For Richard, from Santa Fe: rocks on the move

I made it to Santa Fe. The unlikely trip proved well worthwhile, and I’ll have more to say about it. First, though, I want to share something I saw that reminded me of my friend Richard Cabe. Richard makes wonderful granite sculptures, some functional (sinks that smell delightfully like wet rock when the water is running) and some that don’t need to incorporate functionality to express qualities of earth either solo or in conjunction with other elements, like fire.

While riding my bike around Santa Fe, intending to get to a particular destination, I got lost (the first time) and discovered this:

Here’s a closer view of what’s written on the paved multiuse path:

It says “STUMPED?” and indeed there are a lot of small stumps nearby.

Here’s a closer view.

But wait. Some of those stumps are a little unusual.

They’re rocks, walking along on sturdy legs.

They’ve got places to go and people (or something!) to see.

They’re located at the juncture between two sections of the multiuse path, and they’re headed toward the Cerrillos Road portion. This is pretty much right behind the campus of the New Mexico School for the Deaf, in an area with a lot of artwork that you could miss if you’re moving too fast.

The heavy blue lines show some of my bike ramblings. The star shows where the sights above were recorded.

And this is the nearby trail marker:

It says “Acequia Trail, mile 0.5.”

I offer the location details so Richard can locate the spot, if he wants to, the next time he’s in Santa Fe.

There’s a lot of rock in Santa Fe. I saw a bunch of it, even in a short visit. Because of the humor here, and because these guys obviously have a mission and are on the move, they’re the ones that most reminded me of Richard and his view of rocks as what he calls “ambassadors of the earth.”