Taos Pueblo

Taos Pueblo has been around for a millennium.
It is the longest continually inhabited community in the country.
It is a World Heritage Site and a National Historic Landmark.

I parked the van and followed some stray dogs toward the main entrance.
The cashier told me to hang on.
Meanwhile, a line formed behind me.
People started getting antsy.
Saying things.
"Is anybody working here?!"
"What's going on?!"
I dunno, man.
This is a Native American reservation.
Not a fucking Krispy Kreme or whatever you're doing with your life.
We are guests in their home.
Just calm down and at least pretend to practice the concept of respect.


The cashier apologized for the wait.
Then my phone rang.
It was work.
I had to take it.
Out of respect for the Taos Pueblo people?
Leave me alone.
I juggled paying for my entrance and camera fees and booking three days of work...
Probably for a Krispy Kreme commercial.
...starting Monday.
It was Friday afternoon.
And I was still in New Mexico.
It seems I'll have to pick up the pace.
After Taos Pueblo.

The pueblo community's adobe apartments were stacked on top of one another, accessible only by ladder.  Round boobed adobe ovens sat outside each home.  Clusters of red chiles hung from the walls like windchimes.



The graveyard was dramatic, with wooden crosses jutting waywardly out from under the dead.
Outside of his shop, a man beat on a drum and chanted.
Drumming up business.
My official count of freely roaming dogs was "lots".  
The dogs were polite though, if not narcoleptic.
The church's painted white adobe looked appetizing.  
I wanted to sink my teeth into the ice cream fortress.

Instead, I ordered a plate of fry bread with powdered sugar, cinnamon, and honey, and watched the continuous pageant of curious white people.

A boy scout master chatted with a silent man selling pottery out of his adobe home.
"Tonight we're going to see Harry Potter.  Harry Pottery!"
This place does remind me a little of Tatooine.
A dog followed me all the way back to the van.
Sorry, buddy, I've got to go.
I'm working in Chicago in a couple of days.


1 comment:

  1. you'd be narcoleptic too if you were wearing a fur coat in summer.

    ReplyDelete