Lama Foundation

In November of 2010 Jozien rode the bus down from Whitehorse (YT). Somewhere in Washington or Oregon, another passenger had a seizure. Fortunately, all Canadians are trained in CPR and she was able to save the woman. 

Jozien's been meditating for decades and knew of the Lama Foundation. It's where Ram Dass wrote Be Here Now. We arrived after dark and exploring, stepped into a small group that, as we were to learn, was holding a grieving ceremony. Discovering our faux pas, we settled in. At some point I felt it appropriate to teach the eight or ten participants Cat Odor Review. Fortunately, it went over well and lightened the mood a little.

The bell at the top of the flags sounded as I came near. Like a cat it refused to perform after I got my camera out. 

This is what a meadow looks like when it's NOT been grazed by livestock.

Up the hill was this post & beam architecture.

Farther up, inside the building, is Sam Lewis's (founder) grave.

Paolo said they don't have a teacher or guru, it's now more of an intentional community. There is a strong arts dimension with a number of musicians, painters, dancers and at least one performance artist.

Billy came along and gave me a tour.

I was shown the wash room, for clothes, the greenhouse, sauna (wood-fired), the shower (solar heated), library (very cozy)

Library

Another bit of architectural interest. Nate leant his presence for scale

And then there were The Caaaaaaats!!!

As we stepped onto the balcony, a nice rain came. Alas, there was no banana tree to dance around; it was a tad cool anyway, there at 8600'.

912 Greens

A Short Break From ABQ

North to the Taos steppe. It covers a goodly portion of the area on either side of the Rio Grande Gorge and west therof. 

It's gentle undulations are unattractive to the hoi-polloi, thus providing, mostly, the thousands of acres to me. 

I'll return the 12th to attend an eye appointment of Tuesday the 13th. That gives me a full week of R & R.

The hole in the cornea of the left eye is taking its sweet time scarring over, but it's happening. Dr. Davis is the head of the Fellowship training program (scroll down) for cornea transplants and related surgeries and he "gets" the trip: intermittent micro-doses of LSD along with regular doses -- every two hours --  of opthalmic antibiotic followed by fake tears.

Heavy, Maaaannn

Northbound From ABQ

I thought Tuesday might be too early to start haranguing about renewing my prescription for my heart medication. I finally, after MANY HOURS over the course of the week, got it done at 5:00p.m. yesterday, Friday. 

Having wrangled suicidal ideation since age seven, and now having spent nearly the entire week facilitating my longevity, the irony prompts a look at myself with a derisive question & ridiculous answer: "Me...sleight-of-mind? Absolutely!"

More Walmarts per-capita than any other U.S. city
(It says alot about the [lack of] culture)

Rumor has it it's gonna get hot in ABQ today. Hopefully it'll be cooler up by Taos.

Any suggestions for dispersed camping up that way?

Cultural, Christian or What?

Highway 285 from Espanola to Taos is a MUCH longer route but, unlike highway 64, there're lots of places to camp.

The area is mostly inhabited by descendants of the conquistadors. One never sees these things happen, or erected, so it's impossible to know what their cultural history is.

Unfortunately for me, I've never found these expressions to be aesthetically satisfying. One can only conclude that christians just have more trouble driving than Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, agnostics, Lesbians or any other group with a recognizable icon that would serve for a roadside marker. AND, that people who live in rural areas will often drive LONG distances to dispose of their trash. It's at least 30 miles in either direction to a trash can and to private land.

Forest Roads are known to be deadly.

Less than 300 feet away.

Montoya
She was 15

What might YOU conclude?

Yu Eat - Asian Cuisine, Albuquerque

A find! 

138 Harvard Dr SE (a block south of Central Ave across from the University)

Their Facebook page.



The same folks who have Yu Garden in Taos, they opened Yu Eat in Albuq in July.
Only seven reviews on Facebook as of 9/20/19 all of which give 5 stars. I would too (if I did Facebook).


On the wall outside....

Taking In the Sights - Taos

After a day of rest, feeding, rest and more feeding we were restored.

We started with Taos Gems & Mineral where Titus the Ancient (rescue pug) took extreme umbrage at the Old Dominion delivery driver. To add insult to injury, he had to endure being (lovingly) restrained.

Next came Cici's Coffee. Named for his daughter, they use Taos Roasters coffee which gave the third (count 'em on one hand) most superb Shot-In-The-Dark I've had in all my years of travel. You can juuuuust make out their tri-level, cream-colored shingle through the arch-entrance to the John Dunn House shops.

Then on to Hooked On Books where Sammie the Cat reigns.

and Linda, Sammie's staff, searched through the Womens' section to see if there was anything by Mlle Anand and I found a signed copy of Psychology of the Future by Stanislov Grof.


Thinking the rains might've sprouted some shrooms, we followed the road out of Arroyo Seco to its end. No shrooms, but a lovely walk amongst some large ponderosas (only barely rivaled by my girth).

No trip to the north is complete without seeing The Gorge. We arrived, as usual, just in time.

All photos by M. Cook.

A SPLENDID trip!!!

Sagebrush Inn & Finding Acid

By Wednesday we'd discovered the balcony and brought some crockery from the dining room; life was becoming civilized.

I always wonder where people race off to; but then I think "Thank god they're gone!" When we eventually make our way out to the lot, we have no trouble finding Snoball, the 2015 Honda FIT,  since she's the only one there.


The morning light through the elms and cottonwoods kept us entranced.

I found some acid. A solid "set und setting" guy, I'm compiling the playlist and toying with ideas about location. The AKG K 240 (Austrian) headphones are 'sposed to arrive inna coupla days.

Tuesday in Taos

Tuesday morn, at Michael's, Michelle's fav (Blue corn pancakes!). 

