New Mexico perfect............

It seems like it took me moments to plan...........

this week long journey of ours, my dear friend and I....

 as I have travelled these roads many times before, with friends and alone......

We drove north from Albuquerque, our first stop......

Tesuque Village Market,  just north of Santa Fe, for Sunday lunch.......

fire grilled shrimp over a New Mexican mix of greens and beans!

and another at the Tesuque Flea Market

 for treasures she won't stop talking about for some time to come....

Then we ventured on to

Taos

and the Mable Dodge Luhan House..........now her favorite place to be
(and mine)

The next day was spent touring around Taos.......with a visit to

the Taos Pueblo

That night,

dinner at the Love Apple was divine.......

surpassed only by.....

our breakfasts at the Mabel Dodge......

And sad as were were to leave Taos......

The next day treated us to lunch

 in the sweet little village of Arroyo Seco

.....and on we drove to the Gorge Bridge

with breathtaking views of the Rio Grande from the desert plane high above............

where I found out more than one friend of mine is a little scared of heights....

and we made our way down the windy gravel road heading south to Pilar from there..........

and took the high road to Chimayo where we spent the night.........

The next morning we

made a quick stop at the amazing weaving studio...

Centinela Traditional Arts

to see their incredible collection of award winning tapestries and rugs....

then we moved on to visit

 the Santuario in Chimayo.......a place of pilgrimage

and drove to Santa Fe.......enjoying the breathtaking views from the High Road.....

stopping for photo ops along the way...

We arrived in Santa Fe late in the afternoon......in time to visit the New Mexico History Museum to see the story of the making of the St. John's Bible, Illuminating the Word........and a photo exhibit of Sacred Places in New Mexico.......along with a moment in the meditation room there..........we dashed into the Patina Gallery........and enjoyed a swift visit to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum.   

Then we walked to

   for a glass of wine on the sunlit patio.......and arrived just in time to secure those seats for a delicious dinner.    

We decided to have even more 'big girl' fun and booked a room at the exquisite and monastic

Hotel St. Francis....

And in the morning, we had breakfast at the Burro Alley Cafe.......a lovely French Bakery.......took a stroll.......and then made our way to the Museum of International Folk Art, home of the amazing Alexander Girard Collection, which includes my favorite wall of talismen and tokens from around the world..........

We eventually tore ourselves loose from the hold that Santa Fe had on us

and drove to the little town, in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico, where I live.......to spend a day visiting with my friends.....the amazing women there....who make their own way......

build their homes......share their wisdom.....and dreams......

and finally on the sixth day of our journey.......we made our way back to Albuquerque, where it all began......

to visit Old Town.........

and enjoy a ride up to Sandia Peak........

on a gondola.... for dinner....

to watch the sunset.....

and reflect...........

on all of this.......

and much much more

How I spent my summer.....

I can't believe it's the middle of September!  

Summer has flown by............

and with all my travel and study.....I am amazed I was able to capture some time

for making...........

inspired by the wabi sabi spirit of this countryside....

old trucks left to weather.....tin roofs.....rusty bits....

and of course

crosses 

of all shapes and sizes....

It's that time again.....

Amongst all the other ka-zillion things we did Labor Day weekend........

we visited...

Hatch, New Mexico.....

famous for .....

and their Hatch Chile Festival....

hoping you can smell it too....

(no big crowds here either....)

Traveling with 'others'....

Traveling with others sometimes takes one to places they would not imagine going alone........
or even going to at all......

and that last 'Oh so full' weekend of August took me to such a place.......

SPACEPORT AMERICA

is coming along nicely if not quietly....in the middle of nowhere New Mexico.....

this region is soon to be a bustling hub of activity.....

It was a stunning reminder of how many 'far seers' exist in this world......

and also quite an eye opener to hear that 529 souls have already signed up to be hurled into space...

from here.

I was surprised to see the economy of this operation.....which seems understated at the moment.

Turquoise Moon..........

On the eve of the most recent Blue Moon.........

my friends and I gathered at White Sands National Monument for a night time tour of the dunes........

There are pretty much no words to describe the peace we found there.....

watching the moon rise.....

as the sun set to our west...at the same time

walking......

then resting on the sand as white as snow....

in the quiet....soft.....warm breeze....

New meets Old...........

Wuddaweek............

a week ago Tuesday found me on plane for a last minute visit to Toronto to finish up some

old business........

the weather was stunning.........the temperature gentle on my skin....and the low end of the summer light invited me to take a walk on the last evening of my two day trip there.........

I used to live in Toronto........

  my favorite path begins just to the west of the Royal Ontario Museum (the ROM)....and continues through the University of Toronto....south to Queen Street where....once upon a time I had a studio, near the Art Gallery of Ontario (the AGO)

 and that is where I walked this day.....

  past many examples of stunning Architecture linking new buildings to old.....

  my favorite is this one

Frank Gehry's amazing addition to this place....

is a wonder....

which makes this

 a magical place 

to BE...