I have a bone to pick with Georgia O’Keefe but I’ll leave that for the end of this piece.

Instead, I’ll start with what we did on our next to last day in  Sante Fe.   After walking all over the  city, we decided to take a tiny road trip outside town to see Native American petroglyphs in their natural surroundings.

A mere 22 minutes out of town, we came to La  Cieneguilla Petroglyphs,  a rocky outcropping and parking lot managed by the Bureau of Land Management. 

There were a few hikers parked on Sunday morning but no BLM employees or a clear map to find our way.  Instead, we followed a few painted white arrows along the road to  the gate opening.  

After that, we were on our own to clamber like arthritic mountain goats between rocks and ledges, climbing unsteadily uphill.  There were no signs pointing the way to the petroglyphs. We weren’t sure we were going the right way as there was no clear path.

But in that still, morning air we could hear voices above and called out for directions.  A woman shouted back, “just keep climbing!”

So, we did.  And soon we were at the topmost rung of rock before ascending to the summit. We stopped to catch our breath.

And then we saw them.

It was astonishing!  We were up close and personal with drawings by Puebloan peoples who lived there from the 13th-17th centuries.  There were the classic, hump-backed flute players, birds, horses and mysterious circles.  I couldn’t believe we were so close to these ancient images and they were breathtaking in their simplicity, longevity and proximity.  We took loads of photos.

The Good Samaritans who had directed us to the top offered to guide us back down by a longer but less steep route.  We took them up on it and enjoyed getting to know a local during our leisurely descent.

We were exhausted and thirsty after our adventure but our hearts were full.  That night we returned to La Boca for more tapas  accompanied this time by a Spanish singer/guitarist .

Oh, Georgia!

For our last day, we saved the Georgia O’Keefe Museum. Because you can’t go  to Santa Fe without paying homage to the artist who put the New Mexico on the global art map.  

It’s a small museum but filled with the iconic Southwest imagery of O’keefe’s work from  oversize flowers to still lifes with bones, sparse, evocative landscapes and simple watercolor lines.

At the start  of  the exhibit, there’s a  classic  painting with a quote that warns the viewer not to presume to know what her art really means. See below:

Well, I buy that quote up to a point. But you can’t tell me that the painting below isn’t intentionally, viscerally sexual. 

The  museum also exhibited many artifacts of O’Keefe’s life in New Mexico as well as numerous portraits. In many of the images, she reminded me of Frida Kalho. Both artists dressed to express their identities, Kahlo in vivid patterns and O’Keefe in austere black and white. Both have become even more famous posthumously. Both also exhibited an androgynous air and intense sexual power. Or maybe I’m just projecting!

In any event, walking through the museum I felt all the aspects of our weeklong trip come together.  Art, nature, culture, sense of place, intensity of imagery and abundant spirituality.

It was one of our best short escapes.