You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.
In the grand holiday tradition, buildings in Santa Fe post small orange candles all along the eaves (no longer authentic candles nowadays, of course, but attractive anyway -- and safer).
The famous Plaza in the centre of old Santa Fe, all rigged up for the jubilations
Kristin's been delegated for the first of our photographs . . .
. . . soon to be joined by a friend. And then . . .
. . . more friends, to wit, Ryan and Alison.
From our entry point to the Plaza, we're focusing of the festive views across it. Sadly, we failed to look over to our right, across West Palace Ave.
(See a borrowed photograph at the bottom of this page)
Central fountain
The musical accompaniment
Not exactly an enormous crowd out tonight, but the city's hard work with the decorations must still be appreciated.
The Plaza Café is on the right, and . . .
. . . on our left, on E San Francisco St, the Paso de Luz, an 'open, airy shopping and dining destination' that 'features a mix of boutique retail shops and dining options'.
A big mall, in effect. [Photos on the Web are indeed impressive.]
And above Ortega's On the Palace jewelry store, there, on the next floor up (on the purple balcony), is the Thunderbird Bar & Grill, doing a brisk business it seems.
That's the front side of the Palace of the Governors in the background, somewhat obscured by the holiday festivities.
Now we're having a casual walk round the shops in the nearby neighborhoods.
And this one certainly stands out -- masses of things created out of junk metals
Fascinating . . . but at the same time, somewhat offputting.
An earnest conversation in front of Cafe Pasqual's on Don Gaspar Ave, a block from the Plaza.
We'll leave them in peace, and . . .
. . . pay a visit to these crude and forbidding creatures, who are in fact positioned in front of three jewelry stores (Wild Horse of Santa Fe, Gold House, and Momeni's Gallery), so perhaps there's a good reason for them.
Just across the street, on the Old Sante Fe Trail, there's the Loretto Chapel Museum, locked up tight at this hour alas.
In 1853 a fleet of Sisters of Loretto was summoned over by Abp Lamy to open a school for local girls. A chapel was begun in 1873, using the same French architect & builders who'd been working on the Cathedral nearby. Turns out that there wasn't sufficient room to gain access to the completed choir loft, so the sisters prayed for nine days for help and lo! an unnamed carpenter turned up and built them the Miraculous Staircase spiraling straight up with no central support.
When the Miraculous Stairway was completed, the unnamed carpenter packed up his tools and went away, just like that, without his pay, never heard from again -- there was (or is?) a body of opinion that he was St Joseph himself, the patron saint of carpenters.
The stairway, a tourist attraction, doesn't seem to pass safety regulations now, but is beautiful to look at.
The jewelry store guardians at the ready. (Keeping America Safe!)
Since we're here, we're back to the impressive Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi, and . . .
. . . another look at a floodlit Kateri Tekakwitha (the 'Lily of the Mohawks').
And then, back to the Santa Fe Pioneer Monument, in honor of 'the Spanish colonists of 1598' and the Franciscan missionaries who came with them -- and we see some colonists, with kids and livestock, and a missionary, too, and here, on the far side, is . . .
. . . the military support that came along with them. Just in case.
We'll go home now.
The morning of 27 December, we'll be walking out for a more thorough exploration of the neighborhood and . . .
. . . its thoughtful adornments roundabout, and . . .
. . . its outlandish foliage everywhere.
Off we go.
Scholars and aficionados of bizarre arid foliage could tell you all the names, in Latin and the vernacular, with a mere offhanded glance, but . . .
. . . we're neither scholars nor, believe us, aficionados, and can't be very helpful here. But we did find it a bit exciting to be marching round in it all, trying not to touch anything.
The late Delbert's property covers five acres here, but we'll expand our range a little and add a walk down the nearby . . .
. . . Apache Trail. With two houses on it (one's down that way).
In the Good Lord's Scheme of things, there must have been a purpose beyond that squatting horror, but, well ....
It's also a good idea to get oneself out for a brisk walk, after all of this hanging about the house rereading old Nero Wolfe mysteries.
There's the house at the end of Apache Trail; we won't disturb the residents (or get shot!).
Back up through crazy stuff, and here's . . .
. . . that strange statue at the back of our garden.
Neighbors on the next ridge over
Looks like pretty much daily wind damage
The trick here is to wiggle through all that without touching any sharp prongy bits.
They might slit through your trousers, get infected, and kill you!
A look back up at the house
-- We can find a way through all this. Cactuses, or cacti, are they?
-- Wait! Step back! Step back! Get round it.
-- All right, let's start this part over. We're not really short of time just now.
Up towards the back of the house
-- Step carefully. Don't stumble over the ducks.
We're circumambulating the house now, aiming for . . .
. . . that outbuilding. The house's builder was said to have been a horseowner from Texas, who (for some reason) brought horses up here and stashed them in that unlikely building and corral.
-- We'll back in a little bit, stay there.
Now, with time still on our hands, we'll walk farther out Apache Ridge Road itself, at least . . .
. . . as far as the 'State Land Trust' . . .
. . . and so back again.
(What a mess.)
The driveway to 102 Apache Ridge Road and . . .
. . . home again, where we'll stop in for another look at that horse motel.
-- Sadly wasted, yeah?
No horses anymore, but random further uses are ongoing.
Perhaps it could be salvaged as a low-cost housing project.
That looks to have been done gardeningly deliberately.
A minor altercation amongst our cats, soon . . .
. . . sorted out.
Next up: Some random local photos, then a drive out to Taos Pueblo
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All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 20 February 2026.
