City Different

When people grow up in the Southwest part of the United States, nearly without fail, when asked about what they miss most when away from this region of the country, the answer is: the sky.

I have made the drive from the Northern Texas Panhandle to Northern New Mexico nearly 100 times in my life, and I don't think that I will ever get tired of that journey. Moving westward from the Texas High Plains to the escarpment outside of Tucumcari that opens up to the Sandia range of the Rocky Mountains, I know that a part of me is coming home.

I was born in Albuquerque when the population was under 100,000, and now it sprawls well over 1 million, being one of the fastest growing cities in the United States for the past decade. I don't really know Albuquerque that well, though it was my place of birth.

I have often said that a part of me never left New Mexico. In thinking about that once again being here, it is hard to explain that without sounds too New Age or as my Yoga teacher, Bekir , would say, "woo-woo." So, with that disclaimer, I do feel that a part of my soul will always be in this part of the country, no matter where I am living. It is a recharge of my soul on many levels when I come here, and it is difficult to put into words.

Santa Fe, where we are currently staying, is a unique town in the States. For Europeans, it is something akin to going to a small medieval town for Americans abroad in Europe. The oldest established European-settled town, dating from the 16th Century. Close by is Bandelier (whose surrounding park was badly burned recently in a spate of forest fires), which is the ruins of the ancient pueblo of the indigenous Anasazi Native Americans dating several centuries prior.

Santa Fe is also one of the few Western towns that still retains a remnant of what most European cities would not be without--a plaza, or square. From the Grand Place in Brussels, the Grote Markt in Antwerp, or San Marco in Venice, nearly all European cities have at least one destination local of a square of some sort.

The Plaza in Santa Fe pales in comparison to these European counterparts in scope, but serves the same purpose, to meet in person and to celebrate the city as a living entity. Although many criticize the commercialized aspect of Santa Fe's art scene and the marginalizing of the Native Americans in the town, it is hard to overlook the fact that the Plaza does in fact bring people out of their cars and actually stroll at night from shops to galleries to restaurants, or just to head to the Plaza. 

Last evening after recharging my taste buds with New Mexican spices, we went by the Plaza and it was a beautiful scene. There are many large flower baskets with cascading pansies of earth toned-hues and lights strung from the light posts. It is what I miss most in a city when I am in the states as plazas, piazze, markts, and places are what make Europe so appealing to me.

At the Northeast end of the plaza, the City Different (Santa Fe's soubriquet) dead ends into the St. Francis Church, another exception to many American cities that is omnipresent in European urban centers. The Cathedral in Antwerp is one of the most imposing and impressive Cathedrals in Europe and forms one of the vistas of the city from many angles. At some level, the Cathedral is always in your mind, whether as an architectural wonder or as, less often in the modern times, a church.

St. Francis statues dot the urban-scape of Santa Fe and one is constantly reminded of the presence of the Church when in the city center.

This is just one of the things that makes this part of the country different.

However, it is still the sky that is an awesome sight. Whether it is sunny, partly cloudy, or a full-on summer monsoon rolling in with giant thunderheads, the sky never ceases to enchant here. At night, the sunsets are nothing short of a communion of the earth with the sky. When the stars are out, one can truly comprehend the fact that there are indeed billions and billions of them out there.

Perhaps one of the greatest memories that I have of the sky here was on a Christmas Eve, standing in the Plaza with no sound of traffic, Christmas lights dangling silently in the night and a snowfall came down with flakes the size of crystallized postage stamps. A memory I will never forget in the City Different and one that I keep in the watch pocket of my soul's waistcoat, keeping it there to remind me of New Mexico.