Is the Sky Really Bluer in New Mexico?

Entrance to the Taos Pueblo

The Three Sisters

Museum of International Folk Art - Bottle cap Rattlesnake

Last month my husband and I participated in a Road Scholar program in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  It was our third trip to the state and our second to Santa Fe.  I was especially eager to return to Santa Fe after having read Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop. 

This was our first summer trip to New Mexico and I will have to admit that the extremely dry air and high temperatures were more of a challenge than they had been twenty years ago.  Santa Fe’s elevation is more than 7,000 feet so it took a few days to adjust.  Our program was active from the first, keeping me breathless for a while.   It was worth it because the beautiful New Mexican sky and landscape proved breathtaking.

There were so many things to fit into a week.  We hiked along the well-marked trails to see the ruins at the Bandelier National Monument, an area we had never visited before. Our trip continued on to nearby Los Alamos.  Security was tight at Los Alamos on this trip.  On our first visit we parked our car right in front of the Administration Center of the National Lab, and enjoyed a stroll through a wooded area with a generous female scientist who accompanied us to the entrance of the (old) Bradbury Museum.  This year some gates were closed to our bus and we found that the Museum had been “glitzed-up” and relocated to the city of Los Alamos. 

The journey north to Taos was a first for us.  Taos is a great place to visit and to live. Many artists, writers, and other cognoscenti lived near there for part of their lives, not the least of which was Georgia O’Keefe.  There are a couple of must dos if you go.  Plan to have lunch at Eske’s Brew Pub and Eatery just a couple of blocks off the Plaza—great food eaten al fresco! I can still taste the thirst quenching raspberry iced tea; my husband enjoyed a couple of their craft beers.

I am a bit of a book store snob and sure enough I found a really nice one in Taos in the John Dunn House Shops.  Moby Dickens, “A Real Bookstore,” fit the bill nicely.  Moby Dickens has a nice mix of new and used books, each title chosen with loving care by people who love reading and know what’s good.  The store features frequent guest author talks and a well-attended kids’ story program.  The staff is helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly.  Needless to say, I liberated a few books for my personal collection.

While in Taos we were able to visit the Taos Pueblo which remains untouched by modernity per the choice of its members. The Pueblo is a UNESCO Heritage site.  A personable young man from the Pueblo conducted us on a tour of some village sites.  When asked what the inhabitants do for cool showers, TV, or laundry facilities he smiled and suggested that they might just have family members outside the Pueblo proper with some of the necessities…

South of Santa Fe is the largest city in New Mexico, Albuquerque which, they tell us, has lost an “r” somewhere along the way.  We have visited this city twice before and can recommend the drive to the top of the Sandia Forest for a fantastic view of the city and surrounding area. I understand that there is a sky lift now, but I’ve had no experience with it.  We did have some experience with a great restaurant in the city though.  El Pinto Authentic New Mexican Restaurant serves a variety of excellently prepared Native, New Mexican and Mexican foods.  The open courtyard was a lovely place to dine.  As for culture the city’s museums are good. I especially liked the Natural History Museum and I have visited the Pueblo Cultural Center twice.

On the way back to Santa Fe we stopped in Bernalillo to visit the Coronado State Monument and ruins of the Kuaua Pueblo.  I enjoyed this place for two reasons, first there was a nascent garden demonstrating the Three Sisters method of planting that the ingenious Pueblos used for farming in this water-starved and nutrient poor area.  I love stuff like this!  The Pueblos were savvy farmers.  Their staple crop was corn but it leaches nutrients, especially nitrogen, out of the soil quickly depleting the ground.  They got around this problem by adding two other plants in groupings of all three plants.  They planted beans which used the corn stalk as a beanpole. Beans brought nitrogen back into the soil. They also planted squash which grew close to the ground shading the other plants and helping to retain moisture. The squash benefited from the nitrogen given back by the beans.  I have included a picture taken at Coronado showing the three sisters planted together as they would have been hundreds of years ago.

