Thanks to the generosity of my employer, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, I am currently in the final month of a three-month writing sabbatical. Half of the time I’ve spent at home in Seattle. My wife Springer and I have just spent the middle portion on a trip to Santa Fe.  I’m very happy we drove. The trip from the rainforests of the Northwest, through the Canyon Lands of Utah and the majestic Rocky Mountains of southern Colorado, to high desert of the New Mexico was an inspiring one.  A painter herself, Springer got as much out of the trip as I did.

We rented a comfortable house for the month of September in the Ft. Carson area of Santa Fe. Each day I wrote for two hours in the early morning. The two of us then had breakfast followed by a couple of hours experiencing the beauty and art of this remarkable four-hundred year old city.  After lunch most days I wrote for two hours, played my guitar for an hour then had a brief workout and walk through a lovely, shaded arroyo that runs through the city.

I chose Santa Fe, not only for its warmth and beauty, but for the successful coexistence between its native and immigrant peoples which has been an inspiration to my currently 108,000 word children’s novel. I recommend everyone visit this city to experience the hospitality of the kind people who live there. Anyone will find the cordiality and easy pace soothing.

By the time Springer and I left Santa Fe, I had made significant progress on my story, become a little better guitar player and wrote the beginnings of a song I plan to finish this month. I will post a link to some photos I took on the trip and eventually a link to the song I’m working on, appropriately named “Santa Fe County.”