Fall in Santa Fe - Back to School

October in Santa Fe is an amazing experience. The colors of the light become more golden and the warmth of the sun combined with a tinge of cooler weather in the 70's makes one feel totally blessed by the universe. I sit outside every morning with my tea or coffee, paper and pen, and spend the first hours of the day in complete gratitude for living and especially for living here. By November, the air will start getting too chilly to sit outside very early in the day and the fireplaces will be blazing in the evening. When I moved in here a year ago, work had been done to repair damage to the house and the diseased cherry tree was cut down and the pieces stacked as firewood. I can burn it this winter.

Along with the fall season, the kids are back in school. It took almost 7 weeks from first inquiry to acceptance, but I was given a spot in the AfterSchool program to work with a Kindergarten class and to teach art for K-6 once a week for 90 minutes. I was thrilled, a good beginning and it might lead to other possibilities. The last 2 years have been a journey back in time - remember the job searches in a new town? I have discovered that most Human Resource Directors love me and my experience and recommend me to be interviewed for the position. There have been many applications in the last 2 years. I do get to the short list. Alas, not the winning candidate. But this was different. With such a great need for staff, I was in.

Twenty hours a week and still enough time to write in the morning. I spent 6 weeks researching projects for the art portion and was planning to do "Carnival of the Animals" as a theme. I have the CD of Leonard Bernstein narrating a youth orchestra playing the music and found an incredible artist, Cristina Rodriguez, who had done an exhibition of the work as paintings in London, at the Pump House Gallery.


In August, I took a short trip to Durango, CO and loved the quaint town. I had gone up to meet with Julie Motz, author of Hands of Life, a great healer and body tranformation specialist. I have read her book 4 times and Julie was there for a workshop. I wanted to meet her in person. She does not disappoint. I stayed downtown and walked to the narrow guage railroad station, through the shops, drank good coffee at a local coffee house, and drove back to Santa Fe the next day. On the way up and back, I stopped at the Abiquiu Inn for a break. I love that spot. It is tranquil and a perfect hour before home to have a coffee and break up the drive.

A lot of this summer has been spent in self-examination,a search for a good job, enjoying the house, time with my dog Madison and my cat Fleur, dinners with friends, writing, and reflection on how easy life was between 37 and 41 years of age. A lot of that had to do with blossoming in my opera career, balanced with good spiritual growth, a wonderful man in my life, and a lot of stability. I wouldn't trade those 4 years for anything.

That wonderful man passed away from cancer in 2002, I retired from my career in 1991, balance in life has come and gone and come back again. I have changed careers, opened a business, closed a business, moved several times to more than one state, and am hoping to find that magical mix again in life. Whatever happens though, today I have an inner knowing that my gentle nature, my calm strength, my peace of mind, and my generous heart are the result of all that has happened to me in life and those qualities are my greatest treasures. I need them now, especially.

I am still shocked at how the AfterSchool job turned out. I didn't know that the site supervisor at the elementary school had hired a back-up for me and within my first 2 days had taken away the Kindergarten class from me, had no money for supplies needed to do my art project, cut my hours back to a fraction of what was promised, seemed to know how to have power over people, especially the kids, and was mercurial and dictatorial in nature. I lasted 4 days and had to resign for my sanity and nervous system.

Amazingly, I am calm. I had put aside enough to live for a year in my house. I moved in November 1st of 2006 and am paid up through October 31st of this year. After that, well...I am still hopeful about the job search and my writing. I made a calendar for the fridge that shows the days left in 2007 and I vowed to live life each day knowing that there is something wonderful in living with hope and strength, with love and joy, and with the knowledge that finding a new way to live life can be a good thing.

Today, I went up to the Randall Davey Audobon Center for a while to enjoy the fall weather and look around. I have a small habitat at my home where there is a constant stream of birds for the seed and to wash in the fountain. This morning an amazing large magpie came for a while to eat, drink, and sing. I put in an old granite millstone fountain that is low enough for my dog to drink from and protected enough for the birds to use. I have a pot of seed I fill everyday and we now have a squirrel that joins the birds for a bit of a meal in the morning. Most days, I enjoy the pinon jays, the smaller canyon towhees,the red-breasted nuthatch, the juniper titmouse, blackheaded grosbeaks, loggerhead shrike, a number of mourning doves, and an occasional greenish yellow bird that I have not identified yet, but could be the yellow-rumped warbler (male). I have a hard time getting any photos as they prefer it when I am sitting at the table and reading, rather than standing and hiding in the pine hedge.

During August we had so many hummingbirds during their migration, it was hard to hear yourelf think outside. I got a photo of the rufus that was first to arrive this summer. He got a good spot to watch the feeder and chase others away. He was joined by a number of black-chinned hummingbirds and some incredible ruby throated broad-tailed hummingbirds. My neighbors have been visiting their condo for over 20 years and every August they fill 5 bird feeders. A newly filled feeder at 9 a.m. needs to be replenished by 3 p.m. They line up to feed and it is a magnificent sight. On occasion, I have been strafed by a pair when my feeders are empty. One hummingbird got into my house and actually let me pick him up and take him outside. It was like holding one feather with a very fast beating heart. Amazing!