The second interesting feature of the State Monument was the Kuaua Mural Wall consisting of 15 panels of original murals excavated from one of the rectangular kivas at the ruins.  The docent explained the significance of the paintings to the ritual lives of the Pueblo inhabitants.  It was suggested that the paintings were used for a particular ceremony or season, erased, and another drawn in its place because of evidence of paintings underneath the ones found.

Lest you think I’m ignoring Santa Fe, I can recommend three of its museum that were new to me:  The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, The Museum of International Folk Art, and the Pablita Velarde Museum of Indian Women in the Arts.  As I mentioned my husband and I had visited Santa Fe before so we did the walking tour and visited the artists under the portico at the Governor’s Palace.  The shops are more like museums with extremely beautiful and costly merchandise—not my thing.  I am a sucker for folk museums (see the bottle cap rattlesnake photo) and I especially enjoyed the Shirone kite exhibit. It seems that once a year, in a particular Japanese town, the citizens create magnificent kites which they launch to do battle with other kites.  It’s a ruthless, high-flying game.  The kites vary in size but there were a couple of huge ones on display.  Apparently the winners are determined by how much kite string the team can capture.  The video was great fun!

If you wish to learn Pueblo history directly from the source, the Indian Arts and Culture museum does an admirable job covering the history and culture of Native Peoples in a beautiful building.  The Pablita Velarde contains a variety of crafts—pottery, weaving, painting—made my Native women.  One of my favorite artists was Helen Hardin, the daughter of Pablita Velarde.  Some of her sketches were displayed.  I was struck by her originality as well as what influenced her work. Some of the sketches cried out Pablo Picasso as the seed of inspiration.  This museum had a fantastic video on the creation of pottery within the family of a famous Pueblo potter. The entire process, from selecting the clay, molding it all by hand, incising the design, polishing the piece to perfection, and finally the firing, takes a very long time.  No wonder some of the native pottery costs many thousands of dollars!  

Flamenco at The Lodge

Lest you think it was all bus trip and museums, we had great fun and an excellent candlelight dinner at The Lodge of Santa Fe.  A flamenco troupe fresh from Spain entertained our group with some intense performances.  I’ve included a photo of the promotional sign.  The male and female principals were outstanding. The Lodge commands the hillside over Santa Fe, revealing not only the city but also the large Veterans’ Cemetery.  Santa Fe is the state capitol so it has the honor to have the cemetery.  So many, many white markers…

It was a great trip, well planned and executed by the Road Scholar people in Santa Fe. I would certainly recommend a trip to any and all of the places I’ve mentioned.  And, yes, the sky really IS bluer in New Mexico.  If you don’t believe it, book a trip soon.

Recommended Irish Tourists Sites

Well it took me long enough to get to part two of my Visit to the Olde Sod.  Sorry but self-discipline is not my strong suit.  Sorry.

The photos I'm including come from some of the nicest tourist sites that we visited in September.  I  thoroughly enjoyed the trip but cannot possibly include everything.  The best part of a trip is often the people and this was no exception.  Our Road Scholar group of twenty-four was exceptional and lots of fun.  Wonderful memories made and shared.

My reunion with cousins meant a great deal to me because I doubt that I shall return to Ireland again.  I hope their children will visit the United States and I can return their warm hospitality, but that is out of my hands.  This will be my most lasting memory.  The Irish are a welcoming and warm people; family connections are as treasured as they were for my grandparents who came to the USA between 1885 and 1904. It was so easy to pick up where we left off during former inter-country visits and phone calls.  It seemed as if we had good craic only yesterday!

So much for the personal. I promised recommendations so here they are. First and foremost are the worth the trip alone book stores.  The Irish are avid readers and book stores abound.  Charlie Byrnes Used Bookstore in Galway was rated one of the top five stores in all of Ireland.  Besides the vast inventory, the staff is very knowledgeable and the service exemplary.  One would expect Dublin to teem with bookstores and the city certainly doesn't disappoint.  My most favorite, terrific, when can I move into bookstore is Hodges Figgis on Dawson in Dublin, a short walk from Trinity College.  Imagine yourself in the USA twenty-five years ago!  Selection, selection, selection.  Quality, quality...well you get the idea.

