Santa Fe and the Road to Taos: San Miguel Chapel and the Classical Gas Museum

Sant Miguel Chapel

Santa Fe, New Mexico

1610-

According to our guidebooks, San Miguel Chapel is believed to be the the oldest church structure in the United States, so of course I had to see it! It looked so beautiful surrounded by snow.

They believe the building was started in around 1610, and then partially reconstructed a century later, after a fire. The adobe structure was built by the Tlaxcalan Indians of Mexico, who came to New Mexico as servants of the Spanish, atop an ancient kiva of the Analco Indians. (This reminds me of the churches in Europe built atop Roman Temples.)

Apparently, the altar screen was restored in 1955. It had at some point been covered over in house paint! Many other restorations have taken place over the years.

I love the old Spanish architecture so much, so that I am always drawn to visiting these places. The history is fascinating as well, but often sad when it comes to Native Americans and their culture being wiped out or taken over.

The San José Bell, which weighs around 800 pounds was said to be cast in Spain, in 1356. According to the very nice man who is the guide for the place, there is dispute about the date and there are theories on both sides of the argument, but we did ring the bell and it sounds wonderful. Love all the amulets on the posts!

Below, Christ on the Cross painted on buffalo hide by Franciscan Friars in about 1630, could be rolled up and taken around to use as a teaching tool to help in converting the Pueblo Indians to Christianity.

Found this video on the official website, about the restoration of San Miguel Mission. It even shows how they make the adobe bricks and resurface the adobe, all in less than 4 1/2 minutes!

Wood Station of the Cross
Date Unknown
"This is the only remaining Station of the Cross which rested in the body of the Chapel, when the Christian Brothers began using the Chapel as their private Oratory in 1859. This remnant may have been painted by one of the Spanish painters who decorated the Chapel during the 1710 restoration of the building, under supervision of Don Agustin Flores Vergara."

Across the street from the church ... this beautiful building!

After the church we headed north to see the San Francisco de Asis Mission Church in Rancho de Taos, and then the Taos Pueblo. I'll get to those in another post, but check out the view from our rental car!

We took the route 68 to Taos, so we could make it in a shorter amount of time. The high road (Scenic Route 76) is supposed to be amazing but takes quite a bit longer. We'll have to save that for another trip!

Check out Camel Rock in Tesuque, between Santa Fe and Espanola! You see it?

Surprises are the joy of living.

Surprises directly touch the soul.

Good surprises energize 

and bad surprises teach.

~ Alev Oguz

I'd seen this next roadside attraction on Route 68 in my guidebooks, as well, but had kind of forgotten about it and then we came around a corner and there it was! It's right along the Rio Grande River Valley and I think if you know about it, you can't miss it!

Johnnie Meier's

Classical Gas Museum

Embudo, New Mexico

We knocked on the door but aparently Mr. Meier was unavailable, and though we didn't go inside the little building, there was so much to look at and take pictures of outside, it was not a disappointment.

When your life itself 

becomes the subject matter of the creative process,

a very different experience of life opens to you.

~Robert Fritz

My mom wanted me to get a shot of her in front of an Edsel, to show our friend Evelyn!
Here you go Evelyn!

As you can see by my mom's coat (And Doctor Zhivago hood) that though it was beautiful in December, it was quite cold that day!

An Instagrammers dream!

Just across the road from the little museum ...

And then we were off again!

Links
San Miguel Chapel
Camel Rock
Classical Gas Museum

I've been pretty busy lately getting ready for two art shows, plus working, trying to start working out on the treadmill, watching the nominated movies, and doing physical therapy for my shoulders etc. ... So, I haven't been able to catch up on here! I'll try to get caught up soon, as well as make some visits to your beautiful blogs and make some phone calls!

Hope this finds you well and enjoying 2016! 

The journey between what you once were 

and who you are now becoming

is where the dance of life really takes place.

~Barbara De Angelis

Blessings and light!

