Monday, March 1, 2010

School Days


Today was the first full day of the Exploritas Program. The lecture was by Sharon Franco about Willa Cather and Leslie Silko writings we read. The discussion was lively and tied directly to the New Mexico landscape and Native Americans. Franco read a quote from a letter to Cather that I really liked, "Find that quiet place within you. Don't work for those around you or you will never grow." It was written to Cather from Sarah Orne Jewett as advice on how to improve her writing. So, Cather takes her advise and leaves NYC for NM where she does find her own voice. Interestingly, tonight we watched a video on Georgia O'Keefe in which she said word for word the same thing about finding her way to paint when she moved to NM. Both women found great inspiration in the quiet and solitude of the place.

We took a quick tour of Santa Fe this afternoon to learn some history of the architecture and early peoples. No pics today. I lost them all in the downloading. Nothing I can't replace, though.