In Memorium: O Beary Boy

Baron von Sprockett II

Yesterday we had to have our dear dog Baron

 put to sleep.  

Beary at 5 weeks old

Here is a picture of him the day we brought him home: 
Thanks-
giving, 2007.

 
He was only 6 years old, but he had serious dental issues.  By the age of two all of his canine teeth had broken off and he was wearing his other teeth down to the gum line. We knew he wouldn't live to be an old dog.

"GET OUT, YOU NASTY CAT!"

But what a lot of living he did in those six years!  We never expected he'd live this long or give us so much love!

"IF YOU DON'T LISTEN TO ME, YOU CAN'T GO CAMPING!"

GONE - BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN!

San Francisco de Asis

San Francisco de Asis is one of the most photographed and painted churches in the world.  

Adobe ruin at Rancho de Taos Plaza

Built between 1772-1815, 

it sits in the ancient Rancho de Taos Plaza. 

Both Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams were inspired by this beautiful building.

Hacienda de Los Martinez

On the morning of my Thursday afternoon photo tour, I didn't have anything to do, so I decided to go see one of the five museums I'd already bought a group ticket for.

I love going to art museums, and I can spend hours looking at paintings and sculpture.  But I also like the rustic "museums" which show the way of life of a people from long ago.

La Hacienda de Los Martinez is certainly a treasure in Taos.  Built in 1804, in a sparse fortress style (to protect it from frequent attacks by Apaches and Comanches), it became the main trading center at the northern boundary of the early Spanish colonial empire.

Hornos (outdoor ovens made of adobe)

Severino Martinez and his wife Maria raised six children in the Hacienda. It has two courtyards surrounded by 21 rooms.

Local artisans put on demonstrations throughout the year, on how to make everything from adobe bricks to quilts, rug weaving, and horno cookery.

There is also a room full of religious carvings and items used in funeral rituals.

Afternoon Photo Tour

Geraint Smith picked me up at 1 for our afternoon photo tour on Thursday.  We headed south out of town on Rte 68, a way I'd been before. But I was sight-seeing.

ME: "What's that?"
GERAINT: "What?"
ME: "That thing way off over there, that looks like the Great Wall of China." 
GERAINT: "Oh, that's the Rio Grande Gorge. That's where we're going."

He turned off the main road at Pilar, a little village on the river, and we wound our way up and out of the Gorge (I guess, I was lost...). 

On the way we marveled at huge boulders pieced together like a giant-child's puzzle.  

We met a painter at one point. He was all by himself up on a cliff; the rest of his family was hiking below, somewhere.

We crossed some bridges, until later in the afternoon, we ended up at the Gorge Bridge, which must be the mother of all Rio Grande bridges, in my humble opinion.  


WOW!  It was like a miniature Grand Canyon, and certainly gave me that same sick vertigo!

But the part I loved the best was when Geraint parked his car on the side of a cliff, and I jumped out and began snapping away at the drop-off on my side.  He quietly called my attention to what was pretty much camouflaged, a small group of bighorn sheep not much more than eye level on his "up" side of the cliff.

The entire Photo Tour idea was so worth it! Two visually stunning days in the company of a pleasant, competent driver / pro-photographer who really knew his way around the parts of Taos I really wanted to see!  

I thank you, Geraint, and I highly recommend your Photo Tours!

http://www.geraintsmith.com/phototours.html

Museum-Going

I bought a museum ticket when I first got to Taos.  For $25 you were admitted to the 5 major museums in town. The ticket is good for one year (hope I can return next winter), and if you only visited three of the museums, you broke even on the price.

I visited the Millicent Rogers Museum for a couple hours between my move from the Jordan Cabin to my bed and breakfast. I didn't know if photos were allowed inside, so I left my camera in the truck. But I did get a shot of this unusual Christmas tree sculpture, in the parking lot before I left, made from old horseshoes.


 On my last last day in Taos, I toured the Fechin House Museum.  I had been invited by Jerry, during my first week in Taos, to an evening art talk there, about the history of this great artist of Old Taos. Behind those unusual windows upstairs is a beautiful bedroom, which might have been his art studio.

