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 Festival of Light

Those of us who live or have lived in New Mexico are familiar with Luminarias. The origins of this tradition can be traced to 16^th century Spain where small, controlled bonfires, Farolitos, were lit along routes to churches to help worshippers find their way to midnight mass.

In New Mexico, the tradition dates back three hundred years to the Spanish villages along the Rio Grande that displayed Christmas lanterns to welcome the Christ child. Although Luminarias are practically synonymous with the NM holiday tradition, in every celebration, whether religious or secular, they are symbols of warmth and light. No matter your faith or lack of it, you have to appreciate the history and tradition.

My family lives near Old Town and for years our home was always designated for Christmas Eve family gatherings. We served traditional New Mexican fare—tamales, posole, beans, enchiladas, and red and green chili. Afterward, we would bundle up and head out into the dark for the short walk to Old Town Plaza. The luminarias are simple (candles in a bag) but the effect of them amassed is stunning. I have to give a shout-out to the volunteers who help light the candles around the plaza. It is a labor of love.

For more information about the tradition, click on the Visit Albuquerque

The website includes a video and step-by-step directions for making Luminarias. I found it sweet but amusing. You get a lunch sack, put in sand, and a votive candle. Place it where you want it and light the candle with a long-handle lighter. It will burn most of the night. You can cheat and use flameless votives or tea lights, some even come with timers. But what’s the fun in that?

During the pandemic, my husband, who is an artist, painted the twelve days of Christmas on sandwich bags. We displayed them on our adobe wall and lit them on Christmas Eve.

El Salto del Agua (The Jumping Waters)

My good friend Nancy went with me last week to the village of Arroyo Seco north of Taos to find and explore the cave. The cave has a prominent place in my next mystery novel.

Back in the day, Mabel Dodge Luhan and her husband, Tony Lujan, took artists and writers to the cave. D.H. Lawrence found inspiration after his visit in 1924 and wrote the short story, “The Woman Who Rode Away”. The cave was also the model for the Stone Lips cave in Willa Cather’s novel Death Comes for the Archbishop, published in 1927.

Some claim that there are mystical earth energies (geospirals) that exist in the cave. If you spend some time relaxing inside the cavern, you can feel the energy. Nancy and I definitely felt the energy.

I was told there is a special spot, where, if you stand still, you can feel the healing energies emanating from deep below the ground.

El Salto del Agua is a magical place and we didn’t want to leave.

Directions to El Salto del Agua Cave and Waterfall

The cave is on private land, part of the Martinez land grant dating to the early 1700s. Visitors are welcome but must pay the association’s entrance fee.

From Taos take highway 522 north and turn east onto route 150 to Arroyo Seco. Drive through the village (stop and check out the shops and gallery on your way back). Pick up El Salto Road at the end of town—the road ends at the trailhead. It’s a dirt road, which isn’t in great shape. When the road starts getting rough, you are getting close. At the trailhead, there is a box for the daily pass fee—$10 per person. The cave is at 9,000 feet elevation. It isn’t far to the cave, two-tenths of a mile, but the trail is a steady incline. After a tenth of a mile, take the right-hand trail. The trail winds through bushes and undergrowth.

Several years ago I was writing a mystery set in New York that involved a missing husband and some unscrupulous people, when I came across an article in the New York Times, “A Violinist’s Triumph Is Ruined by Thieves”. Frank Almond, a Milwaukee Symphony Concertmaster, was stun gunned in a parking lot after a concert and his 1715 Lipinski Stradivarius was stolen. Later that year, I saw an article, “The Stradivarius Affair,” by Buzz Bissinger in Vanity Fair, that featured the same crime. Intrigued by the audacity of the crime and felt the universe was telling me something. I switched gears and wrote a mystery, The Ghost Notes, inspired by the violin heist. I wasn’t successful in securing a publisher so set the novel aside. In 2019, I saw an announcement for the Tribeca Film Festival that featured a documentary, Plucked, about the theft of the Lipinski Stradivarius. Tribeca Film Festival

My father was a musician and during high school and college, I worked in his music studio—stringing many guitars. Not having my father’s ear, I wasn’t able to perfect the acoustic tuning technique, using the Tartini Tones, but loved watching my father fine-tune each instrument. The first owner of the Lipinski Stradivarius, Guiseppe Tartini, contributed to the science of acoustics, inventing the “Tartini Tones,” the auditory illusion sometimes referred to as Ghost Notes.

