a Geographer's Place

I've moved, on average, once per year since I was 23 years old. That’s a lot. I have a cousin who LOVES to move. “It’s like Christmas,” she told me once. “I get to open boxes and boxes of stuff! And if I forget to label them, it’s like a huge surprise!” She’s an optimist. Moving every year or so certainly keeps down the clutter: how many folks who’ve collected stuff for 12 years can fit everything they own in a 6 x 12 U-Haul trailer? But then, I'm also rather minimal when it comes to material things. Whether that’s been by choice or circumstance, who knows…I like to think it’s by choice. I am looking forward to being “stable” for a while. You know, put down some roots. Live in one place for more than a couple years. Get involved in the community without knowing I'll be leaving shortly. Although that will have to wait, since I'll just be moving to another, temporary apartment until I have time to find the home and location I want. Until then I’ll just pretend...

This is St. Francis Basilica in Santa Fe, New Mexico (at night). On the way back from finding a place to live in Denver , I spent a day here. While the surrounding suburbs are becoming more modern, the old downtown area remains charming. Surrounding the plaza and kiosko , are old Spanish churches and cute shops. The shops have everything from clothes and indigenous handicrafts to bronze sculptures and a plethora of different chile peppers. A few blocks off the plaza is San Miguel church (sign below), and interesting piece of Southwestern history... After wandering around the old town for a while, I ate a wonderful dinner at Los Mayas —a three-generation-old restaurant complete with live music (an old Spanish guitarist who was a really great entertainer). Santa Fe makes a nice getaway. Not as loud and citified as say, San Antonio or Tucson. Just a nice place to relax and wander. There are also lots of nice, easy day trips available. And several Clint Eastwood westerns were filmed in th...