Abiquiu, New Mexico
In which Moominmama is charmed by the village of Abiquiu...
At the center of Abiquiu is this adobe church, with signage in Spanish: Santo Tomas El Apostol. It dominates the town square, still dirt, with dirt roads that meander from the center. A church has been at this spot since at least 1776 though this is a relatively modern one, built in the late 1930s, on the same spot as the earlier churches. It remains part of the Diocese of Santa Fe, which owns other buildings here in town.
The library was once the home of a librarian's grandparents. She explained that it was ultimately sold to the church 27 years ago to be turned into the town's library and cultural center. The librarian's desk now stands by what was once the kitchen window!
Many of the people I've met have deep roots here, with Spanish and indigenous heritage. The ancient land grant system in New Mexico means properties in Abiquiu must be passed down to family members not sold to wealthy newcomers. Into this culture, Georgia O'Keeffe arrived and built relationships within the community.
A decaying property up the hill with a wonderful view caught O'Keeffe's eye, but it was owned by the church, and it took some time before they agreed to sell it to her.
It took years to rebuild the adobe structure and make it into the unique home where she lived until just before she died. She hired locals who understood how to work with adobe to rebuild the home. Then she moved between Ghost Ranch in the summer and fall, back to Abiquiu for winter and spring.
Once she was established in the community, she donated large sums for a gymnasium and a new school. A lifelong champion of education, she got to know many of the young students. Older residents shared their stories about childhood outings with O'Keeffe, and people here speak of her with respect to this day.
The house itself remains much as she left it, with the rocks she'd collected on the window ledges, clothes still hanging in the closet, spices on the pantry shelves. A ladder rests against an outside wall, which she used to climb onto the roof and gaze at the clear skies of New Mexico.
This photo shows the passage between courtyards that connect her home and her studio. It's a beautiful house and reflects her aesthetic, with small objects and a few paintings (now reproductions) displayed to catch your attention. In designing the house, she worked hard to bring the outdoors in and the indoors out.
One of the things that drew her to the property was its garden and orchard -- and its water rights. An ancient acequia, or irrigation canal, provides a two-hour priority for the water: Mondays from 8-10 a.m. After which, the water flows to someone else.
That was true in her day and continues today. There are stone-lined gullies around the gardens where water can be directed using wood blocks and tin cans and where the descendent of O'Keeffe's original gardener still works!
Moominmama hopes to visit Taos before she leaves New Mexico to see a museum exhibit about the acequias, a centuries-old irrigation and water-sharing system used by indigenous peoples.
When not working or learning more about Abiquiu from folks stopping by the library, Moominmama has been hiking, so I leave you with a photo of Echo Amphitheater. When you get to the center, this hollowed out cliff of sandstone does, in fact, echo!
Below it is Chimney Rock on Ghost Ranch, a nice example of all the varied colors you find out here on the cliffs. Cerro Pedernal is the flat-top mountain in the distance, where O'Keeffe's ashes were scattered after she died.
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