Framedlight

 Just south of Abiquiu we had noticed a direction sign leading to the site of an old pueblo. We had to climb a hill to see it and had tremendous views across the River Chama to Georgia O'Keeffee's 'white place' beyond. The pueblo was known as Poshuouinge and was built around 1400AD. At its height it contained around 700 rooms and would have extended to two or three storeys high. The site was abandoned around 1500 when the inhabitants moved to the banks of the Rio Grande, where their descendants still live. Now all you can see is the layout still imprinted on the ground. The earlier snow had not come to much but the sky was still dark over the mountains and it looked as if there might be more to come. The cottonwoods were providing plenty of colour Site of an ancient hearth The 'white place' Impending weather When we had finished looking at Poshuouinge we drove a little closer to Abiquiu to see a ruined church. Adobe dwellings need constant upkeep and once they a

In the late afternoon we drove down to Abiquiu. There is a car park below the town and here was a  market that was more or less packing up for the day. We went up a tiny road to the town square which was not metalled and very dusty. The adobe Catholic church, St Thomas the Apostle was presiding over the square and the whole place was deserted and silent in the warm light. All the churches I saw had one of these plaques in the churchyard! There must be some heavy spending behind their installation. Admittedly in New Mexico the majority of churches are Roman Catholic. We stopped by the river on the way home. The cottonwoods were glowing in the light and there was a single angler fishing. The last pictures are views of Georgia O'Keeffe’s 'White Place', where she did a number of paintings. Unfortunately it is on private land and not at the moment open to the public. 200mm was as close as I could get! An interesting mesa close to the road