Below the Surface, Written in Stone

Yes, true, I'm becoming passionate about geology since a trip with a geologist friend who taught me how to see through rocks. There is a whole world out there, written in stone, that can tell us about all the eras with those strange names, such as Paleozoic, with its ancient marine life and primitive plants, Mesozoic, dominated by reptiles and dinosaurs, and Cenozoic, with its more familiar ecology of flowering plants, grasslands, and mammals.

One doesn't need to be a geology nerd, just curious about our billion years past!

New Mexico is the place to find out what the rocks have to tell us.There is a wide choice thanks to this state's evolutions, transformations, volcanic activity and ocean tides.

While traveling through mesas, badlands, canyons and forests one learns to not only marvel at the beautiful scenery, which is indeed amazing, but also to look at the geological landscape. And it's WOW at first sight!

And yes again, I have just finished writing a new tour program about a geological adventure.

A personal note: I just got back from a short trip with a wonderful lady who wanted to discover more of New Mexico, after 20 years of absence. Her oh! and OMG! made me not only happy, as I enjoy seeing  people's enthusiam for this land, but it also confirmed, once again, that coming here, a huge life change for me, was the best decision I ever made.

 Some samples of what you can experience.

Why Hikes with an Expert?

When Rio Grande del Norte was nominated a National Monument I felt an incredible excitement. This amazing natural area undoubtedly deserved to be forever protected. And thanks to many people and organizations who did everything possible to make it happen, it happened!

The area included in the national monument encompasses some of the most spectacular lands in all of New Mexico and has one of the greaest migratory routes in the world. Wildlife is abundant, the whole area of the Taos Gorge offers a variety of trails up and down its slopes, with a surprise at every turn.

I also happened to meet some extraordinary people who knew every corner of this new National Monument practically by heart, with great respect and love. I learned so much from them and their enthusiasm!
I realized, one more time, how important is the role of an expert guide to get to the heart of a region and to understand in a profound way all that makes a place that particular place.

So, thanks to this National Monument I conceived Adventures with an Expert to offer a new way to understand the country one visits. By foot. Flying over a beautiful  area may marvel the lucky ones who can afford a helicopter flight but it will never give the same intimate relationship like stepping over the land, learning about its geology and history and feeling one with nature.

Since there are many other places in New Mexico I have been in love with since I first discovered them I started adding some of these beloved sites to the hikes.Chaco Culture National Historical Park, as an example, requires a particular - almost sacred - approach that only a walk can offer. Slowly one reaches the ruins, walks through them listening to the guide talking about the Chacoan people, and quietly immerse oneself in their culture, times, and mysteries.

As I wrote on the website

By hiking with an expert into these settings you become profoundly and intimately connected to the land, its spirit and soul. Our expert can share with you their knowledge and passion for the place they walk upon, love and protect and bring you on a journey you won't forget for a very long time.

I hope you will want to be a hiker with us and then tell us if I was was right in saying it's a very different way to feel the spirit of a place.

My two auction experiences

Somehow I got myself involved in two different situations that despite the anxiety they gave me at the time became part of my collection of fun memories.

From London, where I lived at the time, I went to Vancouver to meet carvers and local artists and buy for my gallery, P&A Collection. I traveled from North to South on Vancouver Island, visited all the museums I could possibly find, met wonderful people and then by chance I found a gallery dedicated to Inuit art. It is the most exquisite form of "art" one can imagine, carvings, masks and prints alike. I think I spent hours there, bought a few things and learned a lot.












Suddenly I found a group of amazing prints. But unfortunately they were going to be auctioned the day I was flying to come to Santa Fe. No worries, I was told, because I could bid by phone. Ehm...yes... but I couldn't make it anyway as I was going to be up in the sky and at that point I wanted to be among the first bidders! No worries, again. "You can call us from the phone attached to the seat in front of you, madam"!!! To make a long and exciting story short, I made the call from 10,000ft or more, shaking like never in my life. And I made it, I got the print I wanted.
I just made a search and ta-da there it was!

