Smith is thankful that broadband is on its way

Christy Smith moved to Socorro after retiring from her career as an English professor.
Juan Baeza | El Defensor Chieftain

Socorroan Christy Smith fell in love with New Mexico’s sunsets, green chile burgers and adobe architecture.

What do you do?

I am a retired English professor and I taught in Colorado for 22 years. I came to New Mexico 42 years ago from Massachusetts. Then I went to Denver for 10 years or so. I went to Texas for eight then back to Colorado and now I’m back in New Mexico to retire.

When you first moved to New Mexico how was the culture shock to you?

It was really rough; I wasn’t a big fan of the west. My former husband was an amateur astronomer at the time, so he was looking for dark skies. So, we moved to Santa Fe. I got a job at a photo lab. It was so different, but the history was much more interesting than in Massachusetts.

What was the first thing that made you start to fall in love with New Mexico?

It was Lotabuger. A double cheeseburger with green chile. It was almost my daily meal when I was younger. I am honestly surprised I didn’t become overweight because I would eat them so much. The other thing was the sunset and the skies of course and the adobe architecture.

How long have you lived in Socorro?

Well, here’s the deal my boyfriend has lived here for 20 years. I came here in March of 2020 for spring break and I ended up staying for a year and a half. We had a COVID kitten together and I just kind of knew I was done with teaching so I retired and came here.

What do you like about Socorro?

I like the diversity. I mean just going to John Brooks is like a sociological experience. You see so many different individuals. You never know what type of person you will encounter. It’s like a world away from the world. I’ve also found a lot of likeminded people and I am apart of various groups. Like the Socorro County Federation of Democratic Women. I am the secretary of the Save Our Bosque Task Force.

If you could change one thing about Socorro, what would it be?

Broadband. Thankfully now that is on the way.

What is your favorite movie?

“The Princess Bride” and “Ghostbusters.”

Who is your favorite author?

Right now, I am doing a compare and contrast between two books and those are “Bless Me Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya and “An Owl on Every Post” by Sonora Babb. Since I’m writing this paper, I’m doing this compare and contrast on two stories that have a ton of similarities. I’ve been fascinated by these two authors.

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive) who would it be?

Oscar Wilde. He was just a brilliant conversationalist, clever, funny, interesting and creative.