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The southwest corner
And here’s a closer view of the church from the “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico” photograph. Here’s what I had to say about visiting this place.
Hernandez, New Mexico
photographed 9.1.2019
Ansel’s view (more or less)
Hernandez, New Mexico:if you’ve heard of it all, it’s likely to be from the title of Ansel Adams’s famous photograph “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico.” He made that photo in early November 1941, and since then the trees have gotten taller and there are more buildings and (I assume) 78 years of more crosses in the cemetery.
But this is the place. This is nearly his view – he was further back and higher up, along the road. But from there, you can’t even see the church at all any more.
“This is sort of a Holy Grail deal for you, isn’t it?” said the Patient Spouse as I nodded, wordlessly.
Hernandez, New Mexico
photographed 9.1.2019
PS: Also, yes, Adams’s photo has its own Wikipedia page. So there’s that.
PPS: The church had a flat roof in 1941; a carved wooden sign at the front door noting a renovation in the 1960s leads us to believe the current gable roof was added then.
Mid-Century Kitchen
On a quick weekend trip to New Mexico, we decided to visit Los Alamos and found the Los Alamos History Museum. It had a lot of exhibits related to the obvious topics – the development of the atomic bomb and the Cold war – but the parts that most interested me were the exhibits detailing what life was like living in Los Alamos during World War II and after. Talk about living in a company town, where everything was tightly controlled and no one could ever mention anything that’d happened at work that day.
Anyway, part of the museum includes the Hans Bethe House (Hans Bethe was a German-American nuclear physicist who made important contributions to astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics and solid-state physics, and won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics), parts of which have been refurbished to replicate a mid-century dwelling. (Mr. Bethe’s Nobel prize is also on view.)
This kitchen, though. Right away I saw four things that were exactly like things in my mom’s kitchen – the mixer, the coffee pot on the stove, the glass coffee carafe on the counter, and the set of metal canisters. And then, later, I noticed that there was a knob missing from the stove. As much as I can recall, our stove had all its knobs, but I know for certain that the oven door on our stove didn’t stay closed and we had to wedge a chair under the handle to keep it shut. Reader(s) with a good memory may recall that my dad was a civil engineer, and may be surprised at his “solution.” He was sort of that way, though – a brilliant engineer who would complete cheap out on home repairs.
Los Alamos History Museum
Los Alamos, New Mexico
photographed 9.1.2019
Bases, covered
WARNING: if you see this place late one night, and decide to return the next day for a photo, DO NOT believe the directions Google maps gives you. Google maps sends you to a vacant lot on a completely different street. What’s up with that, Google maps?
But, as you can see here, I used my sense of direction* and my memory of place to find it anyway. Take that, Google maps.
near Española, New Mexico
photographed 9.1.2019
*Really. It’s my superpower.**
**So, why was I using Google maps in the first place? Because in spite of that strong sense of direction, Española is one of those towns where I can nearly always get myself turned around. My dad was the same way, both with having that sense of direction AND with getting lost in Española. It’s genetic, I guess?
Parking lot religion
Nope. Not one damn idea what is going on here.
But I do feel the need to point out that the tire on the base of the cross is flat. Very flat. Which I assume inhibits its use as a travel cross. If a “travel cross” is even a thing.
Española, New Mexico
photographed 9.1.2019
One Day | One Image 