Spiritual Maintenance

On our Taos ride, we both richly enjoyed the Ranchos Plaza Grill and visiting the historic San Francisco de Asis Church next door. Think of Saint Francis of Assisi. Dating back to 1772, enclosed in a plaza for protection from raiding Comanches, made of adobe bricks combining clay, straw, and oxblood and plastered with mud, the church is among the most photographed in New Mexico. One pic features a wall with the plaster falling off. Mud erodes. The solution: they replaster with mud each year.

They make it a community celebration in June, church and community members and visitors add fresh mud and straw to protect the adobe bricks. Nice way to…

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Seek Advice

My two years in Taos transformed my life—giving me challenges and encouragement to enter the ministry, making lifelong deep friends. Something about the plains yielding to the mountains, the striking crystal-clear blue sky, the blend of three cultures, and soul thrilling outdoor options. I suspected John Denver had been reading my mail in his line, “He was born in the summer of his 27th year, coming home to a place he’d never been before.” I came, I saw, I loved it, I knew it.

But when Rich and I rode into Taos last summer…

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