Week 4: A variety of activies

Saturday 24th: Today was COLD and by lunchtime it had just about reached freezing point! However, it was sunny and the temperature rose a bit after that. When a crowd of us went into Santa Fe to do our 'touristy' thing, it wasn't too bad - especially inside the arcades and shops.

One art shop had numerous paintings of horses. The proprietor was possibly bored (it is the 'off'-season for tourists) so was very ready to engage us in conversation. She told us she was one-quarter Apache Indian and the rest Spanish - good looking woman about 40. Her favourite movie is "The Man from Snowy River"!!! She was surprised and interested when I told her it was based upon an iconic Australian poem of the same name, so she copied down all the details to follow up. She was born and raised in the Santa Fe area, of parents also born and raised in the area and was raised on a horse ranch.

We went to the famous Loretto Chapel here - dating from very early times - which contains the legendary miraculous staircase. The sisters found when the chapel was built that stairs to the choir-loft had been omitted and there was no room (and no money) to build one, so they made nine days (a novena) of prayer. On the last day an bearded carpenter arrived and set to work with basic tools, completing the staircase in 3 days (I think!) before disappearing into the distance, having asked no fee. There are no nails, no wooden pegs, no obvious supports for the staircase which is a marvel of engineering and fits into the existing space. Here is a rather poor photo (I forgot to change the camera batteries before I went out.)

This evening three of the Australians put on an 'Aussie' BBQ. Well, it was one type of Aussie BBQ. We had hamburgers, chicken and sausages plus salads and rolls. I would have the say the rolls over here are 'different' and the Beetroot doesn't taste like the Australian tinned variety which is sweeter and less acid. Obo loved the atmosphere, but I don't know if he scored! We had a trifle to complete the meal - complete with sherry (although there was also a 'dry' trifle, without the alcohol). At the finish we complimented the chefs by singing 'For they are jolly good fellows", and, would you believe it, the Americans didn't know that!!!! They keep talking about having 'supper' in the evenings, and we have to remind ourselves that that is the evening meal and not a light snack before bedtime.

I tried to walk up to the Waterfull yesterday afternoon in a bit of a break (it is only 15 minutes away) but was defeated by the snow still lying around. It was not prudent to walk near the stream - there was the sound of deep water gurgling below the snow! See the picture? I tried climbing up the side of the stream course, but it became too rocky and I wasn't suitably attired! You can see on the next photo that the upper slopes are almost clear of snow now. It is noticeably warmer - reached 50 F today (about 10+ C!) and the sun was shining brightly. Brochurs talk about the special quality of the light in the State of New Mexico, but I think it is very similar to back in Australia.

By the way, when I said I climbed up a 1000 ft the other day, I didn't mention that Sangre, where I started, is 7100 ft - about the height of Kosciusko. The Needles, where I had lunch are 8230 on top. The vegetation at our level is largely pinon (said like 'pinion') and conifer, but there has been a prolonged drought and it has killed about 90% of the pinon because a bark beetle has been able to attack them while they are vulnerable. The drought seems to be breaking this year. One of the staff here gave us a whole talk on the ecology recently which was very interesting. He took any participants who wanted to go on a 1 hour walk after lunch on Sunday around the property to point out relevant vegetation etc, but I was unable to go because my first massage was programmed right in the middle of the time offered. Anyway, the massage was good and there are books about the vegetation and I can ask others.

We've had sessions on Journalling, on working with Dreams, and now, tonight on Dealing with Grief. Today I participated in the first Water Colour Painting Session which was very profitable. Each of us ended up with six small 'masterpieces' - single colours applied correctly or double colours to show a particular mixture. I am sure we will be doing wonders after the course is finished. Brother Joe, who teaches it, makes everything very clear. We have to hold our brushes just so and stand with straight backs and dip our brushes in a particular way etc etc etc.

All the comments which have been made on my blogspot are very much appreciated. At least I know my efforts are not in vain and someone is reading them! I may add to this blog yet, but I will publish it anyway. xxxx Rita

Week 3 - Drama, Culture, Adventure & Santa Fe

Week 3 has been quite eventful so far. We started by having a missing member at the evening meal on Saturday. She had gone for a long wak in the hills/mountains and had not returned and it was almost dark. She is Australian and I went outside and started sending out Cooees. She answered, but from a long way off - over the hill and faraway! Others arrived and continued calling. The staff set off for a road that went near a path she might be on. The rest of us paced around uselessly as it became dark. (The routes through the mountains are marked with ribbons on trees so are almost impossible to see after dark!) Meanwhile, our missing person kept pushing on, helped by all the voices shouting encouragement; the staff contacted the Search and Rescue Team for the area and they lined up to be there in an hour and a half . It was pitch dark and freezing cold. Obo, the dog, has no rescue skills at all so did little forays into interesting places while we urged him to go searching. Our lost companion's voice came a little closer, then further away, then out of earshot. This went on. It was 8 pm. Two staff went up a nearby ridge with torches. Another sister and I kept the driveway lights going and pointing up into the bush. I heard the missing one's voice quite clearly up another ridge so headed up there with my little torch, which fortunately had new batteries. It wasn't too bad. I found her, not too far up, down a side gully where she had skidded in a bit of a landslide. With the aid of the torchlight and the help of Obo who innocently pointed out steep bits by avoiding them, she managed to drag herself to the side and out, and so we descended from there to the waiting arms of all the others where she was quickly rushed into the kitchen for refreshments and talk, then to a bath then to bed. She slept all day yesterday and has various sore areas today. We were lucky it was not a bad outcome and we were able to cancel the Search and Rescue.

