These photos were shot on November 29, 2018.

Boca Negra Canyon is part of Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Most of these ancient rock drawings were created between 400 - 700 years ago though some of them are over 1000 years old.

It is a wonderful privilege to have a place like this in the middle of the city. You can walk through the silent desert and watch a raven fly up over the canyon wall, exactly the way ancient people did hundreds of years ago. The city doesn't need more strip malls and convenience stores, it needs more places to breathe and connect to nature.

How your presence can be beneficial: be a paid visitor to the park and don't mess anything up while you're there. Remember, take only photographs and leave only footprints. No one likes "new petroglyphs", so don't try to create your own. ;)

As with many old cemeteries in Albuquerque, San Jose has fallen into a sad state of disrepair. It is no longer an active cemetery, meaning that new burials are being performed elsewhere and it doesn't seem that anyone is officially charged with it's upkeep. Meanwhile, city life goes on and the unkempt cemetery becomes a haven for tweakers and vandals.
Postscript: If you go there, don't be part of the problem. Remember the golden rule of visitation and photography: Leave only footprints, take only photographs.

In these old cemeteries, it is unusual to find a new(ish) grave and especially one with a news story.

Buried here at San Jose Cemetery is Albuquerque boxer, Vicente "El Picosito" Garcia. In 2006, he was found shot to death in a car. The young boxer was only 20 years old.

Johnpaul and I were at the cemetery on November 17, 2018 and there had obviously been recent visitors to Vicente's grave as evidenced by the relatively fresh jack-o-lantern and half bottle of Modelo beer.

​To learn more Vicente "El Picosito" Garcia and what happened to him, click here.