All Aboard the Georgia O'Keeffe Express!

Good Morning,

It seems, sometimes, that weekends are too short. Such was the case this weekend, with so much going on in sunny Santa Fe. Jonathan and I, as fellows, got invited to come along on the annual "summer picnic" for the museum staff. This year, as it's the 10th anniversary of the museum, the picnic was a special event. We boarded an historic train in Santa Fe and left for Lamy, an hour train ride away (not because Lamy is far, but because the train only goes 25 mph). The train ride itself was interesting, as most people had never been on this train, and for some, it was their first time on a train ever. Trains are not nearly as common out here these days as on the East Coast! The ride was very scenic, through a lot of wide open space, and the trainride itself was a lot of fun--with old fashioned seats, a club car with a bar, and a general party spirit. We arrived in Lamy to go to, literally, the only place in town, the Legal Tender Saloon. The Saloon, had been closed for a decade, until recently it was restored and revived. It was a neat old building, with a lot of history and cowboy stories of Billy the Kid, poker games that ended in death, and general mayhem. It's a bit quieter today, mostly a stop for tourists who take the rail ride.
We had a BBQ buffet dinner, with bandannas for napkins, played horshoes, line-danced (NOT me!) and generally had a good time. It was nice to meet some new people from the museum outside of the work setting, and definitely a fun excursion.

The rest of the weekend was spent reading, watching movies, going to the gym, and at my favorite Saturday morning activity, the AMAZING Santa Fe Farmer's market. I did a better job of keeping my purchases in check this week. Buying only some delicious little grapes, some Mediterranean flatbread, some orange and purple dahlias, and a breakfast calzone. But, it's always fun to walk around and take in all of the sights and smells. Were I able to pass on via this blog the smell of roasting green chiles, I would, because it's such a unique and wonderful smell--one that's often in the air around here because it's high chile season. I find myself being able to eat spicier and spicier food here--especially the chiles--which are made into a sauce that is ladled over everything from eggs to enchiladas!

But, now, on a gray Monday morning here, it's time to hit the books as it were and get back to business. This is a busy week here as a new show is opening--the women of the Stieglitz circle. The opening is Thursday night, and should be a lot of fun. Hope everyone is well! I miss New England Fall--I can only imagine the lovely weather and the leaves beginning to turn.

Pic 1: Chiles are in season and they are EVERYWHERE!
Pic 2: Chiles Roasting--I've become quite fond of this smell
Pic 3: The Bounty of the Farmer's Market
Pic 4: The train we took from Santa Fe to Lamy

Routines...

Three weeks in, and I've finally settled into a bit of a predictable routine. It's strange relearning the nuances of living solo, even if only for four months. I typically spend from 8:30 to 6ish at the Research center, hit the gym, cook dinner, watch a movie (to settle my brain down) and go to bed. After so many months of Netflix, it's also strange to be going to a video store again, but it's good people watching and the staff enjoys being slightly rude to all of their customers. Might I recommend "The Painted Veil" and "Starter for 10." Life's fairly predictable, save nights like last night when the power goes out for a few hours. My 4 year old neighbor Drew brought me candles--it was adorable. I like my gym here alot because it's a community center so there's always a lot going on. I've learned that men's basketball leagues take their games surprisingly seriously :-). Lots of rivalries. It's extremely cute how many wives and girlfriends and little kids fill the bleachers to watch the games. The swimming is best late at night, when the lights are dimmed and it feels like you are swimming outside at night.

