Thursday, January 28, 2010

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig


Like an idiot, I thought I was going to the DESERT and didn't think that it's actually COLD in New Mexico since it's HIGH DESERT and, in fact, there was snow on the ground and less than forty degree temperatures. I did bring socks, though, and wrapped my two Los Angeles wraps around and around me when I walked the streets of Santa Fe. I looked HUGE but I felt warm and cozy. Santa Fe is beautiful and very brown.




I sat in a restaurant with my friend Janet who knew all the places to go and what to eat.


Janet tried to get me to order something with the red and green chili, a local specialty, but I wanted the cheesy grits and eggs. When I asked the waiter whether I could get some plain toast with it, he said that the grits dish was a massive amount of carbohydrates and while he didn't look directly in my eyes when he said it, I got the point and declined the toast.


We walked around Santa Fe all morning and into the afternoon. I bought little things for the boys and a beautiful wooden angel for Sophie. I bought some turquoise studs for myself that a round Native American woman had made herself.




We went into the most beautiful Catholic church whose name I can't recall right now, but the art inside was magnificent. Simple and strong --





It was so different than most Catholic cathedrals, and while most of the European ones I've visited are magnificent, there was a certain joyfulness in this one that eluded formality.


I love the use of the word Constantly.

When I opened the door of my room at the inn where we stayed, a painting of the Virgin of Guadelupe greeted me. I loved the flames shooting out of her.


I was going to fib and tell you that there was some sort of significance to that flash of light on her dress, but I didn't see Jesus or Mary there. It's just a flash of light.

We drove from Santa Fe to Albuquerque for our conference (more on that tomorrow or the next day), and the scenery was gorgeous. I stopped to take a picture on the shoulder and pulled behind a minivan. A woman got out of the car with a small mat in her hands. She was dressed in traditional Muslim garb, and when she saw me with a camera she looked hesitant. I smiled and tried to seem friendly as she laid her rug on the asphalt and began what I imagine were prayers toward mecca. New Mexico, home to one of the largest Native American populations isn't called The Land of Enchantment for nothing.


We had time before our meeting in Albuquerque, so we decided to go into one of the new casinos on the way. I've been in casinos before and I actually hate them. They're ugly and profoundly depressing, and this one was as bad as anything in Vegas. There were a lot of old people shuffling around and many had oxygen tanks that they pulled along with them. It was incredibly smoky and while we're talking about all things spiritual, I have to admit that the few times I've gone into a casino, I think about Sodom and Gomorrah. I'm not against gambling or anything and wouldn't assume any sort of moral authority, but seriously.... 

It was my first time actually gambling, though, and we did the slot machines. I told Janet that I consider myself lucky but would only spend $10. This is what I have left.


We did spend two days working on improving the healthcare quality for children with special needs, including those with epilepsy and deafness. I'll tell you about that later.

In the meantime, on the way home I looked out my airplane window, right outside of Los Angeles and saw this.


When I got off the plane, the air was warm and the sun was setting, all pink and glorious in the sky. I love Los Angeles. I really do.

29 comments:

  1. I'm glad you love where you live and I'm glad you got to take some time for yourself and hang with a girlfreind and eat grits. I would have given you the toast.

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  2. Wow, your photos are just as beautiful as your writing. Welcome home! I missed ya. I can't wait to hear about the conference.

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  3. I love your photos, reflections, observations and the way your travel enriches your love of your home.

    Did you realize how close you were to the Center for Action and Contemplation? Aieeeee! I would have felt a gravitational pull. =)

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  4. welcome back and thank you for that wonderful mini tour -- I felt, for a second, that I had gotten away too.

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  5. Thanks for "simple and strong" and for making me think twice about "constantly."

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  6. I felt like I was there too. Thanks for the cyber-travel. I needed that just now.

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  7. You were missed !
    Great photos, Elizabeth. Your observations were perfectly wonderful.

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  8. Beautiful, isn't it? I never tire of that view out the plane window as you cross over into California and the plane is low and the mountains stretch up to greet you. And covered in snow? Beyond beautiful.

    I'm so glad you had this time with your friend in a new place to discover new things. And I can't wait to hear more about the conference.

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  9. I have bought earrings before at that same place in Santa Fe. To my sorrow, they have broken but I loved them when they were whole.
    Beautiful pictures. Thank-you for that lovely beginning to my morning.
    And by the way- in the south- we eat BISCUITS with our grits and damn hell to the carbs.

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  10. What a lovely trip! Can I have a bite of those cheesy grits?

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  11. welcome home!
    lovely photo journey. sante fe is completely enchanting.
    constantly.

    as are you.

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  12. It looks beautiful, a lot like Southern Alberta, minus the snow.

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  13. I think this is my favorite post of yours! I feel like I just took a vacation with you...and now I need to work out after all of those grits!

    glad you are home safely back in the city you love

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  14. wow! awesome shots.i felt like i was there with you. can´t wait to hear about the conference. hugs!

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  15. Looks like you had a great time. I'm so glad you shared the pictures. New Mexico has the most glorious, luminous light.

    Santa Fe is one of my favorite towns. My mother and sisters and I met there to celebrate my 50th b'day some years ago. Great food and art and music.

    I don't think in new-age terms, normally, but somehow there is a spiritual feeling in the air of Santa Fe.

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  16. It looks beautiful but I would miss all of my green trees .... I'm glad you got to have fun with a Friend - as well as all the Work I know you needed to do. I love the woman with flames all around her - virgin or not - that's pretty cool :)

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  17. Can you please have that waiter call me? I need some unsolicited and slightly smarmy advice on many things in my life, too.

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  18. Beautiful photos, Elizabeth. I love that word phrase too. Love each other constantly. Inspirational!
    By the way, what was the matter with that waiter?

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  19. I enjoyed that vicarious journey.
    Thank you, Elizabeth!

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  20. Oh, fair New Mexico! Makes me homesick to see the lovely dotted hills and the blue, blue sky. Miss you friend and glad you are back. Would happily make you a bowl of green chile stew here in the city o' angels.

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  21. wow! I just went on the best little trip! Thank-you for sharing all the beautiful photos. It was really refreshing.

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  22. It was so nice to "walk" the streets of Santa Fe again. Thank you for taking me along. I hope your trip was as rewarding as it was beautiful.

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  23. I LOVE your photos and writing about your trip. Love the geranium in the window and your cheesy grits. I would've gotten you the toast too. Sheesh.

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  24. I like that word there too, constantly. Hm.

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  25. Elizabeth- I know this is silly but I can't quit thinking about that grits thing. It just UPSETS me! God save us from hoity-toity servers. I mean really, he should have asked you the proper question when you ordered the grits which is, "Honey, do you want toast or biscuit with that?"
    Jeez.

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  26. Great photos, thanks for sharing! Of course my favorite is of the Virgen de Guadalupe!

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  27. Hi, Elizabeth, so glad you're back and in this space. I enjoyed this witty post. I find so interesting that you're so drawn to iconography (I'm too, but I lack the articulate thoughts). And I find so foreign how North Americans view food as a collection of chemicals/nutrients ... I once posted on making fresh pasta, and someone commented "I love carbs".
    PS I don't think you have a career in gambling, but you're very audacious:)

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  28. Yay--that looks like the Loretto chapel, which is amazing, with the magic staircase. Did you see that?

    Thank you for the vistas. Very much miss those.

    And take Tanya up on her green chile stew. You won't regret it.

    Thanks for the travelogue. So great.

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  29. What great photos! It looks like you really had a wonderful time!

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