I was mesmerized by this old abandoned house in the old ruins of the Chimoya plaza. Perhaps in my next life. Tomorrow, Santa Fe, and Sunday, Georgia O’Keefe’s white place in Abiquiu. We are coming home Wednesday, New Mexico is in my heart and imagination.
For Maria, a profound pilgrimage, which she will write about herself. Shelby says the dogs and animals are fine, everyone seems to be sleeping in bed with her, and Red is getting belly rubs, Gus spending the night in bed, Fate prowling around the dark, looking for work. All is well.
Parts of the old plaza, now in ruins, date to the 1600’s. It was a mystical experience to walk around this evocative place, there was an overgrown pasture for donkeys and sheep (we did fantasize about moving her and fixing up one of these houses, but we reminded ourselves that we are poor but happy where we are. I fell in love with the old plaza, I’ll be dreaming about it forever.
We stumbled across an old, mostly abandoned plaza near the town of Chimayo, where we are staying, and we spent some wonderful hours exploring the abandoned homes and buildings – several are still occupied. When we arrived, we found Juan, haltingly taking his daily walk around the plaza. It was haunting and beautiful, and I took some photos which I will be posting over the next few days. A haunted, mystical, evocative place. I would love to buy one of these old homes and restore it, if I had the money. Several other people are already doing that.
Art seems to grow out of the ground in New Mexico. The Hispanic culture is colorful, emotional, loyal. The dead are commemorated with flowers, beads, paintings, cards, letters statues and colorful objects. These memorials are all over the local cemeteries and all over the roads, marking those who died or have been killed.
Many are extraordinarily beautiful, and they give a poignant and beautiful air to the place. I was especially drawn to this memorial for Tommy Martinez on busy Route 76. I’ve seen scores and scores of them, almost all elaborately attended and conceived.
I am a rationalist, I love the idea of spiritual healing, but I have rarely found a holistic cure or potion that healed me.
My two chronic illnesses have pushed me into the hands of western medicine, where I mostly dwell. I don’t like to talk about the details of my health or my medicines, but over the past year, some of my medications – for diabetes, heart disease – have caused a chronic allergic reaction in the form of hives that itch intensely and are often very uncomfortable.
The the physicians I have consulted, including a dermatologist, have not been able to help me, other than to prescribe more medications and some expensive creams. I have battle my hives with a half dozen cortisone and other creams, no luck.
People with chronic diseases know there are always side effects with most medications, and most often, these are just things we have to live with. The doctors can open my heart up and repair it but there is no cure for recurring allergy induced hives. My doctors tested them, and said there was nothing much to be done.
Three days ago, we visited Teresa Montoya’s gallery in Chimayo and she told us about an Enserado healing cream that helps heal skin problems, from burns to bites to rashes. It contains oshua, olive oil and beeswax. It cost $10 a bottle, and since there were angels all over her gallery walls, I bought one.
I had two hives on my right leg that morning, and I applied the cream. In three or four hours, they were gone, and being a rationalist, I did not believe the Enserado caused this. I thought it might be the thin air of New Mexico, or some change in my diet, I looked for any other possible reason.
I had two or three small hives appear, both were gone by the next morning. I have not had any hives since. I make no claims for other people, and I sell nothing on my blog but my books and good causes. But I do believe this potion is ending a long, painful and very uncomfortable experience for me.
I can’t stop taking my medications, but now, I am very hopeful I have found a way of containing and treating them. I bought some jars of Enserado (Teresa’s number is 505 753 – 4698 if anyone wants it.) I can only speak for myself, but this is a healing lesson to me, a reminder that many old (this is a very old mixture) medicines have great value and have been proven effective over the centuries.
After all, herbs and oils are also medicine, many have been used for thousands of years. I have come to be wary of the claims made for some holistic medications. I know many heal.
Maria and I both fell in love with Teresa and her husband Richard. They greeted us with hugs when we entered the gallery, we felt as if we had known them for years. They are much loved in Chimoya and their Enserado cream seems to be in every house in the town.
Frightened by my open heart surgery into following medical orders, I am grateful to Teresa Montaya, a sweet and very good witch, for opening me up. If I can be rid of my hives, I consider it a miracle,and felt obliged to pass this alone. Perhaps my new Guardian Angel is working for me. I bought it in Teresa’s gallery.
