With the recent purchase of the rights to air all hockey games in Canada, Rogers has altered the landscape of how we will view hockey for the next twelve years. Tim Thompson has been creating the opening montages for Hockey Night In Canada on the CBC for years, but on Saturday, he served up a timeless classic.
Whether or not you are a fan of the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs really doesn’t matter. It’s all about hockey, the fans, and atmosphere that surrounds the game when two great rivals meet. The final shot of the two young fellows arm in arm with a fist, cocked ready to go, is so quintessentially Canadian, so gut-wrenchingly expressive of how it is to be a youngster in Canada, that I doubt you could come up with a better shot that symbolizes Canada, hockey and the Two Solitudes.
On Sunday we went for a long walk in Tynehead Park. There are lots of streams throughout the park, and they are filled with spawning salmon. It’s really amazing how large some of these fish are! The main Serpentine branch is filled with salmon, lots of species, struggling to make their way back up to the spawning grounds.
There are predators looking for an easy meal too. Otters and minks can be seen quickly wrestling a fish out of the water. We didn’t see any bears though I’m sure they are around. Tynehead has had warning signs about bears in the past, but not this weekend.
While walking the upper forest, we saw a family standing perfectly still alongside the path with their hands out. I thought it was as strange place to be looking for spare change, but nope, not that. They had some bird seed in the palm of their hands and the birds would swoop down, briefly land, grab a seed or a nut and flit away. The lady offered Pam a handful, and this little movie is what took place!
Halloween was a buncha fun this year! We did our usual display, with some different touches this year. We did a grave yard, with lots of extras. We lined one side of our walkway with blow ups, so people were kind of funneled in towards Pam in her ghoul outfit, with smoke billowing out at them.
It was really quite cute to see the kids come bravely strutting up, then slamming on the brakes and backing up a few paces when the smoke comes wafting out from under the table Pam uses to keep the candy bowls on…
I’ve got a movie of one little girl who needed to be quite convinced by her dad to continue on. I do apologize for how dark they are; I thought they were coming out very nicely, but no, they are quite dark.
The movie is about five minutes long – maybe too long to watch. But hey, if you’ve got some time, it does really give you a sense of how hectic things can get for Pam. Even though it is a bit dark, you can see some kids react when I give them a “Happy Halloween” shout-out!
We had a couple of “body-less” heads on poles on the opposite side of the walkway from the blowups. I stood in completely black clothes, hidden behind a rather ghoulish mask. The mask was so creepy, one woman said, “Love your display, but that one – (pointing at me, standing still, completely quiet) is just creepy!” I’d let them go get their candy, then as they walked away, I’d shout at them, “HAPPY HALLOWEEN!” and people would just freak! The lady mentioned above, shouted, “OMG you’re alive!”
Sometimes after I shouted, the kids would start running and not stop for a long time! One young lad took off like a shot, and his father was laughing so hard, he could barely stand up! We got lots of thank yous, and compliments… One fellow said, “No matter what anyone else does, we can always count on you to give us a scare!”
We had 228 bags of candy, and we ran out by 8:15 PM. That’s earlier than most years. I think it might have to do with us having the display up for quite a few days before Halloween. But also the weather was really terrific – nice and warm, with no rain and next to no wind.
It was a really fun evening – and the kids and parents were having so much fun. I’m sure Pam’s picture is on Facebook a thousand times! You wouldn’t believe how often they were taking her picture. Super gratifying stuff… really really enjoyed the evening. A really BIG Thanks to all of you who came and got scared, and chatted, and laughed.
It seems the longer we are here, the more we find little gems hidden in various corners of this city. I’ve really grown to love this place. When we told people we were coming to Santa Fe, their first response was always, “Why?” The simple answer is that Pam and I love to travel, and we haven’t been here before, so why not? After all, we were born on this earth, so where ever we are, we are home.
The long answer is that for a long time I’ve been fascinated by a place near Taos, New Mexico that is a community of quirky, offbeat artistic types who have built “Earthships” that are completely independent of society’s infrastructure. I first saw/heard about it when Dennis Weaver (McCloud of TV fame) got involved with them well over 30 years ago.
