Sunday, March 29, 2015

Spring Break in the Land of Enchantment.

I am thoroughly enjoying Spring Break with my kids. I am also enjoying the clear blue skies around Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Santa Fe itself, though, is a different matter. The capital city of New Mexico is known for its adobe architecture. Every building in the city looks the same. After a while that must have an effect on the people who live there. Conformity in architecture surely leads to other conformities. You have to drive outside Santa Fe to see some individuality in the architecture. Regular readers of this blog will not be surprised to read that I prefer individuality.

Think of New Mexico, and you think of Indian reservations. The touristy area of Santa Fe is in the center of town, I think, called The Plaza. There you can see Indians displaying their jewelry, paintings and rugs in the shade, where it is not warm. All are wearing heavy sweaters and coats. In the middle of the area is an ugly monument to the killing of Indians in the 1860s.

Being a politically correct city, of course, means no plastic bags. That has been the law here for about a year, they tell me. The cashier at Walmart was not happy about it. I asked him why, and he said that the paper bags are just harder to load than the plastic bags were. Not that the elitists are one bit concerned about the feelings of a Walmart cashier. Yes, I shop at Walmart, because I buy a lot of produce, and their prices are definitely lower.

We finally had enough of the Plaza when the woman walked by with her dog in dreadlocks, as we were viewing some paintings of a female artist, who modestly claimed that her art came directly from her soul. And, yes, you read that right, it was the dog who had dreadlocks.

Did I mention that there are no cops in Santa Fe? No, in big letters on the sides of their cars, it says PUBLIC SAFETY AIDE.

The sky is rapidly clouding up, so I'm hoping we may see one of those famous New Mexico sunsets tonight.

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