My Colorful 'hood

My Colorful 'hood

Rail Runner train departing for Albuquerque

viewed through Currents Installation in back of El Museo Cultural

Our Annual Currents Modern Media Arts Installation

will have it's grand opening at El Museo Cultural.

Feverish preparations were in progress

more volunteers would be welcome.

Judging by the amount of folks milling about,
Currents 2015 opening night must have been a big success.

Currents 2014

Thumbs Up

Looking after our 'hood, the Santa Fe Railyard, this man, a single dad, only recently saved the life of a man who had ingested hand sanitizer. That man ended up hospitalized for about two weeks. Our law enforcement officer expressed to me that the social problems he would  encounter while on duty would tear at his heart. An eighteen year old girl "still a baby" he said, cussed him out and wished him dead when he had responded to a concern about a naked woman in the back of our teen center. He suspected 'the baby' was on bath salts. On another day recently he had come upon a woman, drunk, in the brutal hot sun, unable to move. Badly beaten, she had suffered bruised ribs. His own son did not want to go to summer school, because the bathrooms for the use of those still very young kids had awful graffiti.  Our officer expressed to me a wish for more of a focus on social issues and less on war mongering.

Thumbs up to those that enforce the law with compassion.

A Peek On Peaks

Before moving on to brighter and more spectacular signs of Spring, waiting in the wings, yesterday's shot taken standing up on a raised flower bed, during a moment when rays of sunlight managed to escape from inbetween dark banks of clouds on the western horizon to light the again snow covered Sangre de Christo mountain peaks on the eastern horizon at sunset. Snow flurries again during the day, light frost at night after temperatures had climbed up in to the seventies and the Lilacs have it in mind to finally open up and blossom. Darn, it was cold, bare footed in sandals winter coat quickly thrown over.

On another note, I won! I placed my first winning bet ever on e-bay last night, a month after I signed on and had scoured the offerings, compared products and prices (in my affordable kinda range) and kept on  obsessing and dreaming on. I won by 6 cents, cleverly posting an uneven dollar amount less then half a minute before the bidding would end! I hope there will be no unpleasant surprises. I do not like to participate in money transactions on-line, so this is truly a first for me. In about a week I hope to be able to post images with this new for me, but older, used camera, a Panasonic DMC FX-35 which comes with a lot of zoom, 18x, and features more pixels, 12.1 then my current Nikon D40, 6. Of course my lust for new gadgets has only increased in my last month of studying mainly unavailable to my current budget  options.

I made up a wish list that includes a Panasonic DMC GF-1 because of the interchangeable lens option and it's compact system, that make it a good choice for street and low light photography. The Panasonic DMC ZS10 might be a good small, older and therefor more affordable pocket camera to have on hand. I still believe the Olympus C-8080 to be a good quality camera, even if outdated and likely requiring technical skills way over the top of my head. I hope my Nikon D40 will be worth the money to refurbish, it sure has given me a lot of pleasure and bang for the bucks, for now more then 5 years. A Nikon D90 with a self-cleaning lens system would be great as we do have a lot of dust here in the Southwest. But for now I will be very happy if the up  and coming Panasonic will work to my satisfaction.

More of my 'hood

 On the plaza on a recent early, Spring-like afternoon.

Bobbie playes with his buddy, they make a good team.

Notice below, Bobbie's belt buckle fashions a real gun.

Unconcealed weapons are legal!

If I wanted anyone to carry a gun, it would be Bobbie.

The guy is so cool and calm, 

an artist, he not only writes, but composes his songs, 

writes about life and creates silver jewelry as well, 

including the gun totting belt buckles - for sale!

There goes my 'hood

Today, as I walked my pups past (as I do so often, although not in snow like we had in 2007, thank God-dess) I watched as the business sign was being carried away and the place what obviously in process of closing up. Another victim to the economy, very sad as this was a gallery that showed mainly local talent and exceptional work at that, unusual and very interesting exhibits were to be experienced there. It made me actually forget that the ground breaking Mothering Magazine (distributed nation wide as it spear headed midwifery, home births and breast feeding, an invaluable resource to any new mother) had made it's home in that building for a number of years. The Box Gallery though was one of the earliest galleries to move to the then still developing, new and improved Railyard district, that now holds some of our top notch galleries.

