This was my first visit to Santa Fe in many years. On the first visit, downtown Santa Fe had had quite an impact on me, primarily for its visual appeal, but also for its historical interest and compact walk-ability.
It's easy to feel trepidation in revisiting an old flame. What if it has lost its magic? Is it you or it? On today's visit it took only minutes to realize that the architectural eye-candy just wasn’t having the same effect on me as before. Perhaps I was counting on pure novelty to make travel interesting. If so, what would that mean for the whole idea of RV travel over the next few years?
Perhaps Santa Fe was just too cute, too over-restored for me. I had just been wallowing in the sun-bleached, decayed ruins of impoverished towns in New Mexico, where they simply don’t have the budget for over-restorations, and where old things stay dignified by honest decay. You see, I was an accomplished aesthete by now, and Santa Fe was beneath me (ahem). Relaxed by this slightly self-serving insight, the little dog and I continued our tour and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
The architectural uniformity of Santa Fe, mandated by building codes presumably, bored me on today’s visit. But you have to admire a town where even the graffiti punks have artistic talent, and where the most mundane things, such as air conditioners or dumpsters, have been styled.The political views of Santa Fe folk are well known, of course. In the hemp shop I asked the shopkeeper-person if he/she would object to me taking a few pictures of the shop. OK, he/she said, as long as you’re not working for the CIA. Everything in the shop was coated with predictable slogans, of course.
It's easy to feel trepidation in revisiting an old flame. What if it has lost its magic? Is it you or it? On today's visit it took only minutes to realize that the architectural eye-candy just wasn’t having the same effect on me as before. Perhaps I was counting on pure novelty to make travel interesting. If so, what would that mean for the whole idea of RV travel over the next few years?
Perhaps Santa Fe was just too cute, too over-restored for me. I had just been wallowing in the sun-bleached, decayed ruins of impoverished towns in New Mexico, where they simply don’t have the budget for over-restorations, and where old things stay dignified by honest decay. You see, I was an accomplished aesthete by now, and Santa Fe was beneath me (ahem). Relaxed by this slightly self-serving insight, the little dog and I continued our tour and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
The architectural uniformity of Santa Fe, mandated by building codes presumably, bored me on today’s visit. But you have to admire a town where even the graffiti punks have artistic talent, and where the most mundane things, such as air conditioners or dumpsters, have been styled.The political views of Santa Fe folk are well known, of course. In the hemp shop I asked the shopkeeper-person if he/she would object to me taking a few pictures of the shop. OK, he/she said, as long as you’re not working for the CIA. Everything in the shop was coated with predictable slogans, of course.
Got a health problem? Or are you just soul-sick? Well then, Santa Fe has the answer: healing arts, inspired by the Wisdom of the East or by the richness of Native American spiritual wisdom. It's the same formula everywhere in town.
After several hours of pounding the pavement, the little dog and I were tired. There were no public restrooms or water fountains in downtown Santa Fe. Perhaps they couldn’t afford them. Besides the little dog was starting to behave oddly. He started moaning about what 'Man has done to the Earth'; about the plight of Endangered Species. But when he started chanting ‘Omm’ and muttering metaphysical nonsense at me, we called it a day.
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