First Snow of the Year

We had a tiny bit of snow last week but it was really wet and didn't stick. It did leave quite a bit of snow on the mountains. Last night's snow decorated cars, rooftops, trees, and these flowers next to a wall in my neighborhood.






















Soundtrack for this post: Townes Van Zant's Snowing on Raton because is really has and we are all hoping for a good ski season.

My Bloomin' 'Hood

Garden in front of the trattoria


Mormon tea (Gnetaceae Ephedra)


Day lilies


Neighbor's roses




Yellow hollyhocks



Lavender and a blue door

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.