Month: October 2022

A red-letter day yesterday. We went to Abiquiu to tour Georgia O’Keefe’s home and studio. Reservations are 3-4 months out, so I had purchased the tickets back in June.

It was a gloomy and cold morning when we left 4Fords, but by Tierra Amarilla (T.A. to locals), the sun was out and it was a perfect day. An hour south, near Ghost Ranch, we stopped for a hike on the CDT at Martinez Canyon, hopping across the Rio Chama and traipsing through huge golden oaks and cottonwoods.

Dropping down off the red cliffs of Ghost Ranch into the Rio Chama valley, we were suddenly back in the height of fall colors. The valley was covered for miles in cottonwoods and willows in yellows and golds.

Once in Abiquiu, we parked the truck in a shady spot so the dogs would be comfy, and joined the tour. Only 6 people go at a time, along with a guide; this time, a local artist named Frank (below, in Georgia’s courtyard). The place is exactly as it was when Georgia left at age 94, to move to Santa Fe due to worsening health. She always meant to return, but died at age 96 in Santa Fe.

The tour was inspiring and a wonderful slice of history. If you don’t know much of her life, or are interested in her relationship with NYC and Ghost Ranch, I strongly recommend the book “Ghost Ranch” by Leslie Poling-Kenpes.

After the tour, we took another hike in Abiquiu, through some meadows and more cottonwoods. Then, we finished up with a wonderful late lunch at the old and famed Abiquiu Inn.

All-in-all, a wonderful day, one where I fell even more in love with New Mexico, and did what Alan and I do best: take time off to have fun.

The fall colors have been so spectacular this year, we’ve just had to take a few days to enjoy them. We took a hike on the CDT, and watched the narrow-gauge train chugging along below us. Then, the next day, we drove some back roads around the Cruces Basin Wilderness (south of Antonito, towards Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla. The colors might have been the most spectacular we have ever seen. They went on and on for miles.

There’s no aspen in Monero canyon, but a lot of cottonwoods and scrub oak, which are still full of reds, oranges and yellows. I’ve been taking walks daily with the dogs to enjoy the views.

But, back on the ranch, we’ve also been very busy tying up all the loose ends before winter sets in…likely to happen this weekend. I’ve been painting: the outhouse, the doors; just sprucing things up a bit. Also stacked one last cord of oak firewood and finished insulating the rainwater cistern.

Alan’s been working long days on the Wellhouse. It will insulate the vault 8′ below.

In typical northern NM fashion, the days have been in the upper 60s, but the nights are down to 25-26 degrees. We had our first fire, after cleaning the chimney and repairing a broken firebrick. Lovely!

I grew a couple of sunflowers this summer….they got 10′ tall. These heads are about 15″ across. I love the pattern of the seeds. We’ll put them out for the birds once snow comes. I cut them down when harvesting the last of the cherry tomatoes (about 20# of them!). There’s still quite a few big toms growing in the greenhouse, along with peppers and basil. The cat slept on the lettuce and killed it all!

I’m wishing we could be backpacking, but we’ve been busy and I’ve still been recuperating from surgery. All’s good now. Zane and I have both fully recovered! I took the pups for a 5-miler this morning and felt great!

I haven’t written recently because we’ve been pre-occupied with the myriad daily chores and projects that must occur as winter approaches. Firewood, frost protection, garden harvest, vehicle maintenance. We have most of the firewood in, just waiting on one more cord. The 1000 gallon rainwater cistern is full and super-insulated. I’m setting it up to be able to collect snow melt from the south side of the house through winter. It’s an experiment involving frost-free downspouts and first-flush apparatus.

The solar is working perfectly and it’s wonderful to have more power than we know what to do with. No generator! A washing machine! Dryer! If you’ve enjoyed these luxuries all of your life, imagine doing without. 85% of Americans have at least a washer in their home, but only 2% of people in Africa and Asia (www.statista.com). I’m glad to have them working again.

We had 2 surgeries in our home recently, my gallbladder and Zane’s balls. Glad to say both patients are recovering nicely. But it did cramp our style for awhile.

Alan’s moving ahead with the well vault cover. He’d be done with the concrete work if only it would stop raining! We’ve had a lot of rain, 2″ a day at times, so far above average it’s a joke at this point. There was even some snow on the mountains the other day, not unusually early, but a wake-up call nonetheless.

Hunting season started on Oct. 1 in New Mexico, and runs for 3 full months without a break. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of an elk or bear or even a deer; they must still be in the high country. But, a few hunters have been prowling around with their spotting scopes, so Alan and I went around and hung up a bunch more No Hunting signs. Most hunters are great, but it only takes one stupid one to put a bullet through your house.

Anyway, all is good here in the hinterlands. Hoping to get into the high country to leaf-peep soon, but it has to stop raining first!

Finally: both of us are registered to vote and have drivers licenses. We are officially New Mexicans now!