Home Care In Santa Fe, NM

SANTA FE, N.M. —

Whether you call it luminaria or farolito, glowing paper bags are recognized all over the state.

However the brown paper bag is not waterproof, so FS2 Supply Company came up with their version.

“They are made of a composite wood and so they are a little more sturdy. You can leave them out year-round, they are never going to crumple or fall apart,” FS2 Supply Co. local artist Anna Martinez said.

This year the farolito has a twist Zozobra is engraved on the front.

Burning of Zozobra: View the latest headlines and previous burnings of Zozobra

This ahead of the celebration 100 years in the making kicking off the Zozobra Centennial Gala on April 6th.

The annual Santa Fe tradition is close to Eric Griego the owner of FS2 Supply Company.

“I'm the head of the arm crew. My boys and another close family of ours actually built the arms for Zozobra,” Griego said.

Griego and the Kiwanis Club worked together to create this commemorative farolito for the Zozobra centennial gala.

“The inside is illuminated and Zozobra every year goes up in flames,” Griego said.

Keeping with the tradition of dispelling gloom, the process of making one of these takes time. First, multiple designs are cut by laser.

“It's a really precise cut front and back. The cool thing is we end up with a little Zozobra from the center of the piece,” Martinez said.

Then the pieces take shape. After dozens are cut, they come together much like a jigsaw puzzle completing the farolito.

When illuminated, it gives the sense that Zozobra is on fire

“It's such a unique piece of the celebration that they haven't had before,” Martinez said.

With the process, nothing is wasted, and the cutout becomes a Christmas ornament.

Bringing together what it means to be a New Mexican.

“Our tagline is literally to be the culture and so the tradition of Zozobra and Zozobra being a part of our culture is really fitting,” Griego said.

Reminding Nuevo Mexicanos of the excitement that comes every fall.

“The crowd gets so riled up in it, and everybody is chanting ‘Burn him! "Burn him!’" Griego said. “It's a great, exciting event to attend, but there's a greater meaning behind it.”

Griego is reminded of the importance of this century-old tradition.

"Spending time with my boys and teaching them how participating in community service is important," Griego said.

There are still tickets available for the Centennial Gala, all proceeds will support youth programs in our state.

If you can't make it, you can still get your hands on a farolito the clubs is selling them in the Zozobra store starting May 1st.

KOAT is the only place to watch the 100th burning of Zozobra live on August 30th 2024.

Mar. 20—Santa Fe County's 4,100-plus water customers should rest assured: The county can provide the water they need "through 2040 and beyond."

At least, that's the picture Utilities Director Paul Choman recently presented to the County Commission.

"In summary, I'd just like to comfort everybody by stating this, emphatically," he said: "The county water utility has sufficient water rights and capacity to meet current demand and will have sufficient capacity to meet projected demand through 2040 and beyond, provided that it continues to make prudent and necessary investments in water rights, infrastructure and other projects."

In other words, the county should more regularly buy water rights and keep tabs on county, city and federal infrastructure projects to bolster its water supply, Choman said.

He assumed the role of county utilities director in July following former Director John Dupuis' departure to the city of Santa Fe.

In a recent estimation of county water supply, he projected the county could buy 680 acre-feet of additional annual water rights by 2040, or about a 29% increase in its existing water rights.

The County Commission headed down that path at its March 12 meeting, unanimously approving a $1.6 million purchase of about 44.8 acre-feet per year of water rights from developer Suerte del Sur.

The cost includes an $80,600 commission to broker Bogle Realty and comes to $36,000 per acre-foot, or about 326,000 gallons.

Santa Fe County last bought water rights about three years ago for nearly half that price — about $19,000 per acre-foot — but the price of water has increased many-fold over the past few decades and will probably continue to increase as demand rises, the county's contract water attorney, John Utton, told commissioners.

"The city is going away from acquiring water rights," Utton said. "They're getting very difficult and expensive."

County spokeswoman Olivia Romo declined to allow a reporter to interview Utton for this story.

