by Wolf Schneider
Snow on forsythia bush in Santa Fe a few days ago |
Tightly wrapped yellow forsythia and fuzzy gray pussy
willows are budding here in Santa Fe in chaotic weather conditions, with snow
one day, 60 degrees the next. Weather playing havoc is what March is about. In
like the proverbial lion, out like the lamb. The color of spring is green (we
should eat greens and wear greens to be in harmony with the season), and the
emotion is to embrace growth and movement, and to give freely and passionately,
according to my former acupuncturist Beverly Bakken. Right now in Santa Fe, mostly
everything is blue (sky) and brown (bare trees and adobe homes), with a ribbon
of green running through. The green gets stronger every day.
March highlights in my world so far? I made a new friend in
my neighborhood: an adorable Jack Russell – Chihuahua mix named Hercules that’s
11 pounds and has a white body with toffee patches – he looks like a paint
horse. Dinner last week at Ristra was a treat, especially sipping the aromatic
ginger martini. Power lunches at the Palace with other writers like my old
friend Charlotte Berney (www.hawaiianmysticism.com)
and my new one, Pat West Barker (www.thezenchilada.com),
have been fun; the tuna burger there is fabulous. I just edited a story mystery
novelist Sandi Ault (www.sandiault.com) wrote
about Indian artists; it was a fulfilling collaboration.
And I glimpsed a preview of the big art show “It’s About
Time: 14,000 Years of Art in New Mexico” going up at the New Mexico Museum of
Art in May. There’s a great piece by Galisteo-based Bruce Nauman in the show, a
rebellious 1985 lithograph with “Live or Die” printed in red ink on a white
background. To me it symbolizes the significance of independence, resourcefulness,
and doing what’s important to you, as opposed to living your life through other
people’s values. That’s good in any season, right?
Photographer: David Alfaya, Taken in Artist Studio: Gregory Lomayesva |
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.