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Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu NM

Crosshatch, Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu NM, December 22, 2009
Crosshatch, Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu NM, December 22, 2009

"You know I never feel at home in the East like I do out here and finally feeling in the right place again I feel like myself and I like it . . . Out the very large window to rich green alfalfa fields-then the sage brush and beyond-a most perfect mountain-it makes me feel like flying-and I don't care what becomes of art." - Georgia O'Keeffe, in a letter to Henry McBride, 1929

Ghost Ranch is the most photogenic spot I've been in in a long while. I drove through Abiquiu on a road trip back on April 5, 2006 and I somehow forgot just how gorgeous the scenery is here. Driving US 84 through the valley is beautiful in itself but getting up close and personal with the multicolored rock formations here is something else entirely. It's no wonder Georgia O'Keeffe was so at home here. Kate spent the whole morning giving me a photo-op tour of a tiny portion of the 21,000 acre Ghost Ranch and the Conference Center. It's no wonder she and Terry are so in love with this place.

Night camp

Ghost Ranch Campground, Abiquiu NM

Passing Time in Byzantium

..Byzantium has begun to look suspiciously like my hometown. It has the same people, the same houses, the same goings and comings. But I am a very wise child seeing things very differently. The activities and interests of adults mystify me. They appear senseless. It is like watching the TV with the sound off--and suddenly realizing how ridiculous people actually are.

I expect adults will in turn regard me as ridiculous. Actions people might accept in a child may not seem appropriate in a grandfather. I won't be distressed. I am looking forward to new heroes and new adventures. And if you ask me where I've been I'll say "out"; and if you ask me what I've been doing I'll say "nothing."

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