Chimayo Gates
The Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico is a pilgrimage site and a National Historic Landmark.
300,000 people from all over the world make pilgrimages to the Santuario de Chimayó during Holy Week. Some come to be healed because of the church’s reputation for sacred soil and some come to fulfil a vow, often walking from as far away as Albuquerque, more than 90 miles. Because the soil is considered holy, the Church replaces the dirt in the pocito from the nearby hillsides, sometimes more than once a day, for a total of about 25 or 30 tons a year.
The Four Directions
The Four Directions - A Southwestern Journey is the title of my book on the beauty of the Colorado Plateau around the Four Corners States. The Four Directions is a native American spiritual concept associated with the gifts of the creator from the directions of the compass and from creator above and mother earth below.
Lobstah
Louise and I were staying in an oceanfront cottage in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Down the road from the place there was a lobster pound, where one could order a live one boiled up for dinner. We enjoyed a South African wine called Wolftrap while we watched dusk descend on the bay of Cape Cod from our picnic. I frequently become interested in making pictures of our food. Most of the time Louise puts up with it. There was that one time when I stood on my chair in a restaurant though...
