Driving up the dirt road off the main highway I got the feeling I was traveling back in time. Modern Abiquiu is a quaint village clustered around the historic church of Santo Tomas. The town square was extremely quiet except for a rooster crowing.
I parked in front of the Abiquiu Library and took a stroll around photographing a man sitting outside his house whittling.
I walked over to the O'Keeffe compound and took a few shots outside the walled area when over walked Leonard, the person in charge of security for the day. He and I chatted and he told me much about the town. It turns out his grandfather used to own the land that the O'Keeffe house now stands on and he himself had lived in the village all his life. He was very engaging and told me about a great restaurant for chile rellenos nearby. I asked him if I could take his portrait (having learned these techniques from Bill Allard at the National Geographic Workshop) and he posed quite a while for me.
I walked up the hill on the dirt road to the mesa top Pueblo of Abiquiu that was established by the Spanish in 1754. The three crosses on the hill stand out against the snow capped mountains in the background. The stations of the cross were situation on an adjacent hill. The view was spectacular and I can imagine Georgia O'Keeffe strolling up this hill to paint and enjoy her view.