Happy New Year!!! Santa Fe Snow ... in Black and White

Hope Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, Whispering

'it will be happier'... 

~Alfred Lord Tennyson

These photos are from my weekend in Santa Fe, in December. They up on Museum Hill where the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, Museum of International Folk Art and the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian Reside. 

Please press play. :)

Every new beginning comes

from some other begging's end.

~Seneca

While angels sing with tender mirth,

A glad new year to all the earth.

~Martin Luther, 1535

Drop the last year

into the silent limbo of the past.

Let it go ...

~ Author unknown

Sculpture by Allan Houser

Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache, 1914
Allan Houser (Haozous)

So, hope-lit New Year, with joys uncertain,

Whose unsolved mystery none may foretell,

I calmly trust my God to lift they curtain:

Safe in his love, for me 'twill all be well.

~Julia B. Cady, 1870

I hope this year for you

is filled with love and joy,

grace and blessings,

and 

vibrant health!

Happiest of New Years!

Blessings and light!

Merry Christmas! Twinkling Lights in Santa Fe and Las Posadas!

Basilica of Saint Francis, Santa Fe

Merry Christmas!!! 

Hope you enjoy the lights from Santa Fe!

(two weeks ago!)

Lights in the main Plaza in Santa Fe, the night we arrived! ... before the snow!

My Mom and me all bundled!

There were Christmas decorations everywhere, and the farolitas on the tops of the buildings (very Santa Fe) were one of the reasons I wanted to go during the holidays! So pretty.  The traditional way of doing the farolitas, is to put sand in a paper bag with a candle, and though I saw a lot of examples of this, many buildings had electric versions. I mean, can you imagine lighting all those candles? But they had them right on the street! Here is a perfect example of the farolitas or Luminaria, below on the Inn and Spa at Loretto ...

We were driving by the Loretto and I hopped out to take this photo above and of their tree outside ...

The following 3 photos are of the little place we stayed The Inn of the Governors, which was only a few blocks from the main Plaza.

In my previous post I said we'd planned to go back to the swanky Inn of the Anasazi for a cocktail ...

Mission accomplished! REALLY good margaritas, but I had my tequila neat. ;)

Kind of hard to see the lobby but it was definitely casual elegance, Santa Fe style. It was just redone, and that's my mom standing there. Sorry it's so dark!

That was Saturday evening and all of the sudden we realized, we needed to get over to the Plaza, for Las Posadas!

I had thought it couldn't get any prettier but the snow made the Plaza even more magical!

Crowds were gathered for the annual Las Posadas, where everyone follows Mary and Joseph around the square, as they look for a Inn. There is singing and candles carried ...

In the above photo, that's Mary and Joseph on the left ...

As they make their way around the square, followed by guitars and singing, these devils show up, in second floor windows, balcony's and roofs, refusing them entry (I'm guessing because it was in Spanish.) and the crowd boo and wave their arms at the devils ...

Mom and Penny watching the devils (which were pretty funny actually!)

This funny devil comedian looked to be waring a Gryffindor scarf!?

Finally, Mary and Joseph make it to the Palace of the Governors (1610), an adobe structure which is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the United States!

And this time they were let in! And there was hot cider and cookies (for everyone!) and Christmas Carols in this big snowy courtyard. That's Mary, in the photo below, in the turquoise ... and do you see the little crescent moon above the building?

And there were all these little bonfires right on the ground! I think there were guards keeping a look out that no one fell into them.  Hard to tell, but that's my sister and Mom, below.

I had my sister take a picture of me with one of the funny "devils." (Which I refer to now as the "Gryffindor Devil.")

I don't know who this girl was but I appreciated her holiday spirit!

Here we are! It was a perfect weekend to be in Santa Fe!

This years Christmas Card ... the silliness continues!

That's my parrot, Beatrice, on my finger. 

May the magic of the season

inspire you 

and touch your heart,

opening it to even greater love.

Blessings and light!

&

Buon Natale!!!