The White Place

Although I have been a Georgia O’Keeffe fan for a number of years, and have visited her museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I never really thought about where she painted those paintings known as “The White Place”.  A couple of years ago, when we visited the national recreation area near Abiquiu, New Mexico, we toured her home in Abiquiu (different from where she lived on The Ghost Ranch).  From her home there, The White Place was pointed out to us.  I was instantly curious, and we got directions to it.

The rock formations known as The White Place – or Plaza Blanca in Spanish – are located on grounds of the Dar Al Islam mosque and Islamic education center.  They generously welcome visitors without any admission fee and without prior arrangements.  It is, however, closed on weekends.  We turned on a dirt road with the Dar Al Islam sign on the gate and followed it until we came to a fork in the road.  Off to the left is their facility, but off to the right is a parking lot (and a little way down) for The White Place.

As we approached what could loosely be called the “entry” to the canyon, I couldn’t help but think of this quote by Georgia O’Keeffe.  I feel like I know what she meant – I love to share what I love about New Mexico with people, too, but I wouldn’t want too many people to move here, as part of what I love are the open spaces!

Before we walked down the canyon, Jeff thought it might be neat to walk around the outside of the canyon.  And, what should we see?  The moon setting alongside the spires – what a pretty view!

After a bit of a walk around the outside, we did start walking down the canyon.  What pretty views we saw!  If I had been alone, I might have felt some of the spiritual feelings I’ve read about – however, with Max running around all over, feeling spiritual just wasn’t in the cards!!

When I saw this formation, I was reminded of one of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings.  I am certainly not comparing my work with hers – I just wanted to show the similarities in the view.  I think she had a slightly different position, perspective and interpretation!

I never expected to feel like I was walking through a garden when I entered the canyon, but there was an amazing amount of green in the midst of a desert canyon.  I’m thinking that when it does rain, the water runs down the canyon wall and this is the result!

This was the last of my walk through The White Place.  Due to the outside walk, I ran out of energy and stopped at this point.  You can clearly see the path and the promise of more amazing sights.  We plan to visit again next year, and I’m planning to make it to the end of the canyon then!!

Enjoy!!