All electricity is generated or captured from the sun. Waste systems simply recycle everything. All water used in the home is captured rain water. The homes themselves are built with recycled goods like tires, rammed with earth, stacked on top of each other like bricks. Then bottles are inserted in the walls to create a stained glass effect, then covered so the final product looks like adobe homes. No tires are visible in the finished homes. The thermal mass created by the tire walls allows each home to heat and cool without other heat/cooling devices. They even grow their own food since each home basically has it’s own hothouse.
Truly, it’s an amazing place. But to get there, we needed to drive through Taos, and then cross the Rio Grande Gorge. That was as stunning thing to see too. Since we haven’t seen the Grand Canyon, this must be pretty darn close! Wow – that’s one big hole in the earth! There is a bridge to cross, and you can get out and walk it… and lots of people were doing it… very very cool.
Today we set about exploring a few more places we have not seen. How about this mailbox? Just a tad unique eh? It’s out on Airport road, a couple miles from the town center.
Santa Fe is steeped in history.It’s origins go way back to before the Spanish came to America, but the town that exists today is laid out in the typical Spanish way, with a main square with government buildings on one side, shops and home around the exterior, and religious sites within close proximity.
The San Miguel Mission is the oldest church in the USA that still is in use today. Services are still held here every Sunday. It was first built in 1610 but was subsequently destroyed twice and the structure today was constructed in 1710. Some parts of the original 1610 church still exist. The Tlaxcaltecan Indians of Mexico, brought to Santa Fe by the conquistadors, were the principal people who built all three iterations of the chapel.
The bell inside the church was cast in 1356 in Spain. It sits on a rugged structure just inside the door of the church and you are encouraged to strike the bell. It gives off a wonderfully full sound, echoing throughout the church. Both Pam and I took a shot at being musicians! I mean, come on – how often do you get to touch something that is nearly 700 years old, let alone whack it with a hammer? Here is a short video of Pam’s playing.
Across the alley from the chapel, is a small adobe structure, used by the Tlaxcaltecan Indians while they constructed the chapel. It’s considered to be the oldest house in the USA. (I’m not sure how accurate that is, since the Taos Pueblo has been continuously inhabited for over a thousand years… but granted, the Pueblo is more than simply a house.)
Afterwards we went to the State Capitol, a more recently constructed circular building that houses the offices of the Governor, the Lt Governor and various other government officials, as well as the Legislature. It is an absolute must-do if you ever come to Santa Fe. You can tour the whole building. You start off on the top floor in the office of the Governor. There is a mini-museum, right in her office, showing the prehistoric beginnings of New Mexico. As you wind your way down the circular building’s three floors, the art goes from Old West, Spanish Colonial, to mid century, to modern. On the main floor was a recently opened gallery of modern quilted items. It’s an amazing place!
Since it was our anniversary, we naturally spent some time in a local casino! But about midnight, we went back to the main square and took a few pictures of the St Francis Cathedral and the Loreto Chapel all lit up. Obviously it’s been tough to show everything we’ve seen here in Santa Fe in the blog posts. There are even more shots up in our gallery, that are not referenced in the posts, so if you are interested in seeing other interesting items that we’ve been seeing, they are up there!
Saturday we took a drive south to Roswell for an overnight stay. The drive took about three hours, it’s around two hundred miles, through cattle country. Lots and lots of cattle, with the odd sheep and llama farm mixed in. The land is not as mountainous as around Santa Fe, but with rolling hills, and dried arroyo beds cutting through the landscape it was a very scenic drive. It turned out to be an easy drive, with very good roads.
Roswell is a town of about 50,000 people – and much larger than we expected. The alien theme is apparent almost as soon as you drive in, with Galaxy Car Wash – Galactic Sushi, it’s how we roll… etc. There are little aliens peeking out all over the local businesses. Even the large chains get in on the act! Arby’s proclaims that “Aliens are welcome“, KFC proudly puts the Colonel right beside a towering alien, and even the USPS gets in on the act.
I thought the USPS R2D2 post box was one of the best alien icons. It was really well done, with a great paint job… and hey, he has his own website! (Although when I went to it, I was denied access, which is not all that surprising. I’m not a Jedi Master yet – I can’t whack the little globes with my helmet on… YET!) Even the local community center got in on the whimsical act… this carving is right in front of the main doors.
