The Española Casita Exit & the WhoVille Earthships of Taos - 02.03.22
This is the casita experiment I had set up for long-term in Espanola, NM… and it was a complete shit show from the beginning. I ended up staying an entirety of two nights, and broke my lease shortly after, and I only returned again to remove my things. It was an important lesson and I likely dodged some version of a skin disease by exiting quickly… I would move many times in the State of New Mexico and there’s a story for all of those moments.
“Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again.” - Joseph Campbell
And I find myself finding myself on the road again and yet again. I woke up at 5am this morning to frozen pipes in the casita. No water means no. It’s laundry day on top of that. I needed to make a trip to Denver anyways so synchronicity happens…
I had two good days of rest in the casita. Rest… meaning me scraping off the hard water stalactites off my faucets and shower. I have well water which comes from the Española water basin. It has a mean water chemistry of 389.5mg/l of TDS in a variety of minerals and don’t know what any of that means but it said it’s not harmful and I drank some and I’m still here.
Anywho, early morning post wintery storm drive… cold AF but beautiful scenery. Taos is the crossroad. Left is San Luis Valley and Right is into the Eff’n I-25 corridor. I know which one I would pick. Left takes you by the EarthShip Biotecture. Super cool community. With the snow it looks like Dr Seuss’s WhoVille. They accept visitors.
The Spanish Peaks and Sangre de Cristo Mountains were looking like a Bob Ross painting… happy little clouds and all. Surreal. The road through the San Luis Valley was dry. Easy driving. I was trying to catch artist KStock for lunch in Salida but too short of notice. I had a calzone for one at Amichi’s.
I feel comfort when I’m in Salida. Old friend type of feels and smiles happen… then the Colorado drivers/traffic begins. Less smiles happen. I don’t know what it is about the Colorado pickup truck gang that makes it so important to drive 3 feet from my rear bumper (on icy roads) perpetually. Maybe they just want affection and hugs… so they get real close, or possibly they are in a big hurry to get home and touch themselves in front of the mirror. I don’t know, I’m not a doctor.
Seriously folks - not that any CO PU truck dude is going to read this - or any other sentient being for that matter… but here’s the guideline; In pandemic times: 6 feet away from each other while standing in line at the Dollar Tree. And ALL of THEE other times: it’s one car length distance for every 10mph. So… if you’re going to drive 900 miles an hour, you need 90 car lengths between you and the vehicle ahead. Thanks in advance. (and boy takes one foot off soapbox and que tumbleweeds and cricket sounds)
Anywho (for the second time), I’m in Denver for a few days if you want to join me for Dim Sum and talk about the weather. I miss you.
