Stanley Crawford and his wife Rose Mary moved to Dixon, New Mexico in 1969. Along the
Acequia del Bosque, they built their adobe house brick by 55lb brick. Spurred by the Back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s, Crawford started a life of farming and manual labor. Now, a retired writer of 79 years old, Crawford spends much of his time on this same property, tending to garlic crops on one acre of land and writing during the cold winters of Northern New Mexico. Crawford is a parciente (member) of an acequia, a small irrigation ditch running through his backyard, part of the customary water infrastructure of the region. A parciente is a community member who does their share of upkeep of the acequia in exchange for water, a step below leadership positions of mayor domo and commissioner, both of which Crawford has held in his nearly 50 years in the area. Crawford has drawn inspiration in life and work from this landscape, and has written 11 published works, including novels and essays touching on place, landscape and garlic. He also teaches classes at Colorado College in the department of Southwest studies. Today, Crawford relaxes into a comfortable chair in his adobe-walled living room, the air outside full of swirling yellow Cottonwood trees, characteristic of fall. “I may not be an expert in much, but I am an expert in my land”
By: Amanda Champion