Field-dimensionality Multiplied

“To bring field-dimensionality into contact with our focus on the senses, try being aware of the feel of each sense-field. It is obvious that the field of smell is different from the field of hearing. But once you go past that obvious conclusion, you can explore the ‘feel’ of the difference. What knowing is available there?”

I think it would be fun to try this assignment in the various geographical environments I’ve experienced this month and will be experiencing into July:  Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu New Mexico, where I live on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, at the desert house on the edge of Red Rocks State Park moments from Oak Creek, the edge of Glacier National Park where I’ll be painting for a few days in a few weeks, and Aspen where we’ll be spending our anniversary amidst a profusion of colorful meadows and alpine wildflowers :)

I’d like to begin with Abiquiu, New Mexico.  Both Ghost Ranch and the bed and breakfast in which I stayed are in tiny Abiquiu (AB-i-kyoo), New Mexico, yet each offered different sensory experiences.

Ghost Ranch:
Seeing – stark landscape of rock, deep blue skies filled with puffs of brilliant white clouds mirrored by puffs of deep green pinyon pine and juniper, lemon-lime sunshine-filled new cottonwood leaves against dark trunks, dust everywhere!
Hearing – wind…wind blowing fast and hard across the high desert, sweet bird song filling the air with playful cheeriness, more wind singing through the rocks.
Touching – sunburnt, land is dry, bone dry, brittle, crumbly, no moisture.
Tasting – dust, the taste of dust saturates and permeates food and air.
Smelling – the absence of the scent of moisture is pronounced, sweet-sharp scent of juniper and pinyon coaxed by the intense UV 11 sunshine, the smell of dust.

Abiquiu B&B:
Seeing – lush green gardens, bright California poppies, deep purple English lavender, thin and bony vineyards, sea-green Chama River, crimson roses.
Hearing – hummingbirds whirring and buzzing about, wind and silence.
Touching – brittle wood for the kiva fireplace, rocky salts turning the warm bath into soft, scented water, heavy down comforter, juicy blackberries squishing.
Tasting – explosion of sweet juice from grapes and berries, warmth of chocolate.
Smelling – welcome scent of moisture from the desert oasis garden and river.

The knowing I experienced at Ghost Ranch was of millenia, of change, the great, vast changes that take place slowly over time, expressed by the Ghost Ranch landscape.  It was like being in a Discovery Channel, NOVA or NASA film showing the world evolving at high speed over millions of years, the landscape visibly shaped by wind and water.  The knowing felt like timelessness.

The knowing I experienced at the Abiquiu B&B was of civilization, with carefully tended gardens, companion-planted, eco-conscious-developed property to compliment the resources, to coax enhancing the natural cycles, to pull a string of the web closer and enjoy the benefits of water, dryness, sunshine in a glorious mix…in congruence with the natural resources and rhythm of the place.  The knowing felt like impermanence, sanctuary, oasis…ephemeral harmony.

~ Erin