Yesterday 15 of the party headed off to do some culture! Santa Fe has a good symphony orchestra and there was a 4 pm performance including Brahms 2nd Symphony (in D major, I think?) Beforehand, the conductor gave a half hour talk on the three pieces. The first was a Hebrides Opus by Mendelssohn and the second was a choir piece by a current American composer (b.1943) whose name escapes me. It was all very interesting and the music was lovely - especially the Brahms. The choir piece was very pure sound but I kept drifting off a little and was in danger of falling asleep.

The audience could have been a Brisbane audience - not much evidence of Hispanic, Mexican and Indians there, as also in the orchestra. They were also dressed very much like a Brisbane audience! After Easter the Australian Chamber Orchestra is coming to town, so I'll try to get to see that.

On Ash Wednesday we had a 'desert day' so I went out for a LONG walk - longer than I planned. I climbed up what are called the 'Needles' - 1000 feet above the height of Sangre, ploughed through lots of snow, got temporarily lost when the coloured ribbons disappeared, and arrived back at 4.20 pm having left at 9 am. Needless to say, I didn't need to be rocked to sleep last night. I will treat you to a couple of photos:

1. Looking up a creek-bed trail with plenty of snow still lying about - note the orange ribbons on the trees for the Orange Trail;

2) A view over the area from one of the Needles

3) Looking back at a slope I climbed (I was impressed!):

Today I went into Santa Fe again and made a bee-line for the Railway Station, specially in honour of Neil! I don't know if this is what he was talking about on his blog comment, but there are three pictures that might be of interest:

1) a Caboose - the place where the train conductor lived; his task was to wash down the train and stop any fires starting up from the coal sparks flying out of the engine up the front. These are not used nowdays.

2) Santa Fe Railway Station - doesn't look much used now. Probaby quite historic;

3) A Santa Fe Southern Railway engine just hooked up to a couple of carriages.

The Ch'i Kung (spelling???) classes are on again at 6 .15 am!!!! An early rise will be called for again. One must pay the price of improving oneself.

Bye for this week. It is all going well. Rita

The Trip to Santa Fe with the Camera Working

Dear All,
Another trip to Santa Fe and this time the camera, used properly, took usable photos. The first three were taken along a road we walked down near the city centre. You can see the buildings are in adobe style. I am standing in someone's gateway and snow still lies on that side of the narrow street. The fence is made of a type of brushwood, and is very common in the city. The second picture shows another typical sight: red chillies hanging out to dry, while the third picture simply shows an attractive dwelling with a little snow still on the roof.
One of the first places we called into was an art gallery and the owners didn't mind if we just looked and took photos. They even talked to us about some of the paintings. The prices were in the range of $10,000 - $25,000 so we weren't really looking to buy! However I really liked the art works. The proprietor travelled to Russia a couple of times annually and brought back wonderful works from there (I think the first one is one of these) and there was a great variey of paintings and styles - three are shown that photographed quite well.
The next triplet of photos shows a sculptured donkey (made of metal) along the street above (but further along, close to the shopping area), a Santa Fe fire truck and my compani0n, Cheryl, standing in the street along which we walked from the de Varges Centre to Shopping Mall. You can glimpse the snowed-on mountains in the background and the shopping area is at the end of this street in the direction of those mountains.

Now we went into another art shop with wonderful glassware, really cute pottery, and some fantastic metal-work walk on the wall.
A third shop we went into had different things again: 1. some crafted bronze decorative 'power-point' covers!" a 'snake' created by painting a piece of twisted mountain driftwood, and some wonderful cushions made of synthetic chamois leather, with native designs on them - they are washable.
Finally we came to St Francis Cathedral, the main Church in Santa Fe. The statue outside with me beside it is of a first local saint. I will print out the inscription below, together with a couple of other photos taken inside the Cathedral. The entrance doors are wonderful with all these bas-reliefs on their metal (brass/steel?) and the Cathedral itself looks down the shopping mall street.
Above, you can see, as well as the inscription, one of the Stations of the Cross, and the full-height-of-the-Cathedral paintings of the Saints of North America which provides the backdrop to in the Altar area. I wasn't able to use flash for the picture, so it is a little dark. I will conclude with two mosaics found on the walls of buildings beside the Cathedral:

