Winds of Change

by Wolf Schneider

Cobb Salad at Luminaria

 

The aspens just began budding in Santa Fe, along with all the fruit trees. The wind is blowing relentlessly like it does every spring, whipping branches around. Wind can spur thought and action. There are some countries where judges are more understanding if crimes are committed during strong winds because positive ion conditions like dry winds can exacerbate violence. In Greek mythology, Zephyrus was the god of the west wind and of springtime, who mated with the goddess of greenery. Wind feels like an instigator of change.

Change is certainly afoot here in Santa Fe. In the art world, The Edge has closed and Altermann Galleries shut down its longtime Canyon Road location, concentrating its presence up on Camino del Monte Sol for its art auctions. Affable gallery director Kent Whipple is gone from Meyer East Gallery. The vigorous new Canyon Road Merchants Association has swelled to 86 members, and is mobilizing to mount a billboard on I-25 North.

In city news, CVB director Keith Toler resigned. And on the restaurant scene, Ristra is reportedly opening up a second restaurant in the old A La Mesa location, and there’s talk that super-talented Taos chef Joseph Wrede (late of the famed Joseph’s Table) may be coming to Santa Fe. I just had an excellent Cobb Salad for lunch at Inn at Loretto’s Luminaria, which will be opening its patio with a new spring menu shortly—when the winds let up.

                       

Wolf Schneider has been editor in chief of the Santa Fean, editor of Living West, consulting editor of Southwest Art, and also blogs at www.wolfschneiderusa.com.

Photographer: David Alfaya, Taken in Artist Studio: Gregory Lomayesva

Fruit Trees & Lilacs

by Wolf Schneider

Fruit tree in bloom in Santa Fe

We’re having a warmer than usual spring in Santa Fe. Temps have already hit 80. The forsythia, crocuses, and daffodils are in full bloom, trees are freshly greening, and now the fruit trees are blossoming pink and white all over town. Today, I saw the first lilacs emerging from a small tree on Botulph Road. Lilacs don’t usually bloom in Santa Fe until early May!

We are low on rain though, and have already had a fire just south of town. I’m hooked on the just-released “Fire Season” by Philip Connors, about being a wilderness lookout in the Gila. Connors writes in the great tradition of such other outstanding lit writer/wilderness lookouts as Jack Kerouac, Norman Maclean, Gary Snyder, and Edward Abbey.

Spring is when Santa Fe gets geared up for its busy summer season. Currently at the Santa Fe Playhouse is a show I intend to catch--“Callback,” a two-person dramedy about the aging relationship between an actress and director who she auditions for repeatedly over the decades, hoping for a break. I get the “hoping for a break” part. Also sounding promising is Brian Knox’s soon-to-launch Shake Foundation at 631 Cerrillos Road. Knox is the chef/owner of the pricey and delicious Aqua Santa, and with Shake Foundation (www.shakefoundation.com) he’s got plans for affordable gourmet green-chile cheeseburgers made from grass-fed beef, Portobello burgers, shakes, sundaes, and Velarde peach custard. When Knox and I used to board our horses at the same barn, I remember once seeing him on horseback conducting a cell-phone conversation with one hand, while using his other hand to steer his horse around the ring at a canter! He can ride!

Wolf Schneider has been editor in chief of the Santa Fean, editor of Living West, and consulting editor of Southwest Art. She also blogs at www.wolfschneiderusa.com.

Photographer: David Alfaya, Taken in Artist Studio: Gregory Lomayesva