So I took my shower (also postponed laundry) and decided not to go to the art supply store. Went to Target to find a long sleeve t-shirt, found one that looked like a Jean Paul Gaultier rip off (horizontal marine blue stripes, buttons on one shoulder - the only one in the entire store), a bit too big but hopefully it will shrink a bit in the wash. Comfy too. Found a panama hat that fit me too (a bit too small but good) that reminded me of my grandfather, 100% paper (Aimee is going to fashion a strap for me out of paper as well, too windy here, almost lost it twice). Got some cleaning supplies for the bathroom and headed to Smiths for my grocery staples (organic mixed greens, vine tomatoes, bananas, and low sodium turkey breast, on sale, cheaper than MI). Made it back to the institute, prepared a salad, changed into the new outfit, and met Aimee in the commons.
Our goal: Ghost Ranch. She drove one of the institute's car, a beat up Honda Civic with a paint job similar to my good ol' Schwarz, matt black in certain parts. Made a run to Trader Joe's for some snacks, and a run to Subway to use their bathroom, and off we went... the wrong way. We were on the right road, St. Francis, but went too far, until it ended. We turned around and found our way, all with the help of a printed out Google map, which seemed extremely straight forward (only 5 points, no major changes). We drove sans radio, just talking and enjoying the scenery. In a weird and unexpected way, it felt SO good to get away from everything and everyone, even though I am enjoying pretty much everything and everyone there. Maybe it is because I am hitting the one week mark, who knows. We drove and talked, the sky was open, the sun was shining and the further we got away from Santa Fe, the prettier it got. We suddenly saw a canyon and a rest place came up, so we pulled up to take pictures, I even crossed the road, but my camera sucks so I am not sure what was captured by the camera even approached the actual experience. a truck drove by and honked the horn - I suspect that from behind I might look a bit like that Madeleine character, with the stripes and the hat. There was this woman talking on the phone at the rest stop, with two dogs, one huge one small, and a van. She finished her call and we all chatted a bit. She was from Brooklyn NY, on her way back from Bisbee Arizona where she had spread the ashes of her recently deceased dog (born there) and where she had gotten her new puppy, a cute but weird-looking dog, I thought a mix of a Saint Bernard with a Wiener dog (fluffy and teddybear-like but with stumpy legs). Got back in the car and realized we were close to Taos, 4 miles away, which was not where we wanted to be. We had noticed that the road number had changed to 68 (we were supposed to be on 285/84) but made no notice of it because they have poor signage around here. Through the phone we realized we were heading the wrong direction, so we turned around, and ended up adding about an hour to our journey, which would make us late for our destination.
The goal of the trip was for Aimee to meet her friend Ching-In at a writer's workshop, and we were to arrive to watch a Craft talk, whatever that was supposed to be. My personal goal was to go to a place I have heard about since college and experience something new. As Aimee drove I texted Ching-In (someone she met 5 years prior at another residency, and someone whom I had never met), and hoped she had signal there to get the message, another common issue in NM, the dropping of service at any time. Drove back towards Española until Aimee spotted a tiny sign that said Abiquiu, which was the general vicinity of our destination, so she took a sharp turn and off we went on a tine secondary road, at times using the spotty GPS. Eventually we hit back 285/84 and within minutes the landscape became breath-taking, out of this world. We drove towards a dam, stopped at a gas station for a pee and icecream break, and randomly ran into Avery, Lisa's girlfriend whom I had met the day before. The encounter was so surreal (she looked really pretty, standing by this huge truck with a jet sky on its bed, and as I said hi I almost thought it was someone else, because the encounter was so random, so I walked in and let her talking to Aimee). She was on her way back to town from swimming at the dam, I imagine. Aimee asked if we were headed the right way, and they (Avery and her friend) thought so but were not sure, because they had never been to the Ghost Ranch. Art people always think the general population is as interested on our sites as we are, and that is never the case lol.
After the gas station stop we continued on our drive and the landscape kept getting more and more beautiful. We even recognized some mountain formations we think Georgia O'Keeffe included in some of her paintings. Finally found the entrance to Ghost Ranch, an uphill dirt road, and we drove on it for a couple minutes until I checked the GPS and it told us we had not gone far enough on the main road, so we once again turned around and got back on the road. The actual place on the GPS was only a few minutes away, and by the time we got there we found this closed up reception center, with a sign directing people to go to the entrance we had just been at. Better safe than sorry. We drove up the ranch road (which directed us towards the most beautiful rock formations with the most gorgeous light ever), and all one could hear from us was "wow" or laughter. Even though the drive was so complicated we had a good time doing it, the time did not take forever, and there were no awkward moments at all.
We finally found the reception area, went up to it, and found out where we were supposed to go, which was maybe 50 feet away. We joked that maybe that was the only hiking we'd get done, since we wanted to go back before it got dark. Ching-In had another event to go to after the talk (a dinner and a reading), so we were not sure if we'd had the time to do anything else.
We walked towards the Agave building, which reminded me of a church Adobe-style, with high ceilings and a mezzanine with extra seating. What would be the altar part of the building was backed by a wall of glass, facing the road (though it sat on a hill). Aimee and I walked towards the glass wall and realized that the entire audience could see us, so we walked around and through a low wall that formed a courtyard (with an iron-rod bell above the arch) and peaked at the talk. we decided to go to an attached building to make sure we were in the right place. A blond woman sat on a leather arm chair, the room filled with them, but the woman sat there alone, reading. Aimee asked if the craft talk was happening in the other building and we got a genuinely nice reply in confirmation. That woman reminded me a bit of the actress that played Anne Boleyn on The Tudors, but only if she had blond curly hair and wore yoga clothes. I decided it was best for me to put on my sneakers (wearing flipflops till then), as there were tons of rocks everywhere and the place was so beautiful I wanted to hike.
