Every year I make my pilgrimage to El Rancho de Las Golondrinas. Las Golondrinas, a living museum just south of Santa Fe and nestled up next to La Cienega, is a colonial treasure. The valley it was built in is full of cottonwood trees and acequias.
The Fiber Arts Festival was this weekend. Talented artisans displayed their woven wools, felted creations, spun colorful fibers, and hand embroidered pieces of art.
To say these women were talented would be an understatement. These pieces were handloomed and then hand embroidered.
After visiting with the artisans, we made our way to Baca Plaza and Golondrinas Placita. Museum docents were baking bread and roasting green chile in the two outdoor ovens. The combination of baking bread and roasting green chile was overwhelming to our senses. This was New Mexican heaven. The ovens came complete with an altar at their base; blessings for good food.
The village meanders down a hill, past a mill and a blacksmith shop. Productive fields line the pathway that takes visitors under elegant Cottonwoods that dropped their fluffy stuff onto our shoulders and heads.
A Penitente Morada sits up on a hill south of the schoolhouse. Two ponds, dotted with colorful dragonflies and chock full of bright green frogs and huge tadpoles, surround the Big Sapello Mill.
Morada
An operational water powered mill. Moved here from the Mora Valley.
A beatiful dragonfly
A curious frog approaches
The most fascinating encounter we had while at Los Golondrinas occurred in the chapel, located on the north side of the Golondrinas Placita. It wasn’t the beautiful Retablos or the colonial Colcha at the altar; it was talking with one of the volunteer docents.
Meet Napoleón Suazo-Garcia, Sr.
Mr. Suazo-Garcia is a poet, Abiquiú elder, historian, museum guide, and a member of the Brotherhood of Light. He has some stories to tell. Stories about his native Abiquiú, New Mexico, Georgia O’Keefe and the Penitentes; as he pointed out to us Penintentes are private brotherhoods, not secret ones as many believe. He offered to sing us an alabado, a hymn, from his chant book. We were thrilled.
His voice, big and beautiful, brought tears to my eyes. This man is authentic. Authentically New Mexican.
He is also the author of The Genizaro and the Artist, a book that tells the story of Abiquiú and its most famous resident Georgia O'Keeffe, from the viewpoint of someone that worked for her before she became famous.
Mr. Garcia invited us to come and visit him in Abiquiú, something we intend to do soon.
Sometimes the best things in life aren't things.
Thanks, Julia! He is a treaure...as is the whole living museum.
Posted by: All Things 505 | 09/03/2012 at 02:25 PM
OMG !! GREAT pictures. Thanks, good information. Isn't
Napoleon a treasure?
Julia Gomez
Posted by: Julia Gomez | 09/03/2012 at 12:45 PM
Thanks, Amanda! We love heading up north to Las Golondrinas. I especially loved watching the frogs in the ponds. I've never heard frogs squeal the way they do there.
Posted by: All Things 505 | 09/02/2012 at 06:41 PM
Sorry...point "out"
Posted by: Amanda Crocker | 09/02/2012 at 09:13 AM
Great blog! I'd like to point at that the Sapello Mill is in fact operational, when we have a miller here to run it, like this weekend! And Harvest Festival in October. It's an amazing piece of machinery. Thanks for this great write-up. - Amanda Crocker, Director of Programs and Marketing for Las Golondrinas. www.golondrinas.org
Posted by: Amanda Crocker | 09/01/2012 at 11:23 AM