Choman called $36,000 per acre-foot a "very fair market price" for Rio Grande water rights dating before 1907, when New Mexico's Territorial Legislature passed laws that set the groundwork for the state's water regulations today. Pre-1907 rights hold seniority over more recently acquired rights if there's not enough water to go around.

A series of droughts — which resulted in a "critical and immediate need for water," according to a county water management plan from 2009 — in part spurred the city and county of Santa Fe to boost their water supplies over the past 20 years.

The county's water, like the city's, now primarily comes from surface flows diverted from the Rio Grande by the Buckman Direct Diversion. That water is pumped uphill 11 miles to the Buckman water treatment plant west of Santa Fe.

The diverted water includes both "native" Rio Grande water and San Juan-Chama Project water delivered to the Rio Grande via the Rio Chama from the San Juan River in southern Colorado through a series of tunnels and diversions.

Before the city and county collaborated to design and build the Buckman Direct Diversion, which came online in 2011, the city supplied the county with water, and "much of that was groundwater," Romo wrote in email.

The diversion has since allowed the overused regional aquifer to recover.

Under a mutually beneficial "shared pool" agreement, the city and county can essentially freely trade each other's native and San Juan-Chama water flowing through the Buckman Direct Diversion.

Under another agreement, the county can also buy a chunk of water from the city each year, 1,350 acre-feet, but has considered that a "backup supply" because it is expensive, Choman wrote in a memo to commissioners.

In total, including the "backup supply," the county and developers have rights to about 4,055 acre-feet per year for county use, not including the recently authorized purchase, Choman noted.

Meanwhile, demand from county customers in 2023, at 1,513 acre-feet, sat at roughly one-third of the county's supply.

On paper, the county has committed to provide customers 96% or 97% of its total supply, or 3,927 acre-feet per year. However, that does not reflect what the county must deliver because it includes requests from developers for projects that may never materialize, Choman said.

He projected the county should have a healthy excess supply of water even if demand from county customers increases 7% per year through 2040, a "very aggressive" estimate or "worst-case scenario," he said, that puts estimated demand at 4,822 acre-feet per year in 2040.

That's in part because the construction of the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System, serving communities on a stretch from Española to Santa Fe, could substantially increase the county's water supply, Choman said.

The water system is a result of decades of water-rights litigation, known as Aamodt, and will supply up to 4,000 acre-feet per year from the Rio Grande to the Nambé, Tesuque, San Ildefonso and Pojoaque pueblos and other county customers in the Pojoaque Valley.

The county may also be able to bolster water supplies by enhancing reuse: Many utilities are looking into reuse "trying to get two times or more out of their water rights," Utton told commissioners.

In Santa Fe County, that would require expanding a treatment plant south of the city, near the Penitentiary of New Mexico. It opened in 2022 and can treat up to 500,000 gallons of water per day, Romo wrote in an email.

Water now treated by the plant is "just below" potable, Choman said.

A wastewater treatment master plan, which will include designs for an addition to the plant to ensure treated water is potable, will finish later this year, he said.

The city of Santa Fe's proposed San Juan-Chama return flow project also would benefit the county utility.

The project would construct a 17-mile pipeline to send effluent from the city's wastewater treatment plant to the Rio Grande. Santa Fe County would be entitled to 7% of the water reclaimed, Choman wrote.

The pipeline has sparked some controversy, not only because it would reduce flows in the lower Santa Fe River, which now receives effluent, but also because critics say the city's aging wastewater plant would need substantial upgrades to prevent tainted water from entering the Rio Grande.

Over the next 12 months, the county utility division will develop a 40-year water plan and, in conjunction with the city, a water resource plan extending to 2100, Choman said.

Those plans will address broader concerns about how the area — and private well owners — would fare in an unexpected event such as a severe drought, he said.

A six-day educational course led by Dr. Sanjeev Arora (The University of New Mexico), Dr. Sanjiv Chopra, Dr. Martin Abrahamson and Dr. Mark Zeidel (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, affiliate of Harvard Medical School).