Our Lady of Guadalupe St Francis & the Birds
I lit four candles in the Cathedral and remembered everyone before the very historic statue of Our Lady in the Chapel of the Conquistadora (I think). Hope you are all well and not wearied by my enthusiasm for Sante Fe's delights.
Love from Rita

Deeper Snow overnight - more Pics

Dear All,

It must have snowed steadily all night because this morning the place looks like an archetypical Christmas scene. Obo is enthusiastic about going for a walk, but I wasn't. Yesterday, one chap slipped and fell and has his wrist in a plaster now for the next few weeks! The snow is powdery but where you walk becomes ice. Anyway, here are some pictures of the same places as yesterday morning and you should be able to see the extra depth of snow.

Week 2 - Settling in

It is early in the morning as I type this and I am reviewing my plans for today because it is SNOWING. The morning walk has been postponed and the trip to Santa Fe this afternoon in the bus is ??????? - questionable. Looks as though more pictures of snow will be the order of the day. Very exciting! I went out the front and Obo the dog, who has a strong personal identity and mind of his own, was steadfastly lying on his couch and did not move anything except his eyes when I patted him. Yesterday, he trotted up to me as I was the first one out and accompanied me on the walk to the gate and back - about half a mile each way. It was very nice to have his company. However, when I turned to repeat the walk, he declined to accompany me, having had as much as he wanted for his morning walk! I am told that Dennis, the Brother in charge here, picked him out from the local pound when he first came here because, when all the other dogs came jumping excitedly towards Dennis, Obo just stayed where he was. A dog of strong independent character obviously. He is of Doberman style, big and strong and very gentle.

Our newly formed Social Committee has decided to celebrate Valentine's day today. We all received little love letters from our anonymous admirer and now the breakfast tables are covered with hearts. That should warm us up!

It is not as dry today because of the humidity with the snow. Dennis says it will probably snow all day, but that we will go into Santa Fe as long as the bus can get up the hill!!!! Hmmmm!

I've been catching up on a bit of Australian news via Google - it would be hopeless if I relied upon the American TV channels, of which there are multitudes. Finding one's way around the TV set is a new challenge. Well, not much news except snow, so I'll close. I could bore you out of your minds with pictures of the snow scenes, but will desist.

4.30 pm: We went into Santa Fe and it wasn't too bad because it has warmed up and the road is quite free of snow; also, we have had more out here in the mountains anyway. Mind you, it did snow while we were there and I walked between shops suitably attired in parka with hood, new rain-repellant trackies and gloves. There were plenty of 'normal' shops where we went today because it wasn't the special tourist area, but it was still different from Australia. I took a couple of pictures which might give you an idea of the place.

First Visit to Santa Fe

Today, Saturday 10th February, pm, a crowd of us went into Santa Fe to look around. I really enjoyed it. It was so interesting. The adobe buildings are so different and the goods in the shops are so different that I took lots of photos which unfortunately didn't all turn out. (The reason being that, only on the way home, did I re-discover the little switch on the side of the camera whose position one must change depending on whether the photographer needs 'close-up'/ people / distance'!) Of course I took everything on the same setting, so many were out of focus, and not worth keeping. BooHoo! There were a couple of photos, however, of a standard sufficient to be published, so I am feeling bit more optomistic about the camera for future ventures.

At the top of the page you'll see three photos of Pueblo Indian art works seen in a shop with displays of pottery from the nine pueblos in the area.

At the bottom of the page there are two photos taken outside St Francis Cathedral of 1) a particularly joyous statue in the plaza area, and 2) a few of our group on the way to the car park. (I did have quite a nice photo of myself standing beside the St Francis Cathedral sign, but 'lost' it during a glitch in the work on this blog! Sorry to all my fans!)


Santa Fe is absolutely packed with interesting shops. The streets are fairly narrow, between adobe buildings. There are artworks everywhere and tourists everywhere too. It would be a really interesting place to come to as a tourist. A lot of the people in the shops are obviously Indians also, and the culture is quite genuine. I will return at the next possible opportunity and take lots more photos.

The course is getting underway now and we will soon be put in small groups and sort out who our Spiritual Directors will be (from a possible 4 on staff). I will be playing the keyboard at Mass this Sunday in our Chapel - which has bow-ed side walls and a wonderful stained glass area at the back. I seem to be the only keyboard player in the group.

The snow is melting a bit, but there is still a lot and more is predicted during the week. We'll see. Hope I am making you wish you were here.

Looking at Sangre de Cristo - Snow!

Today I will post some photos I took this morning to give you some idea of the snow lying about and the place. The first one has Obo and a staff member, for a bit of extra interest. The others are views of the building and the scenery. It is not really that cold. The place is very well heated and I wore my normal winter walking gear and was quite comfortable for my morning walk. It was full-on for information today, so we are all a bit 'brain dead'. But it is all good.