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.