I am amazed by how beautiful it is out here. All these years I was picturing dirt and cactus. Shows you what I know. Taos is at a high elevation, high enough for me to get a little woozy from the altitude while I walked around. It was actually chilly in the morning. The mountains encircle the entire town, 360 degrees. And while there are an awful lot of retired hippies around, and the entire town smells like incense, and I'm sure the winters there are fierce, I can definitely see the appeal of living there.
I went to the Taos Pueblos first thing this morning. The Pueblos are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and have been continuously inhabited for over 1,000 years. It felt like the roof of the world--mountains on all sides, and no other signs of human habitation. Landscape changes seem to come very suddenly here--as I was descending the mountains, I rounded a corner, and suddenly the red rocky earth of the plateaus was below me. No transition between mountain pine and red earth: it was just there. I passed through several gorgeous little mountain towns, including Chimayo, before finally arriving in Santa Fe.
Santa Fe isn't quite as gorgeous as the higher elevations, but it's still plenty high, and still beautiful. The town feels small and comfy; none of the buildings are very tall (you can only build so high with adobe) and everyone is very friendly. Still plenty of retired hippies, too. I went to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, and then found the Chuck Jones Art Gallery. I am now the proud (but poorer) owner of "Spear and Magic Helmet," a small oil painting Chuck Jones did of one of the stills from--you guessed it--"What's Opera, Doc."
I am deliriously happy.
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