(I'll come back to this page later, when this project is complete, to add more details about these wonderful museums.)

Morning Photo Tour - The Churches

Very old, Catholic mission churches dot the countryside of Northern New Mexico, with their small villages nearby.  I loved their simple shapes, adobe buttresses, bell towers and courtyards, the essence of humility; and the many hand-carved crucifixes and santero art inside the churches, a testament to the devout faith of the people.

The first church we visited was Nuestra Señora de San Juan de Los Lagos in Talpa, which was built in 1823. 

Although it was not open for visitors, a stroll about the grounds gave me several nice shots. Here is an interesting door into a courtyard. This is probably not a place I would have found on my own, so I thank Geraint for turning me loose here!

Next we stopped at San José de Gracia de Las Trampas, one of three surviving 18th century churches in New Mexico. In 1761, the villagers of Las Trampas started building their own church, with 4 foot thick walls, with their own money and labor.  It was finished in 1776.

Nuestra Señora del Rosario Church in Truchas dates back to the 1760s also.

A Night Out

The week before, the Jordans and I had decided to get together and take in a movie sometime during my final week.  Wednesday evening we went to see HEAVEN IS FOR REAL. 

Photo courtesy: http://pdphoto.org/   Thanks, Jon!

I'd read the book (about a little boy who has a near-death experience) and really liked it, so seeing the movie was a truly delightful treat.  It was good to be with my new friends again, and we all had a great time. This is a wonderful family movie with a moving spiritual message.

There was another movie playing at the theater that the Jordans had wanted to see, and since Thursday was its final night, I said sure, why not!  Knowing that I had my afternoon photo tour coming up, and a movie in the evening, I spent the next morning getting as much rest as I could!

Morning Photo Tour - Countryside

Wednesday morning at 
8 a.m., Geraint Smith picked me up for my A.M. Photo Tour.  You can read all about this incredibly talented nature photo- grapher on his website.  Here's a link to the photo tours page:

http://www.geraintsmith.com/phototours.html

The morning flew by quickly as Mr. Smith took me on the High Road to Santa Fe (or the High Road to Taos, if you're headed the other way).  I was just thankful someone else was driving for a change, someone who knew their way around --- so I could sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Geraint knows the Taos area like the back of his hand.  And I'd sent him a few samples of the type of photography and painting I like to do, so he has this intuitive sense of what the people on his tours would like to see and take pictures of.

He was also a very patient teacher, showing me professional tips in a way that certainly didn't feel teacherly. Something as simple as, "I leave my lens cap off, so I'll be ready to shoot," helped me be mindful of what a waste of time putting it on and taking it off all the time (out of habit) was. 

Another good tip, that a lot of people don't think of, is to have something of interest in the foreground, or at least add some foreground and cut out a lot of that sky, unless of course, it's sky you want.

I was just thrilled with our morning photo shoot. It was actually quite relaxing, just knowing I was in the company of someone who knew his way around.  All I had to do was jump in and out of the car at regular intervals to take pictures of everything that caught my eye.

Our tour that morning included visits to old mission churches of the mountains. I'll show some of those pictures tomorrow.

Sometimes details are what I'm after.

Rusty barbed wire, knotty old boards...

...an antique license plate, from 

the Land of Enchantment: New Mexico.

Once in a while I get a good enough shot, that might make a perfect painting on its own.  

But usually I take parts of one shot and add them to a painting of something else.  I can scale down or up the size of items, move them around, leave them out.  I love photography and have tried to develop a feeling for good composition, but sometimes the lighting is all wrong, or something gets in the way, to ruin a good shot.  No fear, a good painting just might happen anyway.

A Good Day to Kick Back and Relax

Sculpture & Gate in front of B&B; Taos Mt. to left.

Tuesday morning, my back was bothering me a little from my "accident" on the mountain the day before.  I was really worried that I might get worse and have to cancel my photo tour the next morning, so I just stuck around my casita and took it easy. And took some more pictures.

This is the "garden" part of the Garden Casita, where I lived for 8 nights.  Since it was so early in the spring, the planters hadn't been planted yet and the trees hadn't leafed out. The building is the casita across the courtyard. I bet it's lovely in full bloom.

