Monday, October 22, 2012

Autumn Gold, My Taos Shawl, & a Glimpse of a Ghost Town

DSCF0154 by megan_n_smith_99
DSCF0154, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.
A few years ago I took a trip to Taos with my mother and sister. I'd always wanted to go to Taos, and I sort of dreamed of moving there - which is odd, I'd never even been there. But I guess people dream of moving to Paris who have never been there. I guess I just set my sights a bit closer to home.

We went just this time of year, late October, and the colors were gorgeous. All gold with some dusty green and the brilliant blue sky. I took quite a few pictures but of course you can't really capture a place. I think this picture was taken in a field near the San Geronimo Lodge, where we stayed for 2 nights. I hope I can go back soon!

One of the shops we visited was La Lana Wool.  I got hand dyed yarns in Taos colors and when I came home I knitted a Taos Shawl.

When we left New Mexico, we went North on I-25 to Denver. I was in the back seat so I was able to watch the scenery, the desert merging into the Prairie. There were lots of horses and sheep grazing. As it got darker I realized that some of those creatures I was seeing by the last light were deer creeping out in the evening. We passed a beautiful ruined building up on a bluff over the highway - with a little research I determined that it was St. Aloysius Church -- about all that is left of Morley, Colorado.

Wikipedia has this to say:

 "Morley was a town in Las Animas County, Colorado, that existed between 1878 and 1956. The town was located near the summit of Raton Pass and was originally a railroad stop before being developed into a coal mining town by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I). Morley was a CF&I company town for fifty years until in 1956 the mine was closed and the town demolished. [ed. the church was not completely destroyed and foundations of other buildings can also be seen.]   The site of the town was originally named Cima, which means "summit" or "high place", by Spanish traders who traveled through the region in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

The church is beautiful and a little eerie, seen by moonlight. It still looks holy but in a barren and stripped down sort of way. I wish I had gotten a picture.  You can see some beautiful photosa Here at Image Whisperer Photography


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