I’m at a ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico with a group of 7 other women on an art retreat.

For me – That is one truly wierd sentence. For starters – I can’t remember ever being with a group of only women before in my life. I’ve been just 2 or 3 with just women – when my sisters and I travel together without our sig others – and when I travel with the Intrepid Traveler – but 8 women. Just Women. First time.

Point 2 – It’s a ‘Art Retreat’. I knew I wanted to do a yoga retreat, and I’ve definitely done Bridge regionals and nationals – which I suppose are rather ‘retreat like’ in that you focus on one activity – but Art. Really? Nothing but Art? I mean – I love doing Art – but just Art… maybe that’s why I’m blogging – a retreat from an Art Retreat.

Am I over thinking this?

Yesterday was my travel day. I woke at 3:00 AM in a hotel near the Toronto Airport having eaten a lovely dinner the night before with my husband. We said our good-byes before bed – knowing that I had to be at the airport so very early it wasn’t a good plan to wake him up.

So – I’m up, I didn’t do my Yoga – hard to do that without disturbing my husband, and got dressed in the dark. I had mostly prepared the night before – so it went quickly – and I’m pretty sure I didn’t forget anything.

The trip to the airport in the shuttle was painless – but surprisingly crowded. Lots of airline crew starting their days – and a few other travellers. My fellow voyagers are clearly Japanese heading home. Neatly dressed, with their suitcases carefully over-wrapped in flashy cover-ups to make them easy to spot on the carrousels. Organized travellers. In comparison I feel like a flake – a very senior hippy heading out to see the world.

My ‘Safari bag’ suitcase is a hold-over from our first trip to Africa. Soft sided, but with wheels, it’s easy to over fill, and has no structure. So I’ve put in all my paints and art supplies – including the 10 canvases I’m hoping will be filled with art on my way back home. Right now they are white and unprepared – Full of potential – but very empty.

The airports were airports – large, packed with people with very specific destinations – and busy. The trip itself, while long, was uneventful. Not Adventure travel, unless you count arriving at my connecting flight just as they called my group # to board! I think that’s just great timing. I will admit I wondered if my big suitcase packed with the art supplies would make the connection – just 50 minutes, and Dallas is a huge airport – but yup – it was safely riding around in Baggage Claim in Albuquerque.

Getting the rental car was super easy. There are clear signs to ‘Rental Cars’ near Baggage Claim – and they have just one bus that takes all folks picking up Rental Cars to an off the airport Rental Car Building. Go right for one group of agencies, go left for the other. Hard to get lost – easy to find your agency!

Got my car – a small SUV – that to my eyes looks like a huge truck. And drives like one too! The agent proudly explained that it was a 2024 model – one of the newest they had on the lot. Hmmm.

I’ll grant you it was huge – although when Char (76) and Carol (58) and I put all out luggage in – we had to use the 4th seat for extra storage. I think the issue is all the art supplies. We all were told to come prepare to paint not shop – and it’s hard to judge what you’ll need. Just picking the colors is a challenge – what works in Montreal might not be appealing to paint with in Santa Fe. The light is different, the air is different – and I think the colors will be very different. We shall see.

We meet up with Carrie (1/4 Cherokee and 79) and Dee (my age, 4’11” and super nice) – and agree to follow them as we head out to the Turquoise Road – a scenic bypass between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Painless trip – broken up by stopping for lunch at a decrepit looking old Coal Mining town that has been turned into a terribly cutesy Western themed Art community.

We all agree that the wide-open spaces around us are both lovely, and conducive to folks doing big sculpture. We pass several ‘art studios’ that feature old car frames that have been repurposed into ‘art’. Some painted, some left to continue rusting. There’s even an Origami Garden with the largest Metal Origami structures I’ve ever seen. They tower over the landscape looking like huge folding paper Birds and Horses. Unfortunately – it’s closed, and we can only peak in from the entrance.

We chat over lunch – I learn that Carol is Gluten Free – and suffers badly if she even eats the tiniest bit of Gluten, and Dee has a dairy free diet that it turns out to include all Cheese made with goat, sheep or cow milk. Well – I knew that – but the folks at the ranch did not – and they had carefully added cheese to both the salad and the ‘Gratin’ dish at dinner time. I know – dealing with ‘food issues’ isn’t fun – but hey, at least we are all getting better at saying ‘No’ – rather then eating and suffering, or not eating and just pushing the food around the plate to make it look like we ate.

The Ranch is a 10 acre field with a large low adobe building forming the main ranch house, and a heavily renovated ‘barn’ acting as the home of the hosts. We have the entire run of the place – all rooms are huge – all the furniture is huge and well worn – and there are tons of ‘spaces’ where folks can gather or be alone. I like it.

My room is a small suite. Huge bedroom with lots of storage spots but not much furniture and a mini-kitchen/desk area. Bathroom too. I have windows on 2 sides – one with a lovely view of the sunrise – that I admired greatly while writing this post, and one leading to a ‘private’ porch with a hammock I shall never use.

After getting our gear into our rooms – I help move the suitcases of several of the other guests – who thought that at 76 I’d be the strongest… (Thank you Mona) – then we gather for a quick chat and orientation.

We play a name game – which clearly didn’t help me because I’ve forgotten names already – but I’m going to write them down over breakfast so I get them right in the blog.

We spend time introducing our selves, and describing where we are ‘art’ wise. Outside of Tabatha (58) – our leader – Cat (68) and Xan (54 and the youngest) are the only ones actually making a living from doing ‘art’. Char explains that she is a newbie – but learning constantly, Xan is a friend of Tabatha – and has been doing art for a long time – although I don’t think she makes a living painting – it’s creating jewelry that she sells on line that provides some income.

Some of the women are married – although for all of us – while our husbands support our desire to do ‘art’ – they didn’t come on the retreat. Most of the women are single and unattached. Two never had kids, One has only one daughter who at 24 is still living at home and has health issues.

After dinner there is more chatting until I excuse myself. I’m way past my expiry date… I need to wind down, straighten my room and go to bed.

Signing off to do Yoga – eat Breakfast – record names – and start painting…

The Soup Lady