On the Road Again

Funky decor at my bed and breakfast.

After a day of miserable desolation, during which I felt like bashing my head into the wall, over & over, I finally stopped crying and decided I wasn't going to let my disaster ruin my vacation.  The photographer who would be taking me on photo tours later in the week would have a spare camera I could borrow, or I could buy a cheap point-and-shoot at Walmart.

At breakfast on Monday morning, I met a couple from Denmark, just passing through. They were a photo-journalism team from a Danish magazine, touring America on assignment. When I told them what had happened to my camera, she (the photographer of the team) asked to see my camera.

"Well, honey, your camera's not broken.  Your CF card is just full."

DUH! Sure enough, I slipped in a spare camera card I had and voila! I'm back in business.  My first tour was scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Having nothing to do that day, I decided a road trip was in order.  On the map, Colorado looked really close --- it wasn't! --- so I drove towards the border.  After 4 hours I was barely into Colorado and decided I'd better turn back.  

At this scenic overlook, as I was crossing this crusty patch of snow, I broke through into a rivulet of melt-water and really jacked my back! But the shot was worth it and the view was breath-taking!

It was an enjoyable trip and the perfect day for it.  I went up into higher elevation, where I found snow and huge mountain ranches like on the old TV show, Bonanza, and evergreen trees. A totally different environment than that found around Taos.

Easter Sunday

I had my first gourmet breakfast  at AAGHB&B on Easter Sunday morning.  I wish I'd taken pictures of the meals.  They were so delicious and beautifully presented. The first breakfast was a big, fluffy breakfast burrito with pan-fried sweet potato cubes, and sliced, fresh fruit (always, fresh fruit and delicious fruit smoothies).

After eating, I returned to my casita, where I got ready for church.  I went to the 10:30 Easter Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Things went just fine until my shoulder bag (not padded), fell through the gap between pew seat and pew back. BAM!  It had my camera in it, and my camera is big and heavy!  How embarrassing! 

Model of the first church here

After Mass, I went outside and fired off a picture...Whew!  My camera wasn't broken! It was a miracle!  

Juan Diego with tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe

I wanted to photograph the inside of the beautiful church, so I milled around outside as the church emptied.  










I took a few more photos, and then went inside and took this last one...

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Taos, NM

Then suddenly, my camera just froze up! I was devastated! Of course, I knew it was broken. And my heart was broken with it.  Without a camera, I might as well just pack up and go home.

I Got the Blues

This is the Jordans' home next door to the cabin.  The blue gate is the side entrance to their large adobe-walled patio.

I had a wonderful time with the Jordans. Jerry invited me to an art talk at the Fechin House Museum one evening.  A couple other evenings they invited me over for dinner. Such genuine hospitality!

But all too soon, I had to leave my new friends behind and move to my second week's rental, the American Artists Gallery House Bed & Breakfast. 

If you like funky, wacky, zany, this place might be just what you're looking for. It's famous for its gourmet breakfasts, all you can eat!  But I'm a solitaire, so eating every morning with 9 or more other people at a noisy table wasn't the best choice for me. 

The owners had a "walk-on" peacock, George and numerous stray cats that had made their home here.  George had escaped his previous home and took up residence here 10 years ago. He was the highlight of every breakfast, being let out for the day from his roost in the utility room.  He'd put on quite a dance for the delighted guests.

I'm sorry I forgot to take a picture of my little casita which set off by itself in a corner of the property. It was one room with a bed and kiva fireplace and a small bathroom with the most vigorous shower I've ever enjoyed!  Here is a little piece of old coyote fence that happened to be leaning against my casita, almost lost in the jungle. 

All about the exterior of the property were little surprises to happen upon, if you weren't racing off to the ski slopes, spas, or shopping after break fast.  

I really liked this little pony head atop one of the adobe walls. 

I also loved the tiles that made up the picture of Don Quizote (below).

Yes, I'm afraid I  did... I got the blues when I left the Jordan cabin and moved to town. This was a place to sleep in and a place for a great breakfast, but I simple got the blues that Saturday night when I moved in at AAB&B.  Maybe I was homesick. 

Well, things were to get worse before they got better!