This YouTube video features a violinist explaining the Tartini Tones

History of the Lipinski Stradivarius

Violins are usually named after their first owner, but not the Lipinski. In 1715 Stradivarius sold the violin to Guiseppe Tartini, who later passed it on to one of his students, Signor Salvini. But Salvini after hearing Lipinski play, asked the man for his violin, smashed it to pieces against the corner of a table, and handed the Stradivarius to the shocked Lipinski. Finally, the violin had a home and a name. After Lipinski’s death, the violin passed through numerous collections until it ended in 1962 with Evi Liivak, a violin soloist from Estonia. When Liivak’s died, her husband, a concert pianist, refused to part with the instrument. But when he passed away in 2008, the violin was offered to Frank Almond, a Milwaukee Symphony Concertmaster. Almond after a concert was stun gunned in a church parking lot and his violin stolen. The instrument was recovered nine days later.

Guiseppe Tartini, and the Tones

Guiseppe Tartini contributed to the science of acoustics, inventing the “Tartini Tones,” the auditory illusion sometimes referred to as Ghost Notes. Often it is a low note perceived when the only sounds are high notes. It is useful in tuning a string instrument but some argue that it has an important role in the development of scales and temperament. This YouTube video features an explanation of the  Tartini Tones. Tartini’s compositions were numerous and illustrated his passionate and skillful style of execution.

Lore has it that in 1776, Tartini had a dream about the devil. Tartini asked the devil if he knew how to play the violin and the devil said he believed he could pick out a tune. Thereupon the devil played a sonata so exquisite that Tartini thought he had never heard any music to equal it. When he woke, he tried to write the composition but never succeeded to his satisfaction.  Il Trillo del Diavolo or The Devil’s Sonata, although is one of his best productions, Tartini believed it paled in comparison to satan’s.

Cremona, Italy is a small city, 62 miles from Milan in Lombardy on the River Po. It is noted for the manufacture of violins in the 16th-18th century and the home of Antonio Stradivari. It is the perfect place to immerse oneself in the violin.

The city is full of music and even walking down the street, you will be treated to someone playing the violin.

The Torrazzo, one of Europe’s tallest surviving medieval brick towers, houses one of the world’s largest astronomical clocks.

Cremona is known for its artisan workshops that have been producing high-quality instruments since the 16th century. Today there is still a vibrant violin-making industry. The luthiers have quaint shops throughout the small city.

I drove up to Taos in July with my husband and our Scottish Terrier Angus. We took the high road to Taos through Chimayo, Truchas, Ojo Sarco, and Las Trampas, then at Penasco headed north through the Carson National Forest. For a while, I thought I was in Washington State.

The trip was a research venture for my next book that takes place in Taos during two time periods—1929 and 2020.

We stayed at a historic motor lodge, El Pueblo Lodge, in Taos. Great Breakfast buffet and a little place to sit outside our room to enjoy beer thirty.

We stopped on our way into town to tour Mabel Dodge Luhan’s compound, but we missed the visiting hours. They recommend calling ahead for times.

We ventured to the village of Arroyo Seco, which plays a role in my next book, both in 1929 and 2020. I tried to find the El Salto del Agua cave and waterfall, which also will be featured in my book but was unsuccessful.

Map South of Santa Fe

Diamond Tail Ranch is private land and not accessible. New Mexico Jeep Tours in the past had permission to bring visitors to the isolated, mountainous region. Now only wild horses and cattle roam the ranch. The ranch property is posted and off-limits. There is a roadblock on Hagen Road east of where the La Madera Road dead ends.

You can venture toward the ranch through Tijeras Canyon.  Head north on  Route 14 past the turn-off to the ski basin. Then take La Madera Road which skirts the foothills of the Sandia Mountains and winds its way towards the ranch.

Before La Madera Road deadends at Hagan Road, on the west side is the Golden Open Space which provides two hiking trails. The north trail takes you to the lookout with views of the land surrounding the ranch and the San Felipe reservation.

Check out a YouTube video of a mountain biker zooming along the trail.

https://youtu.be/s-XEpeXWfi8

San Felipe Pueblo, NM  (Katishtya)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Felipe_Pueblo,_New_Mexico

Tonque is an ancient abandoned Native American pueblo, whose ruins reside on the San Felipe Reservation. The property is near the historic Hispanic village of Placitas and the ghost town Hagen, an abandoned mining community.

In the 1970s and 80s, my husband and I often visited the area. Once we drove his 1933 Chrysler out to the Pueblo and ended up spending the night under the stars. We woke in the morning surrounded by currious cows.

The history of the Pueblo and the surrounding area always interested me. Years ago, we had permission from the Diamond Tail Ranch foreman to bring university students and school children on field trips. We dug dry clay, formed pinch pots, and burnished them for pit firing.

There were many petroglyphs etched into the canyon walls.

Tonque Brick and Tile Company

In 1912, during Hagan’s coal mining development, a brick factory was constructed at the southwestern corner of the pueblo ruins. The company made use of the rich clay deposits for thirty years producing bricks and tiles.

A brick from the Tonque Brick & Tile Company