- My Alarm does not go off at 6am!!
- The 'Race' is on to get to the 3:30 Tour of Georgia O'Keeffe's house in Abiquiu, NM!!
- I realize soon after Flagstaff that I was not going to make it in time: What the heck would Georgia think about this urgency to see her house...risking a speeding ticket etc???
- amazing how the scenery changes ...rocky outcrops with more lava looking forms to the ground below...still the reds, greys and pinks.
- Stop at Casino near border to go on a tour of the Acoma Pueblo...or Sky City ...closed early due to off-season :-( http://sccc.acomaskycity.org/history
- Santa Fe: I make it in late to Garret's Desert Inn, close to the Plaza; the guy working there shares with me that he & his girlfriend are immigrating to either Montreal or Vancouver...we discuss merits of either location. I check into a FREEEEZING HOTEL ROOM. I patiently wait for it to warm up...but the standard wall heating unit doesn't do the trick and I am too cold & tired to take up the Inn's offer to move me to another room. They bring me 3 blankets....I survive :-)
Nov 25- Exploring Santa Fe:
- after a bowl of hot porridge, made in the coffee maker, I head off to look at the "Oldest House in the US": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oldest_House_in_Santa_Fe_New_Mexico.jpg
- then the Loretto Chapel; to see the famous nailfree staircase (http://www.lorettochapel.com/staircase.html); there is a beautiful tape of choral music playing with the commentary and I light a candle in Memory of Mama and her deceased Roehrig family members, and one for Margaret's Good Health!
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: ...the movie makes me cry ~ I made it here from so far away...I am actually listening to her talk....in her environment: she is so real ; I so connect with her relentless earthy spirit (it took 15 years before the Catholic Church would sell the property in Abiquiui to her...she patiently lived at Ghost Ranch until she was able to move there) I go on the gallery tour but have no patience for all the cutsy drama & anecdotes... and take off to just be in the quietness with her paintings...ahhhh...such inspiring works
- one of her quotes that were interspersed between her paintings: "I am often amazed at the spoken and written words telling me what I have painted. Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant - it is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest." 1976
- yes! all is well...
- I write down several of her other meaningful quotes...what a powerful wise woman
- as a finale I go to the gift shop to buy a print for my studio space.
- Andrew Smith Gallery next door is dedicated to photography--so fantastic to see the real photographs I have seen only in books so far: http://www.andrewsmithgallery.com
- Plaza Bakery, which Jill recommended, to pick up dinner rolls for Jill's Thanksgiving dinner and danishes for breakfast. (almond, blueberry and cinnamon-YUMMY!!) I drink a cup of coffee and take a break to enjoy the busy scene in there...I ask the girl if I can have just a sliver of the coconut pie because I can't afford a whole piece and she says,"Well ...you'll just have to save up for it then!" Ha! I meant the calories!
- Origins: I was drawn to take a closer look at this shop's display window http://originssantafe.com/ They call their clothes "wearable art"....and that is what I fell in love with; a beautiful black velvet jacket with textile art detailing by a local artist- it was 750$ ....yikes. The sales woman was fantastic..very interested in my story of my 'art pilgrimage'; and even though I told her I could not afford it, she dismantled the jacket from the window for me to try it on and said for me to call them once i make my next big art sale :-) As i was picking up my bakery bags my eyes zoomed in on a stunning red asymmetrical wool jacket-in my price range!! As I was paying her for it I realized that my pastel paid for it! Cool!
- Vibrating tires on the way down to Albuquerque..pull off ~ not a flat-whew!!
- Albuquerque; Jill's brand new home; when I arrive there's a Scrabble game that her mother Nada, her son, Loren and his girlfriend Kaysha are playing; and food prep for Thanksgiving is happening in kitchen with Jill and Guy...who's traveled all the way from Minneapolis!
- my room is a gorgeously decorated room..and warm :-)
- I learn a new Turkey stuffing recipe; pecan/dry bread chunks/onion/celery/mushrooms to which eggs/milk and chicken broth is added and then stuffed into the turkey
Nada made her famous yummy Cranberry Fluff Salad: ground cranberries, sugar, walnuts, miniature marshmallows, green grapes and whipping cream to hold it all together!
Jill is warning me about her brothers...wild bunch ...once they get going..you never know what they might say....I prepare myself for anything.
Nov 26 - Thanks Giving Day
- I wake up to coffee and cooking smells below: Jill and Guy are Stuffing the turkey...no sewing up the carcass...'andere lander andere sitten'...some falls out while we put it into the pan...but the turkey survived --and the stuffing? WOW ...was it good! so very moist!!
- We have our bakery sweets for breakfast after the bird is on the oven...we cut them all in 4 ( Loren and Kaysha left early this am)...and add a bowl of the Scottsdale oranges to the meal...such a treat!
1. side dishes all made the night before
2. Thanksgiving AM: Guy delivers the dinner side dishes to Kelly and Kay's home
3. While the turkey is cooking Jill fits in some homework at her drafting table
4. Kay/Kelly team prepare their home and set 2 tables for the big gang
5. Turkey is done.
6. Jill calls Kelly/Kay team-"it's time" (to put the sides in the oven)
7. Guy/Jill team carve turkey & make gravy respectively.
Meanwhile I check on the neighbours who are deep frying 2 turkeys in the backyard: they dip it slowly on a wire hook from broomstick; rubbed in cajun spice...3.5 minutes per pound in 350 degree peanut oil. I get a taste-wow-very moist!