We had our first bi-weekly "Scholars Tea" today outside on the patio. It was fun to hear stories about the museum. The director is really vibrant and funny. There's a new exhibit being hung this week, opening on the 20th. It's about the women of the Stieglitz circle who preceeded O'Keeffe. I am really looking forward to seeing the Gertrude Kasebier photographs. She was a good friend of Day's. I also got to meet Max Weber's daughter who lives here in town this afternoon and look forward to chatting with her about her father's connections to people in my circle like Clarence H. White. Most of the time I like the quiet of the research center--the uninterrupted spans of work time--but I miss being to walk outside the office and stroll around chatting for a bit when my brain is fried. And I miss answering questions from students, strangely enough. I worked for 9 hours straight today revising an article and wished a bit that someone would knock on my door and ask me an advising question, just to break it up. However, it would have taken me two weeks to get the same amount of revising done while teaching, so maybe the uninterrupted quiet is good for working :-). Jonathan, my scholar neighbor, is good company though and we're going to check out Santa Fe's famed breakfast joint, the Tecolote Cafe on Friday. We also got invited to the Museum's 10th anniversary staff party on Saturday, where we board a train at the Santa Fe railyard headed for a saloon. It promises to be an adventure.

Santa Fe has settled down considerably after fiestas ended on Sunday evening and the weather is cooling off nicely as we head into fall here. I can't wait to see snow here--it just seems so strange to think of snow in the desert.
Any and all visitors welcome in the casita (one at a time however--that's the rule).

Farmer's Market!!

Today I spent the morning at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market which is easily the best Farmer's Market I've ever seen (click the title of this post to check it out). It happens every Tuesday and Saturday morning from 7-noon in a shopping plaza about a mile away from my house. The market is so successful that the city is in the process of building a permanent indoor/outdoor market building on the outskirts of town. I think it's such a great way to keep small family farms up and running.

There were probably about 50+ vendors of all kinds this morning: baked good, fruits, vegetables, flowers, candles, soaps, fiber arts, spices, herbs, honey, plants, all kinds of things....The market itself was packed, all sorts of people milling about, some relaxed, some definitely on a mission. You can tell people have their favorite vendors for just about everything. The smell of roasting green chiles (the New Mexico specialty) was everywhere. What a fun morning. I can't wait to go again, and to cook something with all the veggies!

A list of my purchases (money goes FAST at the market)!

Cranberry Scone (that's already gone)
Raspberry Ginger Red Chili Jam (delicious)
Calabacita (a strange round zucchini)
Haricots-verts
Nectarines
Asian Pears (four for ONE dollar)
Golden Delicious Apples
Lemon Cucumbers (these are the strangest looking things--can't wait to try)
Fingerling potatoes
2 Broccoli Florets
A Sweet White Onion
A sage stick (for burning--love the smell)
A beautiful bunch of zinnias (I miss mine at home in the garden)

I'll take pictures next week; the camera battery was dead :-(.

Fiestas continue through tomorrow, and I think after I go to the gym, I will stroll down to the plaza and see some dancing and listen to some music! Have good weekends!!

Zozobra!

So it's really hard to describe Zozobra, and I am not sure I am up to the task. I'll just give a preview, and the pictures can give you a better idea. Zozobra, or "Old Man Gloom," is an 83 year old Santa Fe tradition. Each Fiestas week in September, since the 1930s, old man gloom has been built and burnt as a sort of community cleansing. Begun by the artist Will Schuster, he bequeathed the enterprise to the local Kiwanis chapter when he died. So, every year, upwards of 20,000 Santa Fe residents and visitors trek up to Fort Marcy Park to watch the burning. Gates open at 2pm; the burning happened at 8:45pm. I arrived (with my new scholar friend Jonathan) around 6:15 and took in the scene. Lots of little kids, teenagers, hippies, and residents of all types were spread out on blankets, picnicing, listening to music, eating from vendors, buying light sticks and getting ready for "the burn."

As it got darker, the crowds swelled and swelled and by 8 you could tell that people were getting restless. Chants of "Burn Him" began (a little too reminiscent of "Lord of the Flies" crossed with the scene where the Deatheaters come out at the Quidditch World Cup in Harry Potter IV) and got louder as the time came closer to the Burn.

