My fork in the road: Laura's Graduation, Synergia Ranch, Bantu, Lucinda Williams concert

After a swift and bittersweet departure from Puerto Rico, I returned home to MN for my sister Laura's graduation from Saint Mary's University in Winona, where I used to go. I was really excited for her, and it was fun to visit the campus and see a few people I hadn't seen since leaving. The day after her graduation I flew to Synergia Ranch in New Mexico. The ranch is lovely and the landscapes of New Mexico are breathtaking, with mountains in all directions. The mountains here are the biggest I've seen and I stare at them a lot. The weather here has been really lovely, although when I first arrived I had trouble dealing with the crispy dryness of the air. Mostly it's been nice and blustery. The other night I watched one of the most dynamic sunsets I think I'll ever see. I actually had set out to see if the dead chicken I put in the desert had been taken by coyotes and was pleasantly surprised by the sunset. The wind was nearly knocking me over, zipping through the desert plants and streaming through my hair. The sunlight was piercing through little holes in the clouds, shining onto other clouds and the desert. The sky was golden, deep orange, and a goregeous blue, glowing over the mountains. Anyway! It's really beautiful here, and I love it.

I got to explore downtown Santa Fe which is heaven for a developing artist. There are galleries all over with AMAZING art. There are leather stores and shops with names like "Indian Trading Company", "Cowboy Bill something", "something Corral". There are Native Americans selling things in the plaza, like lovely turquoise jewelry, copper guitar picks, and tin matchbox holders. I can't wait to explore there more. I wouldn't mind living there actually.

A woman I met here named Nikki asked me to help her at one of her jobs. She's a hospitality provider for Fan Man Productions, which means she sets up dressing rooms, buys things, and does whatever.. for artists and musicians who have concerts around Santa Fe. the concert I helped her with was Lucinda Williams, The Flatlanders, and .... Ryan something. It was cool because my dad has always loved Lucinda Williams. Plus my friend Molly and I happen to adore this song named Julia by the Flatlanders. So Nikki and I had to run around all day getting things on the dressing room lists and the bus lists for the artists. It's pretty funny what they request, for example Lucinda Williams wanted 6 protein bars, no Clif bars "no exceptions!!". So we spent the day cleaning the dressing rooms, making them look cozy, and stocking them with all the stuff they had requested. It was really sweet to be behind the scenes. I called my dad during the concert and he got to listen to Lucinda for awhile. He wanted me to get her autograph ofcourse, and said "If you meet her, tell her 'Long may you sing'" I watched the whole show from backstage and met her afterwards. She was nice, and I told her what my dad said. She wrote him a little note, which was sweet of her. I also met some guys from the Flatlanders. One of them gave Nikki an autograph that said "Nikki, where's the whores and blow?" Apparently he has a different idea of what a hospitality provider should be providing hahaha. How strange it would be to be a star.

Ohhh BANTU. There was a singing and dancing African workshop here. I can't tell you people how awesome that was for me. I've wanted to go to Africa for a long time, so to be around peopel from Africa and their culture was such a privelage. I took some dance classes which I adored. I had a lot of fun with a girl here named Jennie, wandering around at night at Bantu. We also spent some time with an awesome girl named Nicole who is from a Pueblo here in New Mexico who had spent some time on the Hericlitus, the ship that's related to all these projects. I bought a drum from a man named Akeem, except somehow I payed $60 more than Jennie for mine. I didn't know I was supposed to barter! Having Bantu here was so incredible, despite the somewhat INTENSE constant drumming. However, there is currently a silent retreat here, which is nice. The people in this retreat also have some excercise to concentrate on their walking, so there's often a silent crowd of people walking very slowly across the ranch. It's funny for me when I go to their kitchen to grab the compost. I have a desire, a really mature one, to run around and sing in between them.

All in all I'm having a good ol' time here, learning an infinite amount about myself and enjoying the pretty terrain. I want to blog again soon with pictures of the chickens, garden, orchard, and ranch stuff.