There are of course, lots and lots of shops and “museums” dedicated to the Roswell Incident of 1947 (or 1957 if you believe the government). The first we entered was called Area 51, and wouldn’t you know it, they required Pam’s help right away. We hadn’t been in the place for more than five minutes when a call went out for a nurse to assist with an alien who had gone into cardiac arrest. The doctor in the lab had gone for coffee, and only the guards were left. It’s not easy being a nurse on vacation!
Afterwards, a couple of friends invited us to relax and have a few beers. They were pretty grateful, and they told us that the government has been keeping them there since the crash. They give them old computers, so they can’t access the internet, and it’s been tough for them, since Facebook was their idea.
At any rate, the next stop was the museum, which was not very well done. They now charge five bucks to get in, but the displays look like a high school got together and did it for a science project. It’s kinda sad really, because a lot of the evidence they have, could really be persuasive if they did a more professional job. I get the impression that most people in Roswell don’t really take it all that seriously. Although one store in particular had a fellow who did seem to be serious about the whole thing, he was definitely in the minority.
The city itself has put up a museum and cool statue of Dr. Robert Goddard, the man who basically figured out how to launch rockets. They have kept the tower that he repeatedly launched liquid fueled rockets from, right in the spot from which he did the experiments. And that’s right on Main Street, across the street from Arby’s!
Roswell is not all aliens – another famous citizen was John Chisum – one of the early cattle barons. He was portrayed in the movies by no less than John Wayne, so you know he had to be something special! He was contemporaneous with Billy the Kid and was instrumental in having Pat Garrett track him down. They were apparently on friendly terms but had a falling out when Chisum failed to pay Billy what he felt he was owed for his part in the Lincoln County Wars.
The drive back to Santa Fe was in a bit of rain, so we stopped in Encino and took this picture of an old clunker of a house. Encino seems to really have hit the skids, with most shops and gas stations and homes crumbling. It’s population is only 94, but it did have a famous citizen, the 8th Governor of New Mexico! It fell into disrepair as a result of the rail line discontinuing the depot there…
It was a fun couple of days, though, and definitely worth the drive to see everything.
Today we decided to head over to Canyon Road. It’s a street that is completely dedicated to art galleries and shops. There are a couple of antique dealers, but most are galleries – traditional oils, water colors, sculptures. There is every style you can imagine, Impressionist, modern, traditional, Western, Oriental, Cubist.
There were lots and lots of huge bronzes – life size horses, pigs, buffalo, dogs of every breed imaginable, cowboys sitting on their horses, Native Indians in full regalia. There were life size statues of children, adults, and fantasy characters. A life size Mark Twain, clutching a copy of Huckleberry Finn, made an appearance, sitting on a bench.
There were these fascinating wind devices – a whirligig for lack of a better word. They ranged in size from three feet high to twenty feet at least. Some ran with water, some ran pumps to move the water, some needed as little as two miles an hour of wind speed to get them to move, some were brightly colored, while others were in a patina-ed copper color. One seller had a whole field of them – literally hundreds in one location. Completely fascinating to sit there and watch them turn. This movie should give you a good idea of how they looked.
There was Oriental art – Buddha lounged on the grass, sat cross legged or towered above us. Hand knotted rugs and complex Thai textiles were featured in another gallery. This picture of Bhudda’s face was on a statue at least 20 feet high. You might be able to see it briefly in the movie above.
Pam was most fascinated with the animal bronzes I think. She loved the ones of dogs and cats and turtles and bears and bison and coyotes and… well you name it, and it was done in bronze. But this bronze of a couple of Native Indians was probably her favorite. The details on the bead work on the moccasins and jacket were exquisite – all done in bronze mind you!
We had a light lunch at Cafe Grecco’s, right on Canyon road. It was an Italian sub, which was really a paninni with lots of pastrami, beef, and cheese. Very tasty, with a locally brewed root beer.
With the recent purchase of the rights to air all hockey games in Canada, Rogers has altered the landscape of how we will view hockey for the next twelve years. Tim Thompson has been creating the opening montages for Hockey Night In Canada on the CBC for years, but on Saturday, he served up a timeless classic.
