Scenes From a Sunday in Taos

To begin the day, a flock of blue birds of unknown name and origin gathered around the house. Rene and Bevin had never seen them before, so we decided they were most likely of the "Bluebird of Happiness" genus:

Next, we attended the birthday party of the four-year-old granddaughter of our dear friends Pam and Bruce, who moved back to Taos from Western Massachusetts a few years ago. We were happy to attend the party, and Mary was happy to have her face painted: 

In the afternoon, we visited downtown Taos and saw some interesting and entertaining street signs: 

Bored of street signs, we paid a visit to the studio of Thom Wheeler, an artist well-known for his metal relief sculptures, who welcomed us into his impressive studio along with his equally friendly canine welcome wagon: 

We find the people of Taos very friendly, and although we're warned that we are indeed visiting at the worst time of year, we still find it beautiful despite the patchy fog, intermittent snow, deepening mud, and the vast chasm between the wealthy and the poor, not to mention the fact that most people have to work two jobs just to survive here.

This week, our lovely visit with our wonderful son and daughter-in-law will most likely come to an end, and we will extract our rig from the mud and head for points south. It will be hard to leave our "kids" (who have been the most gracious hosts) but the search for a new home and the journey ahead still call our name.