Monsoon season has begun in New Mexico, bringing awesome sunsets, flowers, and a few flash floods.


It's also time for the International Folk Art Market. Begun 5 years ago, it is now the largest market of its kind in the world.

There were plenty of artists from Mexico, Latin America, Africa and China.

We were surprised to see so many artists from the "Stans": Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.

Photos from Capitol Reef

Photos from the "holy road" between San
Francisco and Santa Fe:

Wheeler Peak, Eastern Nevada

Caineville Badlands, Utah

Sunny Marin..The temperature today was in the 70's. I worked at a house in Mill Valley...a place that I find completely weird. I don't know if it's all the trees or what. Maybe the orderliness and all the white people. the Lexus' and Beamers And Jags everywhere. The sense of entitlement. The perfection. the streets that wind around the hills and lead you up and up deep into territory that is forbidden to outsiders, where the only place to turn around is a driveway.

this place used to be friendlier. There was a more relaxed attitude then, not the striving that pervades the place now.

I went back to Santa Fe for a visit and to look for work: something to help me build a bridge back to my beloved, austere desert. I stayed with James and Julie, two artists who have adopted Santa Fe, as have so many others. They love the desert, the cold black night sky filled with stars, the pinon smoke, the cafes and above all, the people.

Now, I am back painting houses in Stinson beach, amid the lushness of an early Norcal spring. A rainbow over Mt. Tam greeted me on my first morning back. The magnolia trees bloom in front yards on my street. The hills are bright green, and the redwood groves drip with moisture from recent rains. Creeks rush down the sides of Mt. Tam, along the route that I drove to work today from one job in Mill Valley to another in Stinson.

Yet in my mind are images such as these:

click on the sunset and look straight into it. The distant Cerrillos are full of history. Chalchuitl, the one on the left, holds a turquoise mine over a thousand years old.

Surf's up!
Winter storms frequently bring a northwest swell that makes it through the south side of the Golden Gate. Surfers like to ride the waves just off Fort Point, on the southern end of the bridge. Photographers like me love the composition...check out the shadow of the north tower on the Marin Headlands!

Of course, the big waves today were at Mavericks (www.maverickssurf.com) The waves for the contest there were running 30 feet or so.

Clearing storm over Mt. Tam. Looking west, toward Mill Valley.

A view out the window of our new favorite pub. We hoisted a pint to celebrate surviving the big storm! Nancy made a wise decision on friday to not make her usual commute across the Richmond bridge. Hurricane-force winds blew over 5 semis on that bridge. Winds across the GG bridge were 70mph.