Seagulls chasing fish by Luke Anguhadluq

When I was living in London the important auction houses had regular shows of Native American Antique Art. I would always get the catalogues to feel I too was part of that world but I didn't have the courage to attend any of them. Until I saw a magnificent Zuni pot. I knew that a friend and art dealer in Santa Fe would love to have it, so why wait? I called him and he asked me to bid for him. Who...me????
I was sitting among famous and established international dealers wondering how to behave. I was so scared to move my hand in a way that could be interpreted as a bid or not raise it in time. When should I begin bidding? Should I show I was serious from the start or wait until the price was closer to what I was given as a limit?
I then noticed sitting two chairs away from me a very famous dealer and I thought I would never be able to beat him. Why not? I don't know, but that's the way I was feeling. Things were moving fast, my hand started going up, and up, and up...I got it at the right price!

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of THAT pot, but here are some others that give you an idea of what it was, although it may have been very different!

This ended my bidding experiences!

Agritourism and my Passion for Country Life

I recently launched the first Seven Directions' Agritourism Experience http://www.sevendirections.net/english/2010featured/High_desert_farm.html. I had an urge to do it. Let me explain why.

I grew up in the countryside and later on a small farm surrounded by vineyards and wheat. poppies and cornflower blues. I used to play with goats, cows, geese and chicken (plus cats and dogs). My life then moved on to a corporate life with no cows nor poppies! A lot of other weird kind of animals though!

When manure's smell is in the air for me it's like being home again. I know you are beginning to giggle, but it's a question of imprinting! I was born and raised with that thing in my daily life.

Get the idea?

New Mexico is still a rural state with many farms of different kinds and sizes scattered from north to south. Here especially, but all around the world too, we all want more of the real thing in terms of food and produce. No GM organism is safe here! Therefore the appreciation for organic and genuine food is great and farmers' markets flourish. Most farms in this state are still today similar to those I remember from my childhood because here it sometimes feels to be still living in the post-war years. I'm not saying this in a derogatory way, on the contrary!

I was extremely interested in the growing agritourism movement since my days near Lake of Garda where my country house was embraced by corn fields, alfalfa, sunflowers, persimmon and fig  trees and cows with their "natural product". I don't mean milk!!          
                                                                                     

Not my house, but it gives you an idea

I observed some small farms I used to buy my greens from embracing the then very new idea of opening up their homes and fields to people willing to share their life for a few days and work along them in the fields, rewarded by simple farmers' food at night. Was that agritourism? Yes, indeed, at its very beginning.

Nowadays, around the world one can find deluxe farms with fluffy beds and all the rest or other creative variations on the theme of agritourism. That's not what I like nor what it is. That is the usual distortion of good ideas carried out by people only looking for..guess what...money! This is how it works: a new concept is gaining ground but you businessman want to cater only for the wealthy; therefore you use the new concept's name and adapt it to your target. Et voila', another great fake!

I think that the simplicity of rural New Mexico's life is an experience every urban citizen should have once in his or her lifetime, if not more often.

I have some pictures of myself, age 3, carrying a basket which was bigger than me to go pick fresh eggs. I will never forget the excitement of my daily ritual! We all need to pick eggs more often, don't you agree?

It's not me as I was only wearing white (my mother's idea!0

By the way, someone should tell Google to allow the word agritourism without marking it as a mistake. Get real, Google!

I can go on forever about my life on a farm but this long foreward just wants to send a message to all my readers: there is a fantastic life out there in the fields (and a lot of work too) that can't be missed.

So come with us on one or two days agritourism exploration and then, I can guarantee you, you will want more!

Our Planet

This is not about a place I want to describe and rave about, this is about our place, our planet!

Mother Earth is sick, very sick. Humans, animals, trees, water...everything will have (are having, rather) a hard time to live the way it is used to . We won't be going anywhere if the situation doesn't get enough attention. And quickly.






