The Road to Santa Fe
We returned to the Land of Enchantment for a brief visit thirty years after we moved away from Santa Fe. The high desert town is unique as ever, partly due to the predominance of adobe architecture and to the ethnic mix of the people who live there. Native Americans comprise more than ten percent of the population in New Mexico, and we enjoyed being immersed in the diverse cultures over a long Memorial Day weekend.
We happened to be there for a Native American arts show at the Convention Center where hundreds of artists showed their paintings, pottery, jewelry and clothing. Someone told us that a number of “heavy hitters” were there, and we marveled at the richness of arts and crafts displayed on the walls and tables.
One vendor proudly showed me a photo of a gown she’d designed for an actress attending the Cannes Film Festival, an eagle feather pattern prominent on the dress as the woman posed on the red carpet. Browsing through the vendor’s blouses and cardigans at the show, we laughed together as I modeled some of her clothes. A gray-green top imprinted with a peyote button pattern caught my fancy, as did a tank top in the dark palette and style of Acoma pottery. I took home a few of these precious mementos from the impressive art show.
Later, we stumbled onto another arts and crafts fair behind St. Francis Cathedral with artists displaying blown glass sculptures, pottery, paintings and tapestries. I’ve never seen a small city with such a high concentration of artists. You can’t walk five yards in Santa Fe without bumping into an artist or crafts person near the plaza or in a gallery. It’s inundating in a way, yet well integrated in a setting of spare landscapes and ochre buildings.
Hiking in the Taos Ski Valley
We visited old haunts like our little adobe house in Casa Solana and favorite restaurants like Café Pasqual and Casa Sena. One day we hiked the Aspen Vista Trail near the Santa Fe Ski Basin, which was another old favorite. It was breathtaking to walk amidst Aspens that had just sprouted new leaves, a sea of apple-green shoots carpeting the mountain sides as far as the eye could see.
We did a very different hike at the Taos Ski Valley when my niece showed us the trail to Williams Lake. A moderate four-mile hike to an altitude of 11,000 feet, it was tough going after the first mile since snow covered much of the trail and the footing was slippery. On a better day, we would have liked to pop up to Wheeler Peak for sweeping views from New Mexico’s highest mountain. I’ll look forward to that endeavor on another trip to the Sangre de Cristo Range from which the high plains of the desert stretch for hundreds of miles in all directions.
Hot Air Balloon in New Mexico
These landscapes have captivated artists past and present, from Georgia O’Keefe and D. H. Lawrence to the thousands of painters, potters and jewelers who display their work around Santa Fe each year. Yet for me, it was almost an eye sore to take in so much arid earth after the pervasive greenery of the Pacific Northwest, its many lakes and bay within reach wherever you happen to be hiking. It takes time to accustom the eyes again to the raw beauty of such radically different environs.