This shoe box of a rental was rumored to go for $4000/month but stood empty until a cutesy artsy and craftsy one of a kind boutique took it over, but not for very long, maybe a year or two. I did not mourn their demise and rather welcome the new bric a brac outlet for all, or some things French. Those french folks were in, then out, then I watched them move back in again the other day.

Shocking that the seemingly very popular and long standing Cafe Paris suddenly disappeared. It was so charming in Burro Alley with outdoor seating, not far from the plaza. They had moved to a much less fortunate location, probably considerably cheaper, the lovely, but hidden local of the former Mission Cafe. Now they are back on the corner of Burro Alley with another lovely courtyard. They bake the best croissants in town and are frequently sold out already late in the mornings.

The Palace Tea House, located right adjacent to the cathedral allowed dogs in and had low tables and seating. The service was very negligent. Dreadlocked folks preferred to hang out rather then attend to potential customers, still the place had atmosphere, while the replacement has none.

The Aztec Cafe used to allow dogs inside and for a while became a favorite spot to hang out with my then new dog, my Isabella-girl. For decades they were known for good coffee and a hang out for street folks. They tried to upgrade, discourage hanging out too long for too little, offered farm to table fresh produce meals and folded within a few months. Such a shame. I liked the idea and certainly their new shingle. They reverted to the older version, but had to give up. It has been closed of late.

Ah, Cloud Cliff bakery, restaurant and art space, gone now for years, had been a main stay for decades. The place had atmosphere, served great bread baskets, but could not boast of attentive service. Still hard to grasp that it is no more, although Wilem, the Dutch guy still brings his breads to the market.

 

Saint Francis Hotel seems busy as ever, but the lovely lace curtains that gave such a sense of spaciousness are gone, the interior redone along monastic lines of solid, but barren aesthetics.s

The above are only a few of so many changes, especially of late, that leave me feeling strangely unsettled. The economy and last summer's fires have been rough on the businesses for tourists. Never thought I would hanker for some predictability, for a sense of permanence. But too much change feels like the rug is pulled from beneath. Well, who cares about rugs, not me, it is o.k. to stand on terra firma, to feel the earth without any part of culture getting in between. Some good may come from change, yes, they do say when one door closes another might open. One new open door I discovered only today is the one to the Swiss, yes, Swiss Bakery in what used to be Corazon, our former Blues club that had opened only in 2004. But I am all for sweets and already put in a bid for Gateaux Bullois, a specialty of Bulle, Switzerland, made from walnuts and honey covered in rich dark chocolate - divine. Consoled with a bite of sweets I may very well face the inevitable changes yet to come.

My 'hood too

My 'hood

Pale Morning Moon

Over Historic Santa Fe

Santa Fe Windows

Historic Santa Fe Entries

 Holy Cow!

In search of signs of Spring, on bike with Sumo on lead,

I captured these historic Santa Fe entries in morning light.

... give us our daily bike ride

... and give us our daily bike ride, morning and night.

I took this morning for myself, rare,  as usually I do not see the point of going out and about without my two pups in tow. But this morning it was only me on my bike with my Nikon. My favorite shot from this hunt for images is the one I got because without pups in tow, it was easier to get up some steps in order to discover some new vistas of familiar places. This one is of the Pink Adobe Restaurant an infamous, illustrious hang out spot for maybe centuries and a favorite of legislators during legislative sessions held at our nearby Round House, the seat of our New Mexico government.

Notice the faralitos, these pretty lights are no longer limited to Christmas season but these days appreciated all year long. I imagine putting these electric versions on and off high places could be a real pain.

You can also notice on the upper right a tattered ladder, an important symbol in the Native traditions and frequent adornment to homes in our neck of the woods.

This property is for sale, I imagine not cheap either. What I never noticed is the battered wagon wheel on top, like a remnant of the not too distant Wild West.

This picturesque home is a great example of the traditional adobe Pueblo style architecture our town decided to make a name for itself with it! Yep, it was decided to create an intentional style of architecture that echoes Anaszi culture to attract tourists, and it worked. 

These rounded earthen forms seduced my eyes, but in our climate they are also very practical, as the thick walls keep the heat in or out as desired.