Best fish chowder ever:  Danny Macs Cafe Bar in Lahinch on the Clare Coast.  The food in Ireland is of good quality and you will be well fed almost everywhere but Danny Macs was extra special.  We also had a marvelous candlelight dinner at Glenabbey a golf resort near Galway, but that was a special arranged for the group. I expect that such a meal on my own would have broken the bank. The famous Irish brown bread is available everywhere. Don't miss it.

Entrance to the Killarney National Park

Hardy Irish Surfers

Third Class Menu from the Titanic

Blacksmith's Shop at Ulster Heritage Park

Modern Weaver demonstrates 19th century techniques

James Joyce bust in St. Stephen's Green

Chester Beatty Library

One of the Bog Men at the National Museum

Part of the Gold Horde at the National Museum

Some of the most memorable tourist attractions include the Killarney National Park.  An expert led tour enhanced the experience of this lovely forest.  Indeed the natural settings in the Killarney and Ring of Kerry area are very beautiful from the" Ladies' View" above one of the lakes to the skelligs offshore on the Ring.  Lahinch, besides having the best fish chowder, boasts surfers!  Take that southern California!

Any visitor to Dublin will have an embarrassment of riches to visit from Trinity to the Medieval City and the exciting Temple Bar pub/traditional music areas. The must see sites include the National Art Gallery and the National Museum where you can view some of the artifacts of Celtic history and appreciate exquisite Irish art.  St. Stephen's Green is a large, well-kept, and relaxing park in the middle of the Dublin tourist area.  It was a favorite haunt of James Joyce whose prep school is nearby.  A lesser known site is the Chester Beatty Library in the Medieval part of the city. This library is known for its manuscripts and illuminated books, interestingly displayed on three floors. The top floor features texts and images from the world's major religions.  The second floor is devoted to special exhibits and the art of the book.  I was thrilled to see copies of Arabic scientific texts written by the scientists I have been studying.  Near the Library is a remembrance garden in honor of those Garda who have died in the course of their duty.  It is a lovely, quiet garden.  Incidentally, the Gallery, Museum, Library and park are always free.

I had not planned to visit Northern Ireland but it was part of the tour.  Our drive across County Tyrone included a stop at the Ulster Heritage Park.  Although it focused on Northern Irish experiences I can honestly say that the park was carefully conceived and planned as well as expertly executed.  Displays include an extensive Titanic exhibit.  The extensive outdoor section of the park is very nicely done too.  One travels through time beginning with life in 18th century Northern Ireland. Re-enactors explain and demonstrate the life and work of this era.  The outdoor park is divided into two sections that reflect life in Northern Ireland and in the New World, separated by a realistic looking passage ship from which visitors embark into the New World.  The homes, schools, stores, and farms of settlers are realistic and informative.  If you go to the North, give it a visit; plan on spending at least two and a half hours.

Have you been to Ireland?  What were your favorite sights?

A Visit to the Old Sod

We have just returned from a fortnight in Ireland, the land of Saints and Scholars, as well as the home of many of our ancestors.  It has been thirteen years since our last visit.  In that time Ireland has joined the European Union, the Celtic Tiger was subdued by the Great Recession, and the population of the island has experienced a great influx of immigrants—from Eastern Europe and Africa. 

In this and the next blog submission I will share our experiences.  Most memorable was a visit with some of my cousins in County Kerry and County Limerick.  Time and schedule did not permit visits with others, nor were we able to see my husband’s family in County Mayo.  The warm friendships we have forged over several decades survive the changes and are stronger than ever.  I am lucky to be “double cousins” with several of my Irish family.  My grandfather’s brother married my grandmother’s sister in Ireland.  An across-the-Atlantic effort to fill in a family genealogy has resulted in a shared enthusiasm and many hours of discussion coupled with hard work. We are making good progress.

Ireland remains the land of Scholars who are universally respected and officially supported.  During our stay we were able to visit a boys’ school and share some time with eager ten-year-olds and their teacher.  It was a church run school, although there are no religious directly involved with teaching or administration, and admission was competitive.

