Santa Fe Continued

 

Sammy posed at the Capitol building. Of course, the architecture matches the land.

Natalie Goldberg writes a lot about the vast sky of New Mexico. I understood what she meant when we were there – it was so expansive and blue.

Even in the city, the sky and the mountains loomed.

Georgia O’Keeffe had this to say about New Mexico,

“There’s something so perfect about the mountains and the lake and the trees…sometimes I want to tear it all to pieces.”

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum was inspiring.

Being there made me think deeply about the relationship between human and place. O’Keeffe’s memory is soaked through that part of the country. She embodied the enormous skies, the brilliant colors of the landscapes, the dry earth and bones.  She found sanctuary in her dream home near Santa Fe and had this to say:

“It was all so far away – there was quiet and an untouched feel to the country and I could work as I pleased.”

I love the idea of home as sanctuary. I have been thinking about the idea of a peaceful, clear space to work – to write, to create, to breathe. I hope to have a space like that in the not-too-distant future.

 

Here’s an O’Keeffe quote that gets my heart beating:

“The bones seem to cut sharply to the center of something that is keenly alive on the desert even though it is vast and empty and untouchable... and knows no kindness with all its beauty.”

 

Besides the O’Keeffe Museum, in Santa Fe we spent some time strolling outside of galleries. However, we were more excited about the public art outside.

 

We found an outdoor cafe for coffee and pause. Inspired and tired, we re-fueled.

I then went to visit an old, dear friend in Española and met her tiny baby and sweet husband. It was such a peaceful, beautiful visit. It gave me motivation to continue, though my body was exhausted, my mind was full, and my heart craved some peace and quiet.

“Interest is the most important thing in life; happiness is temporary, but interest is continuous.” -Georgia O’Keeffe