Nature from Albuquerque to Santa Fe utilizes a limited palette. The desert stretches out as a sand colored mass broken up by dark green shrubs and occasional small stands of bright yellow flowers. As one travels north the mountains that loom over Santa Fe add a different shade of green to the landscape. Further north, as one continues to Taos, the wind has begun to carve the rocks into otherworldly shapes. As the road starts to follow the Rio Grande a new, rich, verdant strip is added. Thick foliage clings to the edge of the water which gives it life.
We stop at Rancho de Taos, a collection of 80 buildings that are centuries old. The woman at a gift shop we wandered into tells us the building we are in is 300 years old. Thick posts lining the ceiling hold up the roof. She points out where the original floorboards, still intact. have been patched with metal in spots to repair damage done by mice over the boards considerable life span. The structures are grouped around a plaza. In the center of it stands a 200 year old adobe church dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. In the adobe walls of the church one can still see bits of straw that was mixed with mud to form the thick walls. They glisten in the bright sunlight. The interior of the church, as well as the others we have seen on this trip, is spare, almost austere. It is a place to worship and meditate not impress and intimidate.
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