The boys prepared a program about the history and symbols of Ireland as well as a biographical program on Seamus Heaney who died while we were in Ireland.  I was very impressed with the teacher’s classroom control, the courtesy and attention of the boys, and the toughness of the curricula.   The class of about 28 boys included three Africans and two Eastern Europeans.  The church owned schools are not co-educational and all students wear uniforms. 

Students were lively and bright, answering questions in a thorough, charming, respectful, and interesting manner.  They were as passionate about their learning as they were over their sport teams.  The Irish student “does what is expected” and there are few behavior problems.  Although the school had only a few days to prepare the lesson was well planned and presented.  The boys had some questions of their own for the visiting senior citizens.  I’m glad to say that we acquitted ourselves well.

The Irish respect learning and have a deep love of their culture.  I mentioned that Seamus Heaney had died.  Where else would the first five pages of the country’s premier newspaper be devoted to Mr. Heaney, his life and works?  The papers and television were full of tributes to Ireland’s Noble laureate; his funeral was nationally televised.  The entire country mourned his loss. In the August 31-September 1 edition of  The Irish Times Weekend, Fintan O’Toole wrote:

                                “Like all great poets Seamus Heaney was an alchemist.  He turned our

                                disgrace into grace, our petty hatreds into epic generosity…He lacked the

                                arrogance to tell us who we are – much more importantly, he told us WHAT

                                we are.  He reminded us that Ireland is a culture before it is an economy.

                                And in the extraordinary way he bore himself, the dignity and decency and

                                the mellow delight that shone from him, he gave us self-respect…”

Yes, in many ways Ireland has changed. The culture unique to the Irish identity persists, but times are hard today.  The country was one of the first in Europe to be brought to its knees by the Great Recession.  Once again circumstances diminish opportunities for the well-educated, highly motivated Irish young adult who is forced to immigrate to far flung places like Australia.  The United States should capitalize on this talent pool and welcome more of them into the country. They have strong values, a good work ethic, and marketable skills.

The Irish are survivors but a pervasive feeling of despair is seeping into the Irish soul.  This country has survived centuries of subjugation and repression, war, terrorism, and economic deprivation.  They have not forgotten “WHAT they are” through the trials of famine, fight or faith.  However, inclusion in the European Union (EU) is effecting a subtle, yet essential, change in Ireland. More than one Irishman asks how a country that finally overcame more than 800 years of brutal occupation could cavalierly cede much of its sovereignty to the EU. 

There is a cold uniformity and almost automatous acquiescence to the dictates of Brussels and Berlin apparent in Ireland today.  Of course there are economic benefits incumbent upon the Union but with Ireland’s financial collapse ECB imposed Spartan austerity on the country.  It has been a long, painful, and difficult haul, but Ireland has towed the line and is trying to recover. Unfortunately the foreclosures are only just beginning.  Despair over family survival bubbles just below the surface as years of unemployment, underemployment and underwater mortgages begin to boil over.  Many are fearful of what tomorrow will bring—each expecting to be scorched as it evolves.

Immigration into Ireland has not helped the financial situation.  When things were good, people came by the tens of thousands.  Assimilation was slow, but the Irish are a welcoming race and encourage those who wish to make their future in Erin.  Today many immigrants hold the service jobs that were once filled by the Irish.  Some newcomers are gaming the generous social welfare system. However, “Ireland is a culture before it is an economy.”  I imagine that in the future the newcomers and their children will enrich that culture in distinctive ways. After all, “the next great Irish writer may just be a Pole,” writer Maurice Fitzpatrick once noted!

The Irish are survivors, but they do not necessarily flourish.  I fear the culture will not come through today’s troubles unchanged and unscathed.  The modern world is less forgiving than in ages past.  These are good, caring, talented people.  They deserve to maintain the “self-respect” reflected in Mr. Heaney’s art.  

Go Mayo!  In the all-Ireland Gaelic Football Championship game this Sunday.

Westward Ho the Wagons!

We have been in southern California for 10 days. Although the weather so far is considerably cooler than last year it is warm by Chicago area standards.  We look forward to sunshine and sea breezes.