The Burn began with the stadium lights going out, and people pressing their way to the front, chanting louder and louder. Dancers began a pagan ceremony up and down the Aztec temple style stairs that led to Zozobra, running around, throwing fire sticks, and cueing the fireworks to begin. This pre-burn activity lasted way too long, but you could tell it was just to get people more and more riled up. Little kids were screaming, adults were calling for the burn in the kind of scary, intense voices that only come out when it's dark and no one can tell who's yelling. The pot smoke grew thicker and thicker, and finally, after the red flame dancer came out, the burn began. Zozobra, about 40-feet tall, and a working marionette, is filled with gloom messages: divorce papers, speeding tickets, and gloomy thoughts written on scraps of paper loaded into the bottom of the structure. I think it would've been more "cleansing" without the screaming and the incredibly loud amplified moaning of Zozobra himself. The burn was pretty spectacular, and over very quickly. Getting out of that place was a little scary--masses and masses of people trying to crowd over very small wooden bridges, but back to the casita safe and sound.

I don't think I'd go to Zozobra again, but it was pretty cool (and so strange), and quite the experience!

Viva la fiesta--festivities continue through the weekend, with all state offices closing at 2pm tomorrow.

Time for bed!

Pic 1: Zozobra by daylight
Pic 2: Zozobra right before the burn, with the pagan dancers
Pic 3: Zozobra burning!!!

10,000 Waves

So on Monday, after hearing my neck pop while doing some pilates, and having the day off from the museum, I decided to make use of Kate's birthday present, a gift-certificate to the renowned Santa Fe Japanese Spa, 10,000 Waves. What an incredibly beautiful place. You'll see below the pictures of the grounds on the walk up. The Spa is known for their Japanese baths--sort of like a hot-tub, but oh-so-much nicer. They have communal men's and women's tubs, in addition to private tubs. They are all enclosed, with rain showers, cold plunges, saunas, teak decking, and the blue sky and many trees above. I'm having a hard time thinking of a more relaxing place. If you come to Santa Fe (and please do!), you must spend a day here. Better yet, I'll take you. It was fun talking to people on vacation, some who postponed leaving Santa Fe, just so they could spend another day here at the spa. My massage was decent (I still have bruises on my back from Pyara's elbows), but I'm a discerning client :-) so you have to be a pretty good masseuse to impress me...and it was good, not great. When I go back (and I will definitely go back) I'll go for the special Japanese pressure point massage. It's so interesting to be in carefully cultivated environments like this one--they've taken much care (open since 1984) in really making a truly quiet and relaxing space that's not really snooty like most spas are. All sorts of people were there--alot of locals too--as they give a hefty New Mexico discount. Everyone walks around in Kimono's and sandals, and somehow that seems almost normal. Almost...until you drive out of the driveway back into reality. But "reality" Santa Fe style is nothing to complain about, so I won't.

I am really settling into work at the museum now--there in my office most days from 8-5:30 ish. Windows open, speakers playing music, me in my comfy grey plush chair taking copious notes on yellow legal pads. It's truly amazing how much work can actually get done in an office when no one comes to knock on your door. Don't get me wrong, I miss my students and teaching terribly, but this gift of time and silence is truly amazing. I've been reading lots of primary and secondary stuff on Stieglitz and Day, shoring my foundations, so I can go on to put Day back into the leadership role of the fine art photography movement. I've rediscovered the critic Sadakichi Hartmann and some key phrases of his from the 1890's like "Day and Stieglitz are the only photographers that should even be looked at by serious "art" critics." All synapses are firing and my brain is back to making connections beyond whatever I am teaching on a given day. Maybe it's all the Gingko Biloba I have to take for the altitude issues--maybe it's the peace and quiet--maybe it's the fact that I know I better make the most out of this four months, because it's back to reality in January. Either way, I am remembering how much I love to research (if not the part that comes after), and that's a sentiment I've not felt for ages.