Somewhere on my southbound Moose-Way-Home I'd forgotten to load in my Hush Puppy loafers.(Over two years old, the damn things were too big and I was always curling my toes to keep 'em on. This, of course, caused my feet to hurt. And them being over-sized, I was always sliding around in 'em. But they wouldn't wear out! I was SOOOOO glad to be rid of 'em!)

An essential item of any nomad, they sat outside the door to slip into whenever I had to go out into the night or stroll over to greet folks who've camped too close or confab with the Sheriff who woke me at 2:00 a.m. the other morning near Arnold, Calif to see if Phoebe was stolen -- so we went to the CAV Thrift Store where I found a swell pair of TOM's for $3.00. TOM's is a Certified B corporation, "...a new kind of business that balances purpose and profit."  They have a B Corporation rating of 96.3.

Support for people experiencing domestic and/or sexual violence

We also looked in at the Old Jail where the light, a confirmed pattern enthusiast, prompted Ms. Cook.

Stainless

I prefer silver, or, at the least, silver plate. It's been a while since we traveled and although we DID remember the phone chargers the Sagebrush Inn in Taos has naught but stainless...and ugly at that.

But Sheldon the cat, came out to bid me Guten Morgen when I took my buffet breakfast to the bar, which, at that hour of the day I had, for a little while at least, to myself.

A review of The Blue Flower by Daniel Myers of Greenville, SC, lifted from Amazon:

I remember when this book was first published and made the cover of the New York Times Book Review under the caption "Romanticism breaks out!" or something of the sort. Romanticism does NOT break out in this book. The very fact that it can be characterized as such shows us just how far we've come from the Romantic era.-All that "breaks out" in this novel is meticulous descriptive writing of the late 18th Century German milieu, in all its mundanities and shoddiness. In other words, the book is ANTI-ROMANTIC. The only Romantic passages are the quotes from Fitzgerald's straw man/main character Novalis and they are always quoted in a context that makes them appear misguided and silly. I'm sure Fitzgerald could have done the same thing with Keats, who grew up as a stable boy. Romantics are easy to comedize, because they take everything seriously. In doing so, they express our greatest longings and highest aspirations as well as the depths of human despair.
I'm too depressed by this book and by the reviewers and critics who have fooled themselves into thinking something deeper is going on here to say anymore. But I'll end with a riposte quoted from Novalis on p.157 (and, of course, made by Fitzgerald to look ridiculous in the context in which she places it): "Courage is more than endurance, it is the power to create your own life in the face of all that man or God can inflict, so that every day and every night is what you imagine it. Courage makes us dreamers, courage makes us poets."
Have the courage not to go along with the fickle sheep of reviewers and critics on this one. Have the courage to see the book for what it is: An old, learned woman's meticulous sneer at the visions that make living on this earth worthwhile.

Some silver, or, at the minimum, silver plate, would help.

Vacation in Taos

We left Monday the 9th around 5:00 p.m. sharp. Somewhere north of Santa Fe I began to suspect I'd missed a turn. Apparently, at some point someone else had too and they'd put in hwy 518 just for such occasions. We arrived right on time at 8:58....or maybe it was 9:58 p.m.  

You know yer inna classy place when the T.P. is embossed.

The Sagebrush Inn was built in 1931. At the behest of guests, a restaurant was added a few years later to save the 8-mile drive into town.

It's a Rigorous Life - Cebolla Mesa

Boy howdy, this leisure-living is rigorous!! 

I arrived in Taos Monday afternoon in search of a new bow string. I thought I'd lost mine (more on this later), but as luck would have it, the archery shop was closed. 

I grabbed a Taos Visitors Guide and went looking for a place to camp. The road to the D.H. Lawrence Ranch crosses National Forest so I took it. I don't need to remind you that I AM Lucky Herrmann, but as I drove along noting the various side roads I cogitated on the hand-lettered, cardboard sign that had said the Ranch was open from 10 - 4. It's owned by the University of New Mexico and when I worked there one of the perqs was to rent it. I'd never had the time and was interested in seeing it.  

As luck would have it, this was the first day in four years the Ranch was open. Mr. Medina, in charge of bringing it back online, regaled me with its history and how his grandfather had killed huge rattlers on the west side of The Gorge when hauling water to his homestead. As I was leaving he suggested Cebolla Mesa for camping. This is my third night. 

It's a bonafide campground -- there's a pit toilet and a picnic table or two -- but the sites aren't designated; there're several dirt tracks from which to choose. The area is steppe bounded by juniper-pinon, many are on the brink...of The Gorge that is.

The string turned up; it had fallen behind the driver's seat and finally got bored (I guess) and crawled out from under some luggage.

By now I'd broken my arrows so went back into town. At the Taos Hunting Co. I was lucky enough to get Roy's assistance. He spent the better part of an hour explaining the differences -- fletch type & length (of fletch), point weight, shaft materials. I bought a package of twelve and waited while he assembled them. I also got some much-needed how-to advice. Thanks Roy!

Then on to Brodsky Bookstore where Willie Stark graciously stood (he was busy napping when I arrived) for his portrait. 

A bookstore MUST!!  ---  The cat.

Not now; I'm busy.

Well, alright, since it's you.

I hear yer mudder callin'.

Back at Cebolla Mesa, I perused the Visitors Guide and wrote up a calendar of events. After a bit I decided it was all too much, packed up and...headed to the highway (last phrase taken from Steppenwolf's: Born to be Wild). Outside San Luis, Colorado I got to looking at the distances to public land and decided to go SW about 100 miles where I could then take the high road to Platoro. It was the best decision I've made in weeks.

Whim! It makes the going great!