4 June 07

Santa Fe

Science writer taking photo Well, I’m back. The Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop was all I hoped for and more — a gathering of interesting, interested people. I hang around such types often but it’s been a long time since I found myself with fifty people who were so very curious about everything — from the instructors to the full gamut of freelancers, public information types, journalists, and students (including one undergraduate).

fountain in Ghost Ranch courtyard Our time started out at the Santa Fe Institute, a hotbed of interdisciplinary brilliance. We heard (not necessarily understood, you understand) talks by Bette Korber on a vaccine for HIV and Eric Smith on the origin of life and then attempted later on in the day to come up with an article lede for one of them. Our small groups numbered about ten; my group was facilitated by the inimitable Charlie Petit, formerly of the San Francisco Chronicle, now of Knight Science Journalism Tracker.

bandelier national monument Santa Fe is a beautiful small city, but I was eager to get into the surrounding countryside. We took a trip to Bandelier National Monument, an archeological site where we ran into the bear I mentioned a couple of days ago.

bandelier national monument
It was lush and green after a wet spring in New Mexico. Birds were singing. I kept confusing warbling vireos with one of the red finches — Cassin’s at this altitude? (managed to leave my binoculars at home in the rush to get to the airport) — but had no trouble with the abundant and gorgeous violet-green swallows.

bandelier national monument Our intrepid reporters climbed in and out of holes by means of ladders while others of us took photos or sketched them doing this.

Sunset from northwest Santa Fe The final night was spent at the home of one of the instructors, where we got the chance to watch the sun and Venus go down and the moon and Jupiter rise. This is a good state for skygazing.

storm brewing in the Jemez Mountains Finally I spent a night with my cousin in the Jemez mountains, about eight miles above the town of Jemez Springs. She lives very near the Valles Caldera Numenius visited last year. We were able to catch up and go for a couple of hikes. The storm brewing pictured here spawned a couple of tornadoes and I was glad to get out of Albuquerque in a different direction than the storms were heading… Sketching at Bandelier

Posted by at 08:37 PM in Nature and Place | Link |
  1. It sounds like a wonderful experience, and your drawings are exceptional, even for you, full of the same spirit as your words.


    Jean    5. June 2007, 02:05    Link
  2. Jean’s right—this is some of your best stuff! You captured at least some of the flavor of the place(s), esp. Bandelier! and the landscape is way fine.


    Doc Rock    5. June 2007, 14:02    Link
  3. Sounds fantastic. Great collection of sketches. Good to see the artist too!


    CdV    10. June 2007, 07:33    Link
  4. Awesome sketches – color was exquisite!


    Lindy Loo    11. June 2007, 06:54    Link
  5. Yes, awesome sketches. I love it out there – the sky is wonderful at night.


    leslee    16. July 2007, 05:16    Link

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