Afternoon in Santa Fe

If one ignores the wrong turns

I made a bee-line 

for the Georgia O'Keefe Museum.

Some pieces I had not seen before

though my favorite watercolor

of a train engine

was not in evidence.

Returning to the plaza (way too many cars there)

I passed the Art Museum

it's free on Friday nights, so I will return then.

(The curves of adobe remind me of Gaudi)

Browsed the nearly empty shops

too many going out of business

the streets crowded with cars

but lightly peopled

In search of a bakery 

I stumbled instead 

into a courtyard

where I found this:

a sculpture by Dwight Hume

(who just died this week, I discovered later, dammit)

A lovely talk with Daniel Bethune

the owner of Gallery Chartreuse

and this sweet service dog

and I floated back to my car in a daze of beauty.

Leaving town, I u-turned into a parking lot that advertised

long windshield crack repairs

an hour and a companionable conversation later

my windshield cracks 

(courtesy of a large truck 

and a sizeable chunk of gravel

a month ago)

are rebonded and smooth,

still visible, as I expected,

but no longer likely to expand or leak.

$40 well spent.

Back to Coronado Campground
to lie fallow in the rain

all the next day
absorbing wonders

and painting the wall

My backyard.