Our California family is thriving, always busy, constantly surprising.  Our granddaughters spent New Year's Eve with us beginning with dinner and ending with a 2013 breakfast.  I gave the girls rug hooking kits for Christmas and they had been working diligently at home while their dad read two Doyle and Fossey, Science Detectives books that were also part of their holiday loot. It is cute to see that they really still enjoy having a adult read to them while they work on a craft. 

They brought their rug kits with them for the overnight. However there were other exciting things to do, chiefly playing pick up sticks and learning to play Pounce, which is a group competitive form of solitaire. The older girl really got into the game, so much so that she fell off her chair trying to beat me to a card pile. No harm done, but she literally "threw herself" into the game.  Her younger sister was eager to text daddy to tell him. As soon as she typed "Dani is OK but"  we stopped her. Those four words would be enough for him to leave the restaurant or theatre and rush over.

Last Saturday we had a welcome to California dinner at C & O Cucina in Venice Beach. They serve the most delicious garlic buns and calamari!  Everyone had a tasty entree and a good visit. The service is extraordinary, the menu varied, and the prices reasonable. Couple that with fantastic Italian food and we were well and truly welcomed back to California. Tomorrow we will have a belated birthday dinner for my 17th birthday, although the girls are getting too good at math to swallow that number.

It's a good thing the weather has been fine for walking with all the celebrating. Hubby is eager to get into his shorts and short sleeved shirts, but when he tried it today we had to turn back early because the goosebumps were becoming too prominent! We are renting the place we used last year, which is three blocks from the beach, four from the Promenade shopping area, and very close to great restaurants--there I go with food again!

That's all for now. I'll waddle back soon to keep you up to date.  Keep warm Chicago!!

Gullible's Travels: Shibui

Balboa Park is enjoyed by native San Diegans as well as visitors. Its parks, gardens, and museums team with activity in this usually nice year-round climate. I say 'usually' because San Diego was cold, wet, and gloomy. Yes, they desperately need the rain and the mayor has initiated a water rationing plan that will begin this summer. However, for the winter-weary it was disappointing.

Despite the weather I visited several museums and galleries in the park. The buildings, since replaced with studier replicas, were built for the 1918 World's Fair that was designed to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal. Balboa 'discovered' the Pacific Ocean so who better to name the park after. The park is also home to the famous San Diego Zoo which I also visited. It was a second trip to the zoo, but the pandas had not been installed on my last visit. It was special to see them and the koalas.

My favorite museum was the Mingei International Museum which specializes in the presentation of contemporary folk art, craft, and design from world cultures. Not withstanding the ugly and misleading caricatures outside the building, the museum's collection is beautiful, thought provoking, and diverse. Of particular interest was the Japanese exhibit demonstrating the concept of Shibui.

According to WikiPedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibui "Shibui is a Japanese word which refers to a particular aesthetic of simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty...(that) can apply to a wide variety of subjects, not just art or fashion." Its original meaning, dating from the 14th century, suggested "astringent taste." Since the 17th century, the term defines anything "that was beautiful by being understated, or by being precisely what it was meant to be and not elaborated upon. Essentially, the aesthetic ideal of shibumi seeks out events, performances, people or objects that are beautiful in a direct and simple way, without being flashy." Shibui embraces the arts of the people.

The Museum exhibit enlarges on this definition. Shibui craftsmanship reflects a utilitarian and unadorned philosophy. The objects included in the collection are simple, everyday essentials of the common man. The exhibit includes dinnerware, chairs, clothes, and other everyday objects. Materials are natural and functional. Yet each is a work of art. Herein the paradox reveals itself.

Shibui translates well into European examples that are more familiar to me. What appears commonplace necessity, utilitarian, stripped of all non-essentials becomes rare and beautiful. Shibui is as elegant in its simplicity as the beautiful mathematical formula, epitomized in Einstein's equation E = mc². It is puissant in application, like a cosmic singularity. A shibui object is absolute potentiality veiled in functionality. The acerbic becomes a terrible beauty.

Both the haiku and an example of medieval Irish poetry demonstrate this concept in the language arts.

A splash of lightning sparks,
Forsythia;
Spring opening here today!
[Author unknown from The Haiku Anthology, n.d.]