Join Us

La Fonda on the Plaza (Santa Fe, NM)

NOW Offering: Maintenance of Certification points for the American Board of Internal Medicine

Register Now or Contact Us

This course aims to provide a comprehensive review of the most important advances in internal medicine.

It is directed at the level of the internist and family practitioner, and will also be useful for residents. The emphasis will be placed on progress that has been made in pathophysiology and clinical management in the most common disorders seen by the internist and family practitioner.

Each of the major subspecialties will be covered including cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology, infectious disease, nephrology, women’s health, oncology, pulmonary disease, obesity and nutrition, and rheumatology.

Special Symposia:

Keynote and Special Lectures:

Much of the material will be presented in lecture format by the best teachers and clinicians from two major medical centers. In addition, each specialty will have a case-based session using an interactive wireless Audience Response System that will be present on your desk. This system will allow you (anonymously) to test your knowledge in the different areas of medicine.

Registration Fees

Registration includes: academic sessions, daily continental breakfast and refreshment breaks, and access to the course syllabus online.

Early Bird Registration: (For participants who register on or before Sept. 22, postmarked if mailing)

Regular Registration: (after Sept. 22)

Register Online

Alternate Ways to Register: Until Oct. 12, we accept credit card payments (Visa/Mastercard) by phone (505-272-6554) or fax (505-272-6906).

Pre-registration will be confirmed; confirm your registration prior to making travel arrangements as minimum and maximum numbers have been established for this course.

Cancellation Policy: The Office of Continuing Education will refund tuition, minus a $100 administrative fee, if you cancel, in writing, before Sept. 29. No refunds will be issued after Sept. 29.

Contact Us: With questions, email us.

Conference Hotel: La Fonda on the Plaza

Reservation Cut-Off: Sept. 25, 2023

Traditional Room Rate: $259 (single/double); limited standard rooms are available for $249

Reserve Your Hotel Room Online

Alternate Method of Reservation: By phone 800-523-5002, option# 1; group code: 985913

All wine and beverage directors, at least those with a modicum of ambition and passion for the job, wish they had permission to line their cellars and bars with the best of the best. So, when a hotel owner shares that level of enthusiasm for fermented and distilled liquids, great things happen. Such is the case at the Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi located just off the historic main plaza in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico.

For context, Santa Fe is a drinking town. There’s a tourism board branded margarita trail. Several craft beer and cocktail bars. A tasting room for New Mexican winery Gruet, America’s answer to affordable delicious traditional method sparkling wine. It’s not a small feat to be considered one of the best spots for sipping libations in the state. What adds an element of singularity to the Anasazi Bar and Lounge, however, is the city itself, which harbors strong ties to its Mexican heritage, notably Oaxaca and Jalisco. The hotel has inherited this same dedication to elevating that connection, and for spirits enthusiasts, that means tequila and mezcal. For wine lovers, the ownership’s penchant for fine and rare wines led to a dedicated wine room and serious cellar, all of which shows up on the wine list in the dining room.

According to a spokesperson for the hotel, the dedication to investing in fine wine and liquor began five years ago, with decisions on what to buy made with the food and beverage team in collaboration with suppliers. Because of limited access to certain quantities of wines and spirits, they endeavored into partnerships with trusted vendors to acquire allocated bottles. The results paid off with labels such as Kistler, Dominus Estate, Opus One, Chateau Palmer, Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Petrus, and Cheval Blanc gracing the menu.

One of the most expensive wines on the list is a Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru Coche Dury 2015 for a whopping $10,500. Fortunately, wine lovers on a budget can mine the superb “end of bin” list with Spottswoode, Cuvaison, and Kosta Browne offered at extremely attractive prices.

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At the same time the wine program began in earnest, the Anasazi team started expanding its tequila program into what it is today—Santa Fe’s only tequila table. After seeing the success of the tequila tasting experiences offered to guests, the property added mezcal to its menus and tastings.