Life here has settled into a routine--museum, gym, eating healthy, listening to Cds, not watching TV--I have one, but rarely turn it on--there's nothing I really need to be distracted from. I do find that I miss people (my husband especially), but the solitude has its benefits, and there are plenty of nice people to talk to at the research center when I get tired of putting pen to paper. The guards are particularly informative and amusing. It is, I must admit, SO strange not to be at BC after 11 years, but I am getting plenty of updates from my old students and advisees, which I am grateful for!

Tomorrow is the burning of Zozobra, which I am excited for. I mean, who doesn't want to see a 40 foot tall Old Man Gloom go up in flames with 30000 other spectators. I'll be sure to fill you in :-). Good Night!

Check out 10,000 Waves: http://www.tenthousandwaves.com/

!Viva la Feista!

This Labor Day weekend is the start of the week-long fiesta in Santa Fe that occurs during the first week of September each year. The Fiesta commemorates the Spanish reconquering of Santa Fe (from the Indians) in 1692, led by Don Diego De Vargas. It is both a religious celebration and a party, with a strong mix of Native and Catholic elements. This weekend, the first events included a huge Arts and Crafts fair on the Plaza, entertainment last night in the Capital park (mostly mariachi and dancing), and the annual Night Light Parade. It was lots of fun to wander among the many vendors at the Arts and Crafts fair--it's really amazing to see the unique things people make--both useful and not. I curbed my tendency to buy things and just had a strawberry lemonade agua fresca as I strolled around. I then wandered over to the park to listen to a few hours of very varied mariachi--some great, some not. Santa Fe's first all-girl mariachi band was fabulous; the self-promoting "Jenna" not so much. There was also traditional dancing on the center stage, and the little girls all running around in their fancy dresses, petticoats and cowboy boots were absolutely adorable. When darkness fell completely, around 8:30, the parade began and I walked closer to home to watch it, as the procession went right past my street. As the parade began--floats and marching bands all illuminated with Christmas lights and other glow in the dark paraphanelia--the heavens opened and it started absolutely pouring, thundering and lightning. I watched the parade, got soaked, and felt very bad about all the costumes and floats getting ruined; such is life.

Today, I decided to go to the Indian Arts and Crafts festival at the Santo Domingo Pueblo, about 20 miles south of Santa Fe. It was neat to go and explore the Pueblo and also to visit the literally hundreds of tents filled with jewelry, pottery, and weavings. It was even harder to contain myself (and my wallet) at this fair as the array of turquoise and other shell and stone jewelry was stunning. Though I wanted a $200 necklace, I settled on a very cool $20 bracelet and a lunch of roasted green chile covered Indian Fry Bread. The bread is sort of like fried dough, but better. I brought my camera, but no pictures were allowed in the pueblo. This was too bad as I would have loved to take some shots of the traditional Indian dances that occured throughout the morning. It was incredibly hot at the pueblo, so after a few hours, I headed for home and for a swim workout at the Fort Marcy pool. The altitude sickness is better thanks to copious amounts of water and hefty doses of Ginkgo Biloba.

Fiesta continues all week, the highlight being the burning of Will Shuster's Zozobra (Old Man Gloom) at Ft. Marcy Park on Thursday night. All year long, people collect their bad thoughts, old speeding tickets, divorce papers, etc. and put them into the huge Zozobra to be burned. This ritual, done since the 1930s, is supposed to rid Santa Fe of gloom and bad thoughts. Apparently it's quite the sight, with more than 30,000 watching. I've already got my ticket, and the park is right behind my casita, so I am looking forward to it. There's also lots of entertainment on the plaza next weekend. Maybe I'll have some new friends by that point, as at least one other scholar is coming this week :-).

I am enjoying it here--it's very cool to see so many new and different traditions (new and different to me anyways). Enjoy the rest of your weekends. I cannot believe it's the end of summer.

Pics 1-4: Images from the start of the fiesta on the Plaza yesterday.
Pic 5: The little Casita I live in....