Life is a Highway

Ghost Ranch, Part 2

Sunday morning, I walked down from the mesa toward the dining hall for breakfast. A woman intersected my path and we ended up eating breakfast together. Her name was Jeanne O'Dean, and she proceeded to talk about her spiritual journey. She was fascinated that a NASA engineer had turned into a life coach, and told me about some programs she was proposing for young scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory. I told her that I coached young leaders at NASA and had planned a men's workshop in the Southwest, and we started resonating.

Next she started talking about plans for organic farming at Ghost Ranch, as well as her desire to purchase a nearby farm to set up a research and retreat center. Loyal readers of this blog may remember that Marie and I met a couple, Laz and Nancy, last year with similar plans. When I told Jeanne, she asked if I'd like to go see the farm. Now, my plans for the day were to hike another of the trails on the Ranch, but I've found that when these kinds of offers come up, it's often worth seeing where they'll lead. Marie and I have had so many unplanned experiences and met so many new friends this way that I said, "Why not?"

So, off Jean and I headed for Ohkay Owingeh, near Espanola, to see this farm. Turns out it was an organic seed producer called Seeds of Change for many years before Mars Foods bought them out last July. Evidently Mars was only interested in taking their seeds, because they laid off everyone at the farm and shut it down. Now it was back on the market. We walked the perimeter of the property and the nearby Rio Grande and I took photos to send to Laz and Nancy.

On our way back to Ghost Ranch, Jeanne offered to show me Plaza Blanca, which is Georgia O'Keefe's famous "White Place" in some of her paintings. What a treat this was! Like the Bisti Wilderness last year, the landscape was otherwordly, though more vertical than Bisti and a ghostly gray/white. This is one of those places out here that has you asking, "What the heck happened here?"

It turns out that Jeanne is volunteering at Ghost Ranch, and her current job is to drive the tour bus that takes you past Georgia O'Keeffe's house. So upon our return to the Ranch, off we went down the tour bus route. This was a real treat for me, as it let me see another side of the Ranch, the one that inspired Georgia O'Keeffe so much. For those of you familiar with her paintings, here is the actual "Gerald's Tree".

Here's Georgia's house,

and the view out her bedroom window.

As I told Jeanne, "Heck, even I would have been a painter with that view!" Next, I got a tour of Casa del Sol, an individual and group retreat center available for workshops, etc. Get a load of this view from the courtyard,

and this one from a bedroom.

If I had a workshop there I might never leave! Our final destination for the day was Christ in the Desert Monastery, run by the Benedictines. To get there, you have to drive 13 miles down a gravel road, most of the way hugging the Chama River. Along the way we saw whitewater rafters and kayakers.

Eventually we reached the monastery, which blended in beautifully with its stunning surroundings. If you look carefully, you can see three white crosses high atop the cliffs in the second photo.

WHEW!!! What a day, and all because I said "Yes" to possibility. We made it back in time for dinner, then I went back to Tumbleweed to read. No sunset tonight - it was cloudy - but no Michael Jackson, either. Peace and quiet, at last!

Monday was checkout day, and I planned to get in that hike. This time I'm really going down Box Canyon! But that'll have to wait until the next post ...

 

Two Busy Days

Yesterday, we got up bright and early and, with our friend Janet, drove to Taos. There are two ways to get there from Santa Fe - the High Road to Taos, very scenic and slow. and the quicker direct route. It's recommended that you take the High Road on the way up in the daylight, so that's what we did. The beginning of the route was brown, and plenty of it, though pretty in that rugged Southwest way.

In the small town of Chimayo, we made two very different stops. First was the El Santuario de Chimayo, an old Catholic church and shrine, said to be the most important Catholic pilgrimmage center in the United States.

Inside the church, where no photos are allowed, is a small room called el pocito (the little well) with a round pit, the source of "holy dirt", believed to have healing powers. In an adjacent prayer room are photos and discarded crutches, leg braces, body braces and casts of those purportedly healed. The photos, as well as an unbelievable number of baby/child shoes of sick and deceased children, is extremely moving. Though not Catholic, I came away impressed by the commitment and devotion these people have for their faith.

In addition to the church, the surrounding grounds are beautiful and quite moving.

Next we stopped at Ortega's Weaving Shop, famous for their rugs, blankets, jackets, runners, etc. Even if you don't buy anything, it's fun to look around at all of the beautiful patterns and colors.

Next we headed off to Taos, first climbing high into the Carson National Forest, then descending a bit into Taos. First, we headed directly to the Taos Pueblo, continuously inhabited for 1,000 years. It reminded us quite a bit of other pueblos we've visited.

Toward the end of our visit, we stopped in one of the residences for a fry bread fix. Janet had hers sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Next we toured the Millicent Rogers Museum, which had an amazing collection of Navajo rugs and jewelry.

They also had a display of vintage spurs, which reminded me of that great cowboy wisdom, "Never squat with your spurs on." YIKES!!!

We finished off our day in Taos with an amazing meal at El Meze. In between power outages and emergency lighting - very romantic - we enjoyed an appetizer of buffalo short ribs, entree's of trout and melt-in-your-mouth steak, and decadent desserts. This was one of the best meals we've ever had, and I'd highly recommend it if you're ever in Taos.

Just as we entered the restaurant, it began to - brace yourself - RAIN! Some places in New Mexico haven't had rain in over 6 months, so this was truly cause for rejoicing. It rained all the way back to Santa Fe, and when we turned on the news, it was top story #1, 2, 3 and 4.

Today, we slept in after such a busy day, then got up to 42 degree temperatures and snow in the Sangre de Christo mountains.

We took a long, cool walk (with a few snowflakes), then went to look at a couple of condo's in the afternoon - nothing to write home about. We got home late in the afternoon, I had a coaching call, then we ate leftovers - but really good leftovers - with Janet while we watched the hockey game. All in all, two very busy days.

Adios!