New Mexico: Aunt June

Autumn is the favorite season of many New Mexico residents, with stunning fall colors, skies dotted with hot air balloons, warm days followed by crisp evenings, and of course, air filled with the incredible smell of roasting chile.

91-year-old June Rutherford, a Hatch, N.M. native, provides tips on chile (“When it’s got an orange vein, it’s hotter than the devil!”), telling the story of the Hatch Valley’s designation as the “Chile Capital of the World”, and explaining that she credits her longevity in part to consuming copious amounts of the spicy food (“That’s the trick – work hard and eat a lot of chile!”).

CREDITS:

Director: Ryan Heffernan

Camera: Grayson Schaffer, Kahlil Hudson

Producer: Anna Callaghan

Aerial videography: RC Aerial Cam

Music: Cleod9 (www.cleod9music.com)

Special thanks to June Rutherford, Young Guns Chile, and Flagship Foods.