Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

One of Our 50 Is Missing: September 2025 Owl you need is a better map.

Owl you need is a better map.
Illustration by Chris Philpot
Owl you need is a better map.

WHAT A HOOT!
In June, the trail camera at MICHÈLE SCHWAPPACH’s San Pedro home captured four owls at a water station. To determine what type they were, Schwappach visited the New Mexico section at the website Bird and Wings. According to the page, “New Mexico is considered the fifth-largest city in the southwestern United States.” It flags several species, such as elf and boreal owls, as being “highly spotted in New Mexico City.” Talk about bird brains.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE
LYN GARLING of Santa Fe was visiting an old friend in State College, Pennsylvania, when her pal called her daughter downstairs to say hello. The college freshman threw her arms around Garling and asked, “How is Hawaii?!” “I don’t know,” she replied, “I don’t live in Hawaii.” Taken back, the young woman asked, “Well, where DO you live?” “New Mexico,” Garling answered. “Oh!” she said, relieved, “I knew it was one of those tropical islands!”

INN-CORRECT
Gaston, South Carolina, resident JAMES ST. CLAIR was perusing the 2024 edition of Fodor’s Santa Fe travel guide when he noticed a flub of biblical proportions. The booklet tells readers, “Meet Native American artists and craftspeople selling their wares under the portal of the Inn of the Governors, one of the oldest buildings in town and where Lew Wallace penned parts of Ben-Hur.” As St. Clair points out, “While the inn is an excellent hotel where we’ve stayed many times, unfortunately they don’t deserve credit for all that.” The Palace of the Governors hosts the Native American Artisans Portal Program and is where Governor Wallace worked on his novel Ben-Hur.

have a “missing” moment?

Send it to fifty@nmmagazine.com, or Fifty, New Mexico Magazine, 495 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87501. Include your name, hometown, and state. ¡Gracias!