8. We pack the bird, stuffing and gravy into a wash basket surrounded by towels for insulation.
9. We drive the meal over
10. The Tanis Family congregates...eats ..drinks and is merry - TO THE MAX!!
A successful 'Thanksgiving Operation' !!
Delicious food...
and a beautiful family
sharing, playing games...
and the brothers?
YES...a bunch of jokers
...and Jill herself in the thick of it
...SIDE SPLITTING HUMOUR!!
...SIDE SPLITTING HUMOUR!!
- I learn that brother Dale is a printmaker.
- He brings in his portfolio - fabulous silkscreen images; so many different color layers!! Here is his website: http://www.burning-dog.com
- Dale came by to Jill's house after to have a look at my work; his feedback and input was just what the doctor ordered for me.....so many possibilities with I have started with my images.
Nov 27 ~ Friday: Being a Tourist & Car Care
- I set the alarm early so I could get over to Dale's house to check out his Studio; what a great studio print shop in his garage he has;lots of screens and a huge drying rack, lots of ingenious ideas for processing his images. I loved his Balloon poster print collection too...I feel lucky to have met Dale and can't wait to get home to start on my prints.
- after the 1st mechanic that Dale recommended was closed I went to this place recommended by Kelly
- they took my car for a spin and recommended 2 new tires and new brakes - whoa!...I call Rae and cousin Randy, who is our mechanic back home, to confirm the 500+ dollars to fix the car.
- the garage lends me a 'beater' to drive around so I be a tourist while they work on my car
Old Town Albuquerque:
- gas is on empty; I hit the closest gas station and besides gas I buy some "Chili Chips" made locally and are a bit hit with the boys at my coming home party in T.O.
- 1st stop in Old Town is the Albuquerque Art Gallery - wonderful art to experience and was very impressed with a video piece called Receding/Reseeding by Basia Irland an American MidWest Artist: http://www.basiairland.com/recent-projects/ice-books.html
- another cool art group I found out about -too late- was the Land Art New Mexico: http://www.landartnm.org/calendar.html
- I walk about the village and hit a wonderful Mexican restaurant called the Church Street Cafe http://www.churchstreetcafe.com/
A musician serenaded us while we ate.
- Chapel of our Lady of Guadalupe; beautiful quaint little chapel beside the fence of the Art Gallery of Albuquerque
- I do some healing touch on Nada's foot and heel and show her how she can do the hand connections on her own.
- Jill finishes one of her projects
- we play Scrabble and eat some Turkey leftovers...and share some with the dogs...mmmm..so good!!
- Jill, Guy and I stay up late talking in her office... I hope they come and visit Rae and I in Toronto some time!
Nov 28; Hitting the I-40 East!
- the smell of fresh coffee that Guy made for us wakes me up
- while Jill is already hard at work in her office I do some final emails ...Guy brings us a delicious smoothie. He is such a sweetheart!
- I show Jill my portfolio
- I puzzle my things into the car while Guy wonders how I will fit in there to drive on
- I leave Jill's home in Albuquerque (3x!) returning for the camera battery, print for Dale..and vitamins.
A Ghost town called Cuervo(east of Santa Rosa and west of Tucumcari ); I drive by this place and turn back at the next turn off 9 miles later! ...and so glad I did!! http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gtusa/usa/nm/cuervo.htm
- at first I was all alone and felt nervous when a car stopped with a man who started photographing close to where I was...
- after he took off ( whew!) another car stopped and I meet Chris and Laura Camp, who are also intrigued with the place and taking photos on their way to Vegas. I take photos of them on the church steps. Turns out they are 'show people' http://www.thewhipguy.com/ Laura shares with me how she knows of a 'Miss Katherine' back home, a right proper Lady; and teaches me how it is pronounced in the 'proper' soft inunciation.
- lots of very interesting run-down adobe brick buildings and cars; cool colored lumber bits hanging around: yellow, turquoise, rose and weathered grey.
- One house was full of barber chairs ..one particularly ornate one and old hood hairdryers
- Next to it; was a bed scene which reminded me of Van Gogh's Bedroom painting. Laura keenly noticed it was a very old tarnished green US army bed..on the wall spray painted "Found your bottle..found your heart" from the 2005 Purple Bottle song by the Animal Collective: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyJjihseiio&feature=related I would never have guessed this. Laura pointed this out to me ~ Thanks!!
- Many other details here that catch my eye: worn down wood, barbed wire fences, cracked walkways, the green, red and yellow truck, the wells, the small water towers behind each house; the window in window views ..and then... the cactii and the mountain beyond; and the dusty red roads that tied it all together. Time flew by and I raced off to Texas!! I am making it to Amarillo tonight!
I drove very carefully as I entered this state since Jill warned me that the cops there are very tough on speeders….well….I did not see a single police car. It sure is flat and HUGE here!
- Evening; Amarillo ; Drove into a plaza when I saw a Best Buy to have my back-up drive checked out....nothing wrong with it-great!
- Barnes & Nobles coffee shop; WiFi to book a hotel room on Hotwire: got a great place for 45$ including breakfast
