was much nicer, without the windy conditions of the previous weekend.

Upon our arrival in Carlsbad, we once again went park hunting. This time we weren't able to find the park or the pavilion. Fortunately, we had the next morning to try again.

On Saturday morning we got together for breakfast with one of the members of the Carlsbad PFLAG Chapter. After we were done eating, she showed us how to get to the park and the pavilion. (As it turned out, we had come pretty close to finding it on Friday.)

In the early afternoon we were back at the pavilion, in time to walk around a bit before the picnic started. Since it was in Riverview Park near the Pecos River the scene was very different from that in Lions Park. Where we had seen pretty sandstone rocks at the picnic in Farmington, in Carlsbad we now saw pretty green grass, trees, and water.

And, the weather was quite different too, this time the temperature was 75 degrees, the sun was shining, and the wind was only about 15 miles per hour. For a day in late October it felt pretty good.

Once again we had a good time visiting with the people who came to the picnic. Many of them we had not met previously. The hours passed quickly, and then it was time for us to leave. As we drove home, we had good thoughts and good memories to take with us.

Currently there are chapters in Farmington, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Silver City, Las Cruces, Alamogordo, and Carlsbad.

Would you like to have a PFLAG chapter in the New Mexico town where you live? Katherine Palmer, the New Mexico PFLAG State Coordinator, would be glad to help you start one.

cell: 505-873-7373
email: contact@pflagabq.org