As we walked back this woman exits the lecture hall, smiles and waves at us, so I wave back thinking she was just being friendly. She then runs towards us and I realize she is Ching-In Chen, Aimee's friend. We are introduced, she tells us she had to go to the bathroom, and when she returns she invites us to go inside, and immediately people make room for us. There was a guy talking in the front of the room, I assumed the teacher, a short man, either Asian or Hispanic, I could not tell. He was telling stories, which I later understood to be the Q&A part of his craft workshop. I looked around and the room was filled with people, the Santa Fe types for sure, but also all kinds of people, a wonderful diversity I have not seen in a long time, all ages, colors, styles, etc. I did not pay attention to the Q&A, but clapped at the appropriate moments, and smiled when everyone laughed.
The talk ended and we all exited the room, I noticed the guy sitting next to me had left his journal inside, and there was money in it, so I looked for him and told him where it was. Ching-In told us they had a communal dinner and that they never checked for badges, so we all got in line and helped ourselves with some lasagna, garlic bread, green beans and a ceasar salad, in addition to some tiramisu-inspired dessert. The food was quite yummy, and the dining hall huge. We sat together at a table by the window and I got to know Ching-In better (totally adore her now), and they caught up with their own stuff (it'd been 5 years since they last saw each other, I believe).
[it's taken me all day to write this entry, and the day has turned from great to not so good, so I am having a real hard time concentrating and remembering things, sorry if this seems rushed, but I have no joy right now, but writing does provide me with some motivation to face the rest of the day. I hope to come back to this and really describe Ching-In and our exchanges, but for now what follows is an abbreviated view]
After dinner we could not decide what to do. It was past 6:30 (we had left SFAI at 1:30 pm) and we wanted to head back before it was dark. Ching-In had her schedule open until 8:00, so she looked on her guide for short hikes we could take. We ended up just walking around the grounds, Ching-In actually cut her foot open because she was wearing flipflops, but someone walked by and happened to have one in her bag, and gave her one immediately. Ching-In was very nice about introducing us all to everyone that came by, a habit I love in others (I can't stand when someone just stands there and does not introduce you, I find it demeaning and rude - and I tell my friends when I do not do that it is because I do not remember the person's name, so they are forewarned). We walked towards the entrance, found ourselves in a couple dead-ends, and eventually found a path that led to the horses, closer to the rock formations, towards the camp grounds. The light was just beautiful the sun blinding, setting behind the range. It was 7:15 and we had to come back, so Ching-In walked us to the car, and when I got home I sent her a friend request on Facebook. It was great meeting her, it was such an unexpected encounter, she is one of those lovely people that just shine.
On the drive back, as we were about to exit the Ranch, we saw a man kneeling in front of a woman in a cabin. She sat on the edge of a porch with her legs dangling (the house was somewhat raised), he in front of her with his hands on her thighs, they were both looking at each other as if there were no one else in the world. Aimee recognized him as one of the workshop instructors, not the guy on the craft workshop, but someone known in the field. We started laughing because we have been talking about residencies and sex and relationships ever since we met basically (everyone has a weird story to tell), and in special that day, making all kinds of imagined comments about people and what they'd get themselves into. We laughed our way to the gate, as we saw another workshopper jogging in the dirty road towards the cabin - we were certain that the rumors would fly lose in the Ranch that night.
The road was empty, the sun was strong, behind the car, creating a long shadow in front of us, that looked like a little face with two eyes (our heads being the eyes). Aimee and I talked about all kinds of things, and I really got to know about her life, her history, her goals, etc. It was such an honest sharing that made me happy and at peace, actually. Just two strangers driving on a road, in no man's land, opening ourselves to the world. It's funny because when we set out for the drive I wondered if we would be able to spend this much time without getting on each other's nerves, and at the end I realized that I'd not take on this trip with anyone else.
As luck would have it, the return drive was as eventful as the going, and once again Google maps disappointed us. We quickly got into the road that would take us home (did I just call SFAI home?), and drove on it for the longest time (like 35 minutes) and in theory it would take us directly into Santa Fe, but 15 miles outside the city the road just ended, and we were faced with a road that went right or left, so we went right. And that road ended too (it was a business lane). My phone's battery was almost dead, and the signal was not good, and adding up to my phone not working well in general, we were literally stranded. Most of the business on that service drive seemed closed, and it was truly scary for a bit. My sister sent me a text she really needed to talk to me, and I texted her back saying my battery was dying and I had almost no bars. My phone died soon after, and Aimee told me to try hers, but since it was new, it took a while to figure out how to get directions on the GPS.
Eventually it all got worked out, we got back on track, got into Santa Fe, fueled the vehicle (one of the rules), about $20 total, and finally made it back to the institute. It was past 10 pm. We were exhausted, but still laughing, and tired and hungry and all that. We talked on the kitchen for a bit, there was no one around, and I had to go to bed. Plugged in my phone and saw I had a text back from my sister, telling me she'd call me tomorrow. At least, I thought, no one had died. Her tone in the text was serious, but because there was nothing I could do when where I was, I decided to go to bed rightaway.
- posted via iPad
Location:on the road, NM
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