We hope everyone is sharing a wonderful holiday with friends and family and it has brought you all closer. In our neighborhood we exchange baked goods, chile and wine with the neighbors and take time to visit. The sound of drums at Santa Clara Pueblo drifts across the river. On Christmas Eve the big bonfires were lit and at Santa Clara they danced the matachines which tells the story of driving the Moors from Spain. That may seem odd, but it is a tradition of both the Hispanic and Native people here. At Santa Clara just the drums are used. At San Juan (Ohkay Owingeh) there is a guitar and fiddles and the Malinche wears a white dress.
A few days earlier at the winter solstice, I go to see the sun come up over the canyon wall at Bandelier. On that day the morning rays strike straight down the central path of the ruins of Tyuonyi. It is a good way to start the year and a good thing that the sun halts its southward migration. Each day will now be a little longer.
