1972

Greetings!

No exotic trips to report this year, but in Sept, a one -week “domestic” package tour in New Mexico proved to be most interesting. Based on Albuquerque (large, modern and highest crime rate in the U.S.(!), but a picturesque “old town” (early Spanish settlement quarter/now full of artsy-craftsy shops), and Santa Fé (oldest capital in the U.S., most attractive & charming - old-world Spanish feeling plus “Pueblo Indian” style architecture), we saw several Indian villages (Teos, Santo Domingo & San Ildefonso) where the Indians’ way of life combines both primitive and modern features (e.g. mud buildings, outdoor ovens for baking bread in their traditional manner, and on the other hand, cars, washing machines, etc.); wild west ghost towns (most notably Cerrillos, former silver mining town owned by Tiffany’s jewelers in New York, now being re-settled with restaurants, “antique” shops, and people fleeing modern civilisation); the atomic science and bomb museums at Los Alamos and at Sandie Air Base; 16th and 17th century Spanish haciendas & churches; Bandelier Natl. Park, a beautiful canyon filled with trees and wild flowers, the cliffs being “ruins” or former Indian cliff dwellings (caves, plus holes drilled for supporting poles to create lean-to type structures); and gorgeous scenery everywhere, a wide variety of geological formations, lovely wild flowers, and best of all, WIDE OPEN SPACES (the way California used to be!). Wish I’d had more time to spend in Santa Fé, and to explore further in this interesting state.

Enjoyed a number of performances of the San Francisco Opera this autumn, especially the complete Wagner Ring Cycle, which was magnificent.

Best wishes for a happy Christmas and New Year!