By
Gypsy Rhapsody
(a 1977 Airstream that is a writer...just like Mr. Lawrence...kinda)
"...New Mexico was the greatest experience
...It certainly changed me forever."
D. H. Lawrence
"...New Mexico is da bomb
...It's made me love Christmas...as in red or green."
Gypsy Rhapsody
Vannie and Dave have been experiencing New Mexico
since the late '90s. I've been coming with them since
2012. Every year as we drove down Hwy. 522 toward
Taos, we passed a sign that says D. H. Lawrence Ranch.
Time and again, Vannie would say...
"This year we are going to go check out that ranch."
But every year, it never happened...
UNTIL THIS YEAR.
Vannie and Dave and their friends, Jean and Bob,
headed down Hwy. 522 on a mission...
THE D. H. LAWRENCE RANCH.
They turned left on San Cristobal Road
and stayed right at each branch. The ranch
was about 5 miles down a very curvy rocky New Mexico road.
The road dead-ended at the ranch.
This was the New Mexico home of the English novelist
D. H. Lawrence. It is located at 8,600 feet above sea level
on Lobo Mountain near San Cristobal. It was first established
in the 1880's and has had several owners. In 1920 Mabel Dodge Lujan,
a New York socialite, purchased the property. Mabel invited Lawrence
and his wife, Frieda, to visit the ranch in 1922. In 1924 Mabel gave the ranch
to Frieda in exchange for one of Lawrence's handwritten manuscripts...
Sons and Lovers.
In the front yard of the Homesteader Cabin is a
25 foot ponderosa pine known as "The Lawrence Tree".
Lawrence would sit under the tree and write in his notebooks.
He would often sit on a wooden carpenter's bench...other
times he would sit with his back against the tree's trunk.
Georgia O'Keeffe, famous artist of the 20th century,
visited the Lawrence Ranch in the late 1920's. She was
fascinated with the tree.
O'Keeffe Quote: "I had one particular painting...that tree in Lawrence's
front yard, as you see it when you lie under it on the table...with stars...
it looks as tho it is standing on its head..."
David: "Quick, Vannie, give me my notebook and pencil.
I have a vision...The tree looks like it is standing on its head."
Yeah, right.!!!!
The cabin has three rooms...this is the dining room.
The more modern kitchen was added later.
The middle room has a 6 1/2x4 foot 24-pane window.
Lawrence loved to relax and look outside at the
beautiful fields of wildflowers.
Who is that guy next to D. L.?
Oh my goodness...it's W. D.! (William David)
Vannie Quote: "Well, it's small, but it is bigger than Gypsy."
Is that a compliment?...I'm wondering.!
Trinidad Archuleta, a Native American from the Taos Pueblo,
painted this buffalo 4 years after D. H. Lawrence died. Trinidad
had lived and worked at the ranch while the Lawrence's lived there.
He helped out with ranch chores and acted as a trail guide.
This window is in a tiny cabin adjacent to the main cabin.
It was called the Brett Cabin. In 1924 Dorothy Brett from British royalty,
came with D.H. and Frieda to New Mexico to establish a utopian community
called Rananim. Dorothy helped the Lawrence's with all kinds of manual labor.
She also typed some of Lawrence's manuscripts in her little cabin.
...on this typewriter...
Vannie said this zigzag path leading to the
Lawrence Memorial was very steep. The memorial
was built by Frieda's, 3rd husband,Angelo Ravagli.
On this day Dave was the official greeter of the memorial.
He actually sprinted up that zigzag walkway
and welcomed the rest of us "breathing heavily".
\
The Phoenix perched on top is Lawrence's symbol of life and death.
The rosette window above the door helps with the lighting during the day.
Dave said that Frieda's grave is on the bottom left of this picture.
Vannie said that inside the memorial reminded
her of Shakespeare's grave in Stanford-on-Avon, England.
Maybe this is a traditional grave site for the English.
This is the alter that holds DHL's ashes.
The rosette window above the alter was painted by Dorothy Brett.
Back down the zigzag walkway...
...and down the 5 miles of Lawrence Ranch Road...
...turning left at all the branches...
....on San Cristobal Road...
...turning right on Hwy. 522...
...back to the real world...
So...the moral of this story is...
when you are driving down Hwy. 522 between Questa and Taos,
don't drive by that sign that is pointing the way to the D. H. Lawrence Ranch...
saying that you will visit it later...do it now...it's well worth the adventure.
FYI...D. H. Lawrence wrote Lady Chatterley's Lover...
just sayin'...