Today, the bar offers a robust menu of tequila and mezcal flights. Themes range from Anejos Favoritos (aged favorites), Celebridades (celebrity bottlings), to Lo Mejor de Lo Mejor (the best of the best.) For those keen to explore mezcal specifically, the Only Oaxaca flight provides an excellent overview of the varieties of agave used in its production as well as a chance to compare how they differ in taste, much like comparing varieties of wine grapes. The property also has several bottles of the vaunted brand Clase Azul, first lauded for its tequila, now crafting some of the most exquisite mezcals in the country, though the beauty of mezcal is its diverse, small-production, hand-crafted nature, which perfectly echoes the vibe of Santa Fe.

Guests with a preference for brown spirits will soon have their wishes met with the introduction of a bourbon tasting experience. The team has spent the past 12 months purchasing top-quality and rare bourbons and will soon launch this curated collection with guests. Currently, one experience is available to book on the website: a review of American whiskey including bourbon and rye.

Of course, don’t let the bar stop you from exploring the deeper recesses of the hotel. Consistently ranked as the city’s top property, the best way to enjoy its wealth of characterful spaces replete with aromatic wood-burning fireplaces, is to book a room. Occupying a classical revival pueblo building, guest rooms flow through the building with the contours of the softly curved exterior.

Each room features traditional adobe architecture of the American Southwest, including pine beam viga ceilings, kiva-style gas fireplace, antique Navajo rugs, local pueblo pottery, colorful handwoven textiles, and organic toiletries. Humidifiers help with the excessively dry air, especially in winter. Larger, deluxe rooms have balconies and patios. While the rooms are cozy – literally, they’re 350-550 SF, with the largest Anasazi Suite running 1010 SF—you’re in Santa Fe to experience the city or at least the hotel’s atmospheric common spaces, a sun-dappled library and living room. Just around the corner sits the Plaza and Palace of the Governors, where Native American artisans sell their handmade jewelry and crafts each day.

The hotel lacks a spa and likely does not have the footprint to incorporate one in the future. However, Santa Fe has several fantastic options, including the Japanese-inspired Ten Thousand Waves. Guests insistent on pampering in the property can arrange in-room massages and aromatherapy, or use the small but well-equipped gym. Perhaps the best part of being a guest, however, is the silver coin margarita tokens received at check-in. These coins can be redeemed at the bar for a complimentary margarita – which is exactly where you’ll find the rest of the guests.

Wine bars. Markets. Contemporary art. Underneath the adobe, Santa Fe has a new pulse.

SANTA FE, N.M. — La Mama, a natural wine bar and restaurant set in a 1910s craftsman bungalow, doesn’t feel like it belongs here. Unlike most of the city’s adobe-clad hangouts, the space is spare and whitewashed. Margaritas and chiles are nowhere to be found on the menu.

“How does this city look the same but feel so different?” said a young woman to her friend as they sat beside me sharing a bottle of piquette. “It seems more lived-in than it did before.”

It’s true. In the past few years, there has been a sea change beneath the city’s sun-baked exterior, which appears stuck in time because of strict building ordinances that prioritize rehabilitation over new construction.

Because of this facade, a downtown that primarily caters to visitors and local haunts scattered around its periphery, it can sometimes be hard to shake the feeling that you live in a “destination.” That and the fact that the mountain town of about 85,000 people has always punched above its weight, attracting some 2 million visitors a year.

But new developments have decentralized Santa Fe, drawing focus away from its Spanish colonial plaza and its posh, gallery-lined Canyon Road. The rise of the Railyard district has created an alternate epicenter, and new spots there and elsewhere have redefined the food and drinks scene. The latest hotel stays, full of Southwestern charm, still nod to what has long made Santa Fe a popular place to relax.

Here are just a few reasons to visit — or return to — the artsy city.

In 1880, a train pulled into the city for the first time, connecting it to the rest of the country. For decades, the area around the depot boomed with development, before gradually falling behind other interests. In the early aughts, Santa Fe sought to revitalize the area and turn it into a commercial center, and 20 years later, the Railyard district has finally come into its own.

