I had been to Santa Fe, New Mexico two glorious times while my father was still living. Daddy would always sit on the park bench while Mama and I went around the plaza and shopped. Everyone assumed he was local and the Indian community there was always eager to visit with him. He looked so handsome in his Indian bolo ties and they truly were the best trips we ever got to take as a family. So I was well acquainted with Santa Fe when we went to see Burk’s mother and stepfather, who live there. My family had only gone in August and this was in October. It started cold and gloomy but it was nice to still enjoy a piñon fire in the rain. Then the sun broke through and I snapped this picture. The foliage looked different in the first blush of autumn than it did in summer’s last rays. There was a hollowness being there without my parents but I thought about the cycles of time and tried to enjoy this new one. I do not want to gloss over some of Santa Fe’s greatest treasures, as I realize many who are reading this live abroad and have not been. First, it is a true walking town, centered around a plaza built by the Spanish in 1610, making it the oldest state capital city in the United States. Note I did not say the city of Holy Faith was “founded” then; as native inhabitants had already dwelt there for centuries. French Roman Catholic Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy built the St. Francis Cathedral dedicated to the city’s patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi. It resides prominently just off the square and is the mother church of the archdiocese of Santa Fe. My favorite church is San Miguel, just a few minutes’ walk from the plaza. It has the honor of being the oldest U.S. church in continual use — since 1610. It’s thick adobe walls and bell tower beckon one to come in and pray. Another church integral to Santa Fe history is the Loretto Chapel built in 1878. It stands at the end of the Santa Fe Trail just outside the plaza. Fashioned after my beloved Sainte Chapelle in Paris — my favorite chapel in the world, it is due to its exquisite stained glass. The ornate stained glass for the Loretto Chapel made the journey from Paris to New Orleans via ship and then by paddle boat to Saint Louis. It was then taken by covered wagon over the old Santa Fe Trail to the Chapel: quite a feat in 1610. It also contains a Miraculous Staircase which I shall write about at some point. Scottish travel writer Robert Lewis Stevenson once said:
“I never weary of great churches. It is my favorite kind of mountain scenery. Mankind was never so happily inspired as when it made a cathedral.”
Having been to Santa Fe quite a few times, this is simply a brief introductory of one of my favorite cities: the City Different, with mountains and churches; Indians and pueblos; red chilis and blue corn, and a wealth of history and art.
