Santa Fe, and early morning adventures to Ranchos de Taos

I love Santa Fe. Love it. As in, I could seriously live there. Maybe/hopefully, someday I will. No, it's not because of all the art galleries, though there are some great ones there. I've loved Santa Fe for as long as I can remember, but I really, seriously, truly fell in love with it in 2009, when we spent some vacation time there, and were actually able to settle in for several days. Santa Fe has a very well defined sense of place, and a very different pace of life, which is always a nice break from the hectic run of my usual day-to-day. It's a great escape from the craziness that usually seems to define my life these days.

The sense of place is harder to explain - I think it's one of those things that you know when you feel it - and perhaps in some sense, we might expect that from a place whose name means "holy faith." When I walk the streets of Santa Fe, I sense of the depth of faith that established it, and that continues to sustain it. You can say what you want about Santa Fe, but I think that at its core, it is a place that knows its own heart, and there are few places where I believe this is true.

In any case, I thought that spending the weekend in Santa Fe was a good excuse for a photographic adventure of sorts... a photographic adventure I ordinarily wouldn't do from Albuquerque because of the driving distance required in early morning hours when I am generally not very awake!

Call me crazy: I wanted to photograph the church of San Francisco de Asis in Ranchos de Taos at sunrise.

So, on Saturday, we got up at 4:00 (for your reference, in case you are not aware: yes, it is still inky-black-dark outside at 4:00 a.m.), and drove north to Ranchos de Taos. 4:00 a.m. photographic adventures are always a good reminder that you married the right person - which I most certainly did (not that I have ever had any doubt!!) - he was ready and willing to go along on the trip, even knowing he'd be up just as early the next morning for a 50-mile bike ride. I should note, this is also one of the benefits of marrying a morning person when you are not one. They're awake and willing to drive while you're still working your way back to being fully conscious - at least in my very fortunate case.

You've probably seen a photograph or painting of San Francisco de Asis at some point - Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keefe both immortalized this church in their art, and many, many, many others have since then. The funny thing is that no one ever seems interested in its front - most images are made of the back, with its famously curved, sloping adobe walls. I understand why, because from an artistic point of view, the curved adobe is a interesting study in the interplay of shape and shadow, but I admit it's always bothered me that no one ever really seems that interested in the front of the church - it's beautiful, too! Needless to say, I photographed the front and the back.

After about an hour and a half of photographing the church, we decided it was time to find some breakfast, and drove into Taos - landing at an awesome little restaurant that served up some wicked red and green on my breakfast burrito. Ahhhhhhh, yes, yes, yes... heaven, I swear. (I love NM. Have I mentioned that lately?) Then it was back to Santa Fe, with a stop at a pottery store in Velarde on the way. We spent a lovely afternoon with friends, went to Mass at St. Francis, and had a lovely dinner afterward.

Sunday morning, after I dropped the hubs off for his half century ride, I went for a great run, got ready for the day and headed back to the plaza to hang out for a while.

What a great way to spend a weekend. As always, and I've been reminded on more than one occasion, God knows what we need. I definitely needed this.

Pics of San Francisco de Asis! The front AND the back!!! :D
Peace and all good, friends, I hope everyone's week has started out well.

First up, the FRONT of this beautiful church:

And, the famous back, with some lens flare, because I loooooooove lens flare...