I was picked up at the Taos Administration building, the most northern stop my blue bus could take me. I was welcomed by an old black lady berating and threatening me. She had a walker so I didn’t feel very threatened. After a while, Daniel and his fiance, Jen, picked me up. Luckily, they did not berate me.
We then began, in the darkness, searching for the house of a hospitalized coworker of Jen’s. We were told there were a bunch of neglected dogs left on leashes and in cages outside. After struggling to find the place, we asked some neighbors and they pointed us in the right direction. We drove up on a dump of a trailer with dogs chained up around the property. After giving most of them enough blankets to survive the night, we brought one home with us.
Now this dog just happened to be the biggest spaz on earth. He twisted and twirled around the car trying to take on the impossible challenge of licking all of us at the same time. He kicked without care, often nailing someone in the stomach during the process. I think he hadn’t felt loved in some time.
We continued bouncing on the rough gravel road until we came upon a gate, and a couple minutes after passing through it, we came upon the house. I was greeted by a basset hound, Holly, a fox hound, a Ladybird, and a mutt, Isis. The new dog wasn’t really on the same energy level as the other dogs and after listening to Daniel and Jen discuss what to do, I offered to let him stay in the camper with me.
So just as I was first introduced to my new tiny, temporary home, so was this dog. This was also the time I was properly introduced to the dog. For the brief moment he stood still, I saw his bright cherry eye. Of course, I pitied him for his entire situation, therefore I let him sleep in my bed. He wouldn’t dare think about sleep unless I cuddled with him.
It was at this moment I got to take everything in. A lot of thoughts and questions sprung into my mind: “What are you doing here?”, “Are you really cut out for this?”, “This is too weird, you should head home, I mean, no one is keeping you here,”. I didn’t get to survey the area because it was pitch black out, so of course I felt very disoriented. I couldn’t tell you which way the sunset that night I wanted to. With no reception, I was cut off from everyone I knew. I felt lost and alone. This is when the horror stories about the “Wild West” emerged from my memory. Whether exaggerated because of my position or not, they kept me feeling small. The cold kept me fully clothed and weighed down by thick blankets. Everything was different. Additionally, I really didn’t know these people and I was about to go to sleep in a land considered lawless. Help was far, and I didn’t even know what direction to go. The realization of my position was not a quick slap in the face, but rather a deep, low blow to my stomach; leaving me limp, breathless, and dazed.
But then I took a step back from my thoughts. I felt the puppy’s warm body press up against my side. I listened to the calming silence of the land. I thought about how far I had already come. The day came to a close with my mind’s words, “Tomorrow, you can make your decision to stay or not. Give this place a chance. Right now, you are tired, and you need some sleep,”. So, I slept.
I made the decision to stay after my first day of work. I made a flower bed, helped fix his broken trunk, and put new till blades on the till machine. It was during this day I also got to see the area. Old volcanoes, now mountains, surrounded me. The Rio Grande Gorge was in sight, it was reassuring to see something from photos online. The vast desert let nothing hide, while the mountains kept their secrets. I’ll expand on the work and the area in a future post.
The morning of my second day was spent hiking because Daniel had personal matters to tend to. He pointed out a road I could walk up to the Lama Foundation, a commune started in the 60s. So I slowly worked my way there and asked the people there for a trail that could take me up more to the mountain. I followed their directions which led me to a dead end.
(Note: Never trust a hippy’s directions)
I was tired of following a set trail and I began walking upward and, eventually, I found a trail. Now, this trail was pretty tight, but I’m a pretty skinny guy. It was also a beautiful trail shaded by yellow-leafed aspen trees. I trekked on and kept noticing these massive piles of poop on the ground but I blew them off. Until I came across the one in the photo here. I searched online and found it was black bear poop. My next goal was to search for a weapon to fight this black bear if he were to approach me. I just so happened to find the perfect piece of defense artillery.
Unfortunately, no bears were around for a beatdown. They must have heard I was in town and began hibernating early. This hike, however, was very vertical and had me gasping for air at some spots. This totally threw me off guard because I thought it was impossible to run out of breath if you were just walking. I guess you learn something new each day. Finally, I made it to as far as the land would let me go. I enjoyed the beautiful view for a while and headed down, and hiked home, thus, completing my challenge.
The people here are very proud of the land and the unique history of the area. The natives were left alone by the Spanish, and they were the only ones not conquered. It makes a lot of places here technically, the oldest in the US. The oldest capital in the US is Santa Fe, surprisingly.
In the 60s, Questa, the town I am in, and other nearby towns were a big hub for the commune movement. Basically, like-minded people would form communities and live by their own standards. There were communes for heroin users, spiritual seekers, and all sorts of people. Many of them failed because nobody wanted to do any work or improve living conditions. The Lama Foundation is an example of one that succeeded. The building even survived the 1995 wildfire that ravaged the area. If you asked some people a part of the commune why it survived they might accredit it to white light. A lot of people in the area first arrived during that movement or had parents who did.
I will say that people are very spiritual here. There are many faiths and many strange beliefs people have. There doesn’t seem to be any conflicts between ideas and philosophies, everyone just accepts that everyone is a little strange here.
If you come here, know that:
- Aliens are real.
- The world is ending.
- A peaceful life is a good life.
- Agua es vida.
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