    
                                                                                    this, not this     



Why am I writing about this? First because I care, second because I watched a wonderful movie, actually more like a documentary, which I highly recommend: A Fierce Green Fire.

It is amazing to learn or remember how many courageous people started the fight long ago and how many organizations around the world have joined since then. But Mother Earth asks for more.

Celebrate Earth Day                                                          

with something meaningful for our mother!

Our luminous Earth seen from the no-light Moon

http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement

Strange Things Happen in New Mexico...

True or false? We shall see. The astonishing frenzy created by the multimillion dollars treasure hunt is the greatest idea ever for promoting tourism.
A bronze chest, approx. 10"x10"x5" and 42 pounds, containing over a million dollars worth of gold, jewels and artifacts is creating an incredible buzz.

Begin it where warm waters halt
And take it in the canyon down,
Not far, but too far to walk,
Put in below the home of Brown.

This and four more poetic directions included in the book The Thrill of the Chase (5,000 copies sold so far and the only authorized store in the world that sells it, Collected Works Bookstore&Coffeehouse in Santa Fe, has 4000 books on back-order), were given by Forrest Fenn, a famous Santa Fe art dealer,  and the chase began, right away!

Collected Works Bookstore&Coffeehouse, a Santa Fe treasure

Now, with close to 3,000 likes on his Facebook page -The-Hunt-for-the-Fenn-Treasure- New Mexico is experiencing a huge increase in visitors.

As stated in TODAY Feb.27 issue, Fenn came up with this unprecedented idea to invite people to explore the outdoors. See? He is helping New Mexico True, the current tourism campaign!

It reminds me of the gold rush when Americans were facing horrible ordeals in order to get to a gold or silver mine or straight to California. Is this a special American thing? To be in line with the tradition, the hunt began with a woman lost who had to be rescued.

Fenn loves mysteries, people say. Seriously? Or does he like playing tricks? We shall see!

Next step for me: create a tour to the sights where people got lost or something happened to them during the hunt! :-)

I made it, 10 months later

Where did I made it to? Ojito Wilderness! I wrote about it in this blog last May and made it a priority.

I picked this season to avoid the heat one can find there, and timing was perfect! It is as gorgeous as I hoped. You are alone in this vast territory surrounded by silence, beauty, and peace. It seems in the middle of nowhere but it's very close to Zia Pueblo whose land surrounds the Wilderness. The area with the best rock formations and colors is not far from the winding road, the only one through the Wilderness, and an easy walk, but it feels you are in another world. The sun was shining and a cool wind made everything just perfect.

I was with my oldest New Mexico friend who introduced me to the secrets and beauty of this state. I was in heaven. We haven't traveled together for quite some time, life kept us too busy. As we began our road trip we both felt as if we never stopped traveling together. Back to the old days, it was so nice.

Not much to do in the evening in that area so we decided to visit a local winery,

Ponderosa Winery

taste their wines and buy some bottles. One helped us go through the late evening, after a good hamburger at Los Ojos Restaurant&Saloon. No other choice anyway! We also checked-out a couple of new-ish B&Bs in Jemez Springs, both a great and unexpected surprise, worth the trip.

For breakfast we decided that the Cuban Cafe in Cuba was worth the drive. I love that place, very firendly people, good family New Mexican food.

Back on the road for a fantastic off-the beaten track tour. I only found one website about the place I intended to see, unfortunately with bad directions! Never mind, we loved it and we go back with better directions soon.

Dirt roads, small village-like groups of homes and trailers, cows, horses, and ghost towns. I was so excited to have found such a place. After long drives, picture stops, and giggles I suddenly forgot about the world's bad news and realized that I again found MY New Mexico! The reason I moved here and the feeling that this was my home. For sure it's not for forest lovers!

 

It is the particular dry land, dry cholla, the horizon that never ends, shacks that tells the story of a better past, blue skies with amazing white clouds, silence, magnificent rocks that makes my heart beat at a fast pace.This is the place where I feel one with Mother Earth!