Hundred Mile Horizons

*click it to big it*

New Mexico: A high-contrast landscape under a cerulean half-dome; the inverse of the view of Earth from space. The air was thin and dry and fragrant with sage and juniper. That was my favorite thing, the aroma. It was the opposite of my forested southern home, heavy with verdant decay, dirt, sweet smelling flowers, and creek. Speeding along on the highway the colors seemed a homogenous dun; visual relief dependent on shapes and textures. But up close, the beauty is diverse and subtle. For a person that never has a view of uninterrupted sky, living shrouded in diffused and filtered light through ten thousand sparkling greens, the light and space was nothing short of a miracle.

The blood of cowboys and indians seemed to burst forth in the form of cactus flowers; the shocking pinks punctuated the spiny hosts with cheer. The grasses were tipped at times with tails as bushy as a coyote's. Others were crowned with whispy fans of white seed pods waiting to set sail over the desert. Lizards peered from behind rocks, and there was fencing everywhere. "To keep out" said Moi, "not to keep in". I fell in love with the coyote fences, made with saplings bound tightly together in upright rows. The uneven lengths and color variations were delightful, and I resolved to make a southern version for my garden.

the fires blending in with the clouds *click it to big it*

There was a fire. There were many fires. You could see it burning far away and you could sense it just beyond the horizon. You could also see rain several places at once all around you. Gray curtains were falling in a very small area while right next to it the sun shone through clouds like the eye of God. It was an endless flat vista dotted with globular green shrubs until a steppe would rise abruptly from the plain, and beyond that mountain ranges in blue cooled the eye. Moi told of imagining a Navajo youth having this entire landscape open to him; of course there would have been no notion of ownership, just a life on a land alive with adventure and danger. So uninterrupted by structures and power lines, the area we traveled is used for western movies because it actually looks as it did centuries ago.

the courtyard at San Felipe de Neri

In Olde Town we visited San Felipe de Neri, founded in 1706. It was Spanish but spare and very european in its decor. It seemed so formal in contrast to the dusty adobes outside. It opened into the town plaza, a green square surrounded by shopping and eating destinations.

We shopped of course. I was looking for a new straw hat to add to my collection. I selected a rather stiff hat made of palm in Guatemala with a perfect shape and a unique banding on the underside of the brim. I love it. I found plenty of small things that I liked; trinket like in price range but all having a quality that I found agreeable.

A collection of tin trimmed Santos

The bubble ring with the Blessed Virgin inside. I bought it and I am still wearing it.

Back at Moi's lovely home in the hills we were surrounded by chirping birds and plenty of hummers; titmice and western bluebirds; three species of doves and a gold finch with a black cap. The dogs were a study in contrast, the elder statesman Ivan with the regal and exotic face and Maddie the border collie with mad focus and a loving gaze. From the patio where we enjoyed our evening cocktails we could see collections of conifers, grasses and flowers, and the skeletons of cacti strewn about on a pastiche of rocky hardscaping.

Moi outfitted us with gift bags and mine had a special shot glass for me to enjoy my libation: a deer and a beer; which is a shot of Cazadores tequila and a long neck mexican beer. Her selection of a shot glass was an amusing choice - spot on humor -  and I am sure that she would never have guessed that it would now grace my dresser as a vase to hold sweet little blooms that keep the perfumes and bracelets company.

"cuz I, some how, some way, come up with funky ass sh*t, like, ever-ree-day"

Next: We go to the International Folk Art Show in Santa Fe.