Monday, March 22, 2010

Santa Fe

If you were born and raised in Santa Fe, the rest of the U.S. would seem very strange to you.

You would wonder, "Why isn't the sky as blue? Why isn't the air as crisp?"

You wouldn't understand why the buildings outside Santa Fe look so formal, so English, so... fake.

You would miss the sound of the snow-melt dripping onto the street.

Though your city is wealthy, you would miss the unpretentiousness of your surroundings, the raw, wooden logs that support your home, the earthen tones that fill the horizon.

Simplicity and harmony. Earth and sky.

Sun and rain, night and day. The beauty of a simple, turquoise etching telling a story on someone's front door. Sixteen strokes capturing the sweep of history. This is the sort of thing you see in Santa Fe.

Santa Fe is the smallest capital city in the United States. It's far smaller than most of the suburbs surrounding cities like Houston and Chicago. It also sits at the highest altitude. You can quickly lose your breath strolling across the Plaza.

Yet people are drawn to this city, this old town filled with art galleries, cutting-edge restaurants, and adobe buildings. Artists come here, because of the sky, that ancient cerulean sky, ever-changing, ever the same. Santa Fe is a place to escape from life in the U.S. It's a place to discover the artist inside of you.

Santa Fe makes you think, "I need for my life to change. I need to approach things differently." Each time you visit, you hear the silence. It's deafening. You feel yourself becoming a better person. This is why you never want to leave, yet you can't wait to get back home.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I've been having strong feelings to move to Santa Fe even though I've never been there. Reading about the artist connection and the need for change is a confirmation! Thank you!

M