Blog Archives

yes, that oppenheimer

 

109 East Palace Street – this very building – played a role in the top secret stuff that was going on up the hill in Los Alamos.

Here’s what Atlas Obscura has to say about it:

WHEN YOU NEED TO BE dropped off at a top-secret research facility that does not exist, what address do you give the driver? For two decades, that address was 109 East Palace in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Located a few blocks from Santa Fe’s city center, the unremarkable building served as the first stop for Richard Feynman, Enrico Fermi, Robert Oppenheimer, and innumerable other scientists working on the top-secret Manhattan Project in nearby Los Alamos. Dozens of scientists, technicians, and other workers would arrive each day to be ferried up to “the Hill” where work on the atomic bomb (and possibly other secret science projects) actually took place.

Santa Fe, New Mexico
photographed 6.29.2024

a tender gesture

Such a sweet and innocent gesture, and it made me have all the feelings. All of them.

Santa Fe Pride
Santa Fe, New Mexico
photographed 6.29.2024

double cross

When I was in New Mexico earlier in the spring I spent a wonderful day with my photographer friend R. David Marks (if you don’t know his work, you need to) and he took me to this place. It is the ruins of the Santa Rosa de Lima church, an adobe building that was constructed in the 1730s. It was still used as a place of worship until the 1930s.

Earlier this month, I was back in northern New Mexico, this time with my photographer friend Kim Cook (look for her work, too; she’s @kcook64 on Instagram). It was her first visit out west and New Mexico helpfully provided all the things I was hoping it would: dramatic skies, unbelievable scenic vistas, interesting people, and centuries-old ruins. And thanks to David, I knew to return to this place.

near Abiquiu, New Mexico
photographed 7.3.2024

PS: To be clear, the ruins are behind me in this shot. I realize that posting about ruins and then not even showing them is weird and confusing.

for various reasons the game was cancelled

There are a few clues that led me to believe there was not going to be a basketball game any time soon. For one thing, the goal lacked both a hoop and a net. And the court was a little rough and weedy. And of course, the whole place had a certain air of abandonment about it.

(I was a block away and something pulled me down a passageway to this place. I am pretty sure it was the ghost of the basketball hoop…

Dixon, New Mexico
photographed 7.2.2024

flowers in the desert

If your plan for the day is go to Madrid (New Mexico, I mean) you’ll go right an amazing place called Origami in the Garden.

It’s hard to even describe how stunning it is, and this photo doesn’t even begin to do it justice. Basically, it is sculptures made of metal which has been folded like origami. Anything more than rudimentary paper origami is a little too much for me to do, so the idea of someone making these pieces out of metal (METAL!) makes me a little dizzy.

The setting is stunning, the landscaping is perfect, and the art is breathtaking.

near Cerillos, New Mexico
photographed 7.1.2024