~:: Santa Fe: Pt. 3 ::~

I include this to show that Santa Fe uses parking meters.  NO.  That’s not true.  It’s because I like how SKINNY I look (for a change).  And you can see how hot the light is down that-a-way.  And I didn’t take this.

This person took this.  And these.  Following ones.

Not quite as skinny here.  But Chaz looks like she’s gettin DAHWN.  Serious women looking to collect serious craftworkage.

We eat out.  This person is still taking the pictures.  Both of my sons do this.  Cam even does it with his OWN camera, which M would do if he had one.

I am sticking my finger in his ear and he doesn’t even stop.  There are actually several shots in this series, each one featuring a different condiment.  We are at Del Charro – our favorite burger place downtown.

I was chastised for missing the chance to photograph a giant turtle.  So I went back and did it.  Like a “fetish” escaped from Kashi (which you can see in the background) and grew large over the years, probably feeding on rock walls.

Poring over handmade and deeply tempting wares.

Our favorite place to start.  Shops that are farther away from the Plaza carry wonderful things for considerably less than you will find them at the heart of the tourist haunts.  These guys are fun and friendly and carry things made by a couple of my favorite artists.

Getting close to the Plaza.  I loved this sign on the second story wall.

So typical of the southwestern graphic style.

Trekking across town.  I love the touches of green everywhere.  That man on the sidewalk?  He was really nice, so I told him I’d stick him in my blog.  Which I did.  Just now.

There was an old car show in the Plaza that day.  I had to shoot this – the lowrider, cruising along all those lovely, graceful old vehicles. Do they actually lower the seats in these beater cars, too?

 What’s exciting about some of these artists is that they bring back the old techniques and styles, but use them in new ways.  This woman has made a science out of this kind of pottery, bringing it back from a degree of obscurity.  Chaz, as an anthropologist, was fascinated.  And besides, she really loved the designs.

Some of the traders, like Sun Traders – they make studies of the old crafts and techniques and offer incentives to indigenous artists who learn them.  So the commercial aspects of tourism have actually preserved skill sets that were teetering on the edge of lost.

Way blown out – but look at all these people.  In the summer, the Plaza is just buzzing with people from all over.  You can’t hear the music, of course, but local performers play all day long – acoustic ones on the corners and more contemp on the gazebo stage.  Like an old world fair.

Another blown out and yucky shot – but it was meant to show you the skyline –

At the end of one of the Plaza streets.  I heard this building referred to as a cathedral.  I don’t know what makes one building a church and another a cathedral.  Certainly, this is not Notre Dame, but it is beautiful.

Trying on the potter’s earrings.  She’s wearing them in the “poring” shot above.

Here’s a single shot of a very rare thing: a man in a fabric shop.  We found this shop because I was looking for Pendleton-style fleece.  Which I actually found here (as you can see on the table to the right).  This was the oddest, coolest shop – they had bolts of coated canvas (the man is holding one), and hand made buttons – clay and hand blown ones – odd, wonderful things.  Not your quilt store, or even an all purpose fabric store.  And it’s one of the only ones in town.  Pricey.  But ever so exotic and exciting.

Gin takes us all out to eat at the Flying Star, a really cool hip restaurant down town.  And while we were there, in this drought stricken  part of the country, the skies opened up and there was a monsoon storm.  It was roaring outside.

Then it blew over, and this is what we saw out the window.

Chaz, Chelsea and Max, all enjoying the kids’ menu.

Part 4: the house.  the sky.  wow.