10 Things to do in February in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Visiting Santa Fe has become a much enjoyed vacation. I was looking forward to seeing it in February. I knew it would be a slower time of year, a time when fewer tourists might be there. I was not disappointed but perhaps there were even fewer people because of the recent downturn in our economy. Nevertheless the people of Santa Fe gave thoughtful attention to us as we visited favorite haunts and had new experiences because of the season.

1. Dining and eating in Santa Fe- We ate out in the afternoon and fixed meals at our residence. With hungry tummies we looked around and found satisying restaurant experiencesabout 2:00PM many afternoons. I would reccomend, Mateo's Miditalian Bistro, 802 Canyon Rd-the Tumbleweed Salad was a delicious treet. Zia's, and The Shed were favorites but I loved trying to figure out the ingredients of the Mongolian Mousse at Bert's La Taqueria.

2. Arty ambling- Walking around with no particular goal other than looking is an activity which I enjoyed on Canyon Road and the Guadaupe district. Talking with artists in their studios such as Antony Corso and Nina Tichava was illuminating. Finding out their personal motivations and experiences enriched the experience of looking.

http://www.tichava-mill.com/.

3. People watching-Morning coffee and newspaper reading at the Downtown Subscriptions at 376 Garcia St. Next door to one of the finest bookstores in Santa Fe.

4. Stretching- Sunday morning, all levels, yoga at Yoga Source, www.yogasource-santa fe.com.

5. Bathing - Ten Thousand Waves, communal womens bath, a good buy. Much more to be found at http://www.tenthousandwaves.com/.

6. Shopping - February a time for sales and good time for shopping from shoes, fashions and art. Sweet Feet, 100 E. San Francisco St. , Goler Fine Import Shoes on Palace St. Donald Pliner has visited the Goler store for the past 20 years in February.

7. Theatre- The Lensic theatre is one not to be missed, it is a restored 1931 theatre and we were able to see the Russian Theatre Ballet perform "Giselle". It was a packed house and you could see and meet the local Santa Feans.

8. Super bowl watching at the bar of the The Spa of the Loretto. A good choice with appetizers and drinks. Not a too raucous but interested group.

9. Discovering new tastes - the Acuyo Elixir, a chocolate drink, rich and intense with a taste of anise at the Kakawa Chocolate cafe, 1050 Paseo de Peralta http://www.kakawachocolates.com/, and of course the ritual purchase of Ohori's coffee, if you are not in Santa Fe it is http://www.ohoriscoffee.com/.

10. Standing in the winter sun against an adobe wall drawing.

The rough and smooth of Santa Fe

Over the years I have seen Santa Fe, New Mexico,in many seasons except winter. This winter was the first winter month I have spent there. Santa Fe always teaches me about brown and texture. In winter raw texture is paramount. What makes Santa Fe so harmonious is the manner in which natural texture is incorporated into the man made structures. I think this is why people love to return to Santa Fe. It is not a city of overpowering buildings, it is accessible.

I stayed in an adobe home at the end of Canyon Road right near the Acequia Madre and walked many mornings to a coffee shop on Garcia street to sit and read and think.

Quick Draw!

Hurtling through landscape in our jolting Penske truck I continued to notice the color of the landscape. I decided to tackle quick draw landscapes so I could record the memory of the forms and colors of the land. 1. I began in Arizona as we careened through the painted desert. My hand jiggled and I had only time to select quick colors and moosh them on the page.

Drawing and making fast choices certainly helps one edit and focus on a few things. I was interested in observing the color of the geography. I ended up making several of these drawings but will share only 3 of them.

2.This second one was done while heading out of Albuquerque.

The purple of the western mountains appeared as the Penske truck got closer to the foot of the mountains. The deep purple becomes deep blue and disappears finally into deep green pinon trees on dun colored earth.

3.The earth then rises out of the ground in long bony reaches of violet outside of Santa Fe where it rests on expanse after expanse of blonde colored grass.

So we bounced on home to Denver and off-loaded the airplane. The following week I returned to Santa Fe to continue to discover and reconnect with that ancient town.