The Sea

Look you out
northeastwards
over mighty ocean,
teaming with sea-life;
home of seals,
sporting, splendid,
its tide has reached
fullness.
[Medieval Irish Lyrics, translated by James Carney. Mount Rath Portlaoise, Ireland: Domen Press Ltd, c 1967, 1985, p. 41. The Irish poetry is elegant in the original Gaelic, but an English translation will have to do.]

In these comparisons and examples I realized that Shibui summons my memory of the essential Epicurean goal of ataraxia, which translates as tranquility, equanimity, and repose of mind. In this paradox the Epicurean becomes Stoic. The cold rain no longer causes irritation. Viewing the crafts of Japanese artisans helped banish the winter in my mind. I was exactly where I wanted to be, simple and unassuming.

We would do well to seek shibui/ataraxia in our daily lives, and more importantly, in our souls.

Gullible's Travels: A Transcendental Interlude

We’ve just returned from southern California which is home to some of the country’s mega-mega churches. The thrill of breathing the same air with folks who attend the Crystal Cathedral or with the super-preacher, Rich Warren, sends shivers down my spinal column. How can such a rarefied atmosphere not affect one?

I think it might have. While preparing dinner last evening I asked my husband to bring in a few potatoes from the larder. He brought three, one of which was naturally shaped like a heart. “Wow, call Jerry Springer.” I cried. I looked more closely at my “love potato.” Could it be? If I looked very closely—preferably with my glasses off—did I really see the face of the Lord? An amazing wonder lay on the counter, Jesus in the Potato.

It was truly a wondrous miracle, especially after cutting into three onions before finding one that wasn’t rotten. “Jesus in the Potato, praise the Lord!” Others have seen such miraculous wonders in wax drippings or on the walls of a Chicago viaduct. In fact, “Our Lady of the Underpass” is scheduled for the PBS pledge drive tonight. Now I have had a visitation worthy of the 6 o’clock news. The Lord had chosen my kitchen counter and I was inspired.

I brought the potato into hubby’s den. In my best ministerial voice I proclaimed, “Alleluia! Jesus has chosen to appear in my potato. Send money, brother, and I will praise the Lord in your name.” Hubby was curiously unimpressed. His attention was focused on the 250 plus stock market losses of the day. Philistine!

“Brother, the Lord wants me to save you.” I held the potato high in the air as I invoked higher powers. While doing so, I glanced at the back of the Jesus Potato. Sure enough, it revealed the three-quarters profile of a squirrel. “Alleluia! Jesus is speaking through this humble cook. Send money. The Lord loves you, hubby. And he loves the ground squirrels enough to share my potato.”

I explained that the Lord’s message to the world was clear. “Send money. Send money so the Lord and I can build a Squirrel Haven.” My husband is a particular sinner with respect to Jesus’ chosen rodent. He has been destroying nests high up in the oak tree again. “Alleluia! Jesus and the squirrel on my potato can only mean that I have been chosen to shelter the least of His creatures. Send money!”

Hubby offered to send money for a ‘Squirrel Heaven’ which reflects a certain insensitivity on his part. “Jesus in the Potato is a sign, you sinner.” I was pulling out all stops. “You need to be saved. Send money. This Potato was sent for your redemption.”

“More like for my dinner,” he mumbled.

As I left his den, sincerely praying for his squirrel hating soul, I tried to think of other ways to get my message to true believers while converting the doubtful. I rushed back into the den. “Jesus in the Potato has one final message. It’s your last chance. Send money.” My husband turned on his favorite news program, wondering if dinner would ever make it to the table. “You’re going to be watching me on that TV,” I prophesied.

He turned to look at me. “What’s Jesus’ final message?”

I knew I had him now. “Well,” I said. “Jesus also says that 'Roland Burris is the best man for the job'. So there!” He tossed me a quarter.

Returning to the kitchen, I whispered under my breath, “Praise the Lord.”

Alleluia! I only needed two of those potatoes so I decided to spare the ‘Jesus in the Potato’ potato—at least as long as the donations continue to trickle in.

Who says travel isn’t rewarding?