Sunday, May 17, 2009

Observations on Santa Fe

I am seeing my new hometown with fresh eyes.This means that I notice things that people who have been here for a while don’t notice quite so much.Before I get to the point where some of these things seem passé to me, I want to make note of them.

The Subaru seems to be the official car of Santa Fe.(Matilda, my Outback, must feel right at home here.)Half the cars here must be Subarus and two thirds of those are Outbacks.I have been making a game of counting them at red lights and in parking lots. Today I took Lani to a trailhead in the national forest so she could get some off leash time.There were four cars in the parking area when we got back off the trail. Three of them were Outbacks.

Santa Fe is the most dog friendly town I have ever seen. I can take Lani almost everywhere with me.There are shops downtown that have water bowls and dog treats inside their doors.I have been told that I can take her into Home Depot, Lowes and even the dreaded Walmart. I went to a little touristy mall today and left her in the car while I went into a little pet supply/gift shop to get some poop bags and the clerk told me I could have brought her into the mall with me. I saw a couple of shop owner’s dogs in there.

I can walk to two, soon to be three, grocery stores from my house.I can walk to two malls and downtown to the plaza as well as to many other shops and restaurants. I go several days at a time without moving my car.

I thought that there were no black people here until I went to the massage board office today and had a meeting with a wonderful woman who happened to be black. I wonder if she feels isolated here.This is kind of a culture shock to me having grown up in northeast Texas.It feels like something is missing.



Scott Cadenasso is not only a wonderful performer but is one of the best cooks on the planet.


I have never seen a place in which so many women seem to dress exclusively in purple.

People seem very polite to each other here.They make it a point to hold doors open for each other and wave to each other spontaneously from their cars. The drivers seem pretty polite to each other as well.

Hippies are alive and well in Santa Fe. This makes me very happy.

I don’t think I will ever take the views of the mountains for granted.

6 comments:

Friðvin said...

I was actually thinking about you yesterday wondering how it's going out there, and hoping Lani is happy. Sounds like she is.

By the way, we're having very Santa Fean weather down here right now. Low this morning: 45, clear blue skies, extremely low humidity. It's crisp.. well, until afternoon when it gets back into the 80s! :-)

This will be short-lived so I should try to enjoy it.

heartinsanfrancisco said...

I'm so happy that you've found the place you belong. And that the people are dog-friendly and polite there is truly a bonus.

Please post some pictures of the mountains when you get a chance.

Unknown said...

I think that Lani may think she is in jail or something. The lot our house is on would fit in the backyard she had in Austin about 5 or 6 times. I am trying to compensate by taking her on walks a couple of times a day and taking her somewhere that she can get off leash about twice a week.

I'll post some mountain pics when I get the chance.

Anne said...

It sounds like a nice place, except for the part about only one black person. There's always something. Glad you and the doggie seem happy.

Unknown said...

I am sure there must be more than one but I haven't seen them. I also have noticed that there are very few really obese people here. We are both losing weight without really trying. I am walking a lot and we are drinking more water due to the dry atmosphere.

Marion said...

I'm finding this so interesting, your first impressions of your new home. It sounds great! I'm glad Lani has found her place, as well...is there anything better than a dog-friendly town?