“It’s become both a place for community and an incredible destination for visitors seeking culture,” says Louis Grachos, director of Site Santa Fe, one of the Railyard’s first arts institutions.

Since the late ’90s, the area has hosted the city’s famed markets — spotlighting farmers, eclectic artists and artisans — and has long seemed on the cusp of becoming a rare hub for residents.

But it’s only in the past few years that the micro-neighborhood has filled out. Its new and repurposed spaces house design stores, galleries and restaurants. There’s also the Sky Railway, a refurbished diesel locomotive created by Game of Thronesauthor and Santa Fe resident George R.R. Martin that takes visitors on a scenic ride toward the old Western town of Lamy.

A day at the Railyard could also include an afternoon of gallery hopping, followed by a stop at the new distillery As Above So Below. Predinner cocktails there incorporate local botanicals such as juniper and pinyon.

“It’s like you’re tasting New Mexico,” says Virgil Ortiz, an artist from Cochiti Pueblo who unwinds at the industrial space between work on an ongoing series about the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Part of that project is on display at House of Eternal Return, a wonderland of immersive, fun-house-like exhibits run by the arts collective Meow Wolf.

Once you’ve whetted your appetite, you can have dinner, catch a band and order one of the 60 New Mexican beers on tap at Nuckolls Brewing, a long-awaited gathering place that opened in July. Originally a 1920s-era meatpacking facility, the building has been renovated with clever, historical nods at every turn, such as railroad tracks repurposed as fencing and floors made of wood salvaged from a nearby wildfire.

Outside, on its expansive beer garden, are outposts of longtime local haunts Jambo Cafe, with its homestyle African-fusion dishes, and a pizza truck by El Farol, one of the oldest restaurants in Santa Fe.

The city has no shortage of cultural draws, and beyond its more than 250 galleries are contemporary institutions such as the Institute of American Indian Arts’ downtown outpost and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. But the fact that most reside in traditional adobe buildings has meant hosting collections suited to limited spaces.

When the New Mexico Museum of Art began outgrowing its early-20th-century building in the Plaza, the idea of Vladem Contemporary took root. The annex space, which opened in September, is dedicated to large-scale, performance and multimedia works that have been created after 1980.

The inaugural exhibition focuses on pieces inspired by New Mexico’s pervasive sunlight: a room-scale shadow-play work by Nancy Holt, another chapter of Ortiz’s “Revolt 1680/2180” series.

But you don’t have to step inside to experience it. An LED installation by Albuquerque artist Leo Villareal is displayed on the breezeway connecting the museum to the train depot, and window boxes along the building’s exterior showcase the works of emerging artists.

Santa Fe’s thriving happy-hour scene goes beyond the Railyard — if you know where to look.

The beloved Albuquerque hotel Los Poblanos has launched an outpost of its farm shop near the plaza, in a 1930s-era gas station that for decades housed various banks. Bar Norte is a favorite of Amy Denet Deal, a Diné designer whose new Canyon Road boutique, 4Kinship, is the first Native-owned clothing store in the city. The intimate tasting room showcases the hotel’s recent turn to distilling gin, using botanicals its farm and products are known for: lavender, pinyon resin, rose, violet, hawthorn and chamomile.

Another Albuquerque import, Vara Vinoteca, has just as much New Mexican heritage. One of its winemakers, Laurent Gruet, is part of the family who owns the renowned Gruet Winery. Set within an adobe building off the plaza, the spare space carries Vara’s beloved sparkling wines, house-distilled spirits and a menu of tapas. (Order the Silverhead Brut, sweet vermouth and fried artichokes.)

The hotel scene has gotten an upgrade, too. The buzziest opening has been Bishop’s Lodge (from $899), a property that has had many iterations, including as the home of Santa Fe’s first archbishop (the chapel he built still stands), a boarding school and a residence of the Pulitzer family.

With 317 acres bordering Santa Fe National Forest, the hotel feels a world apart from town, despite being only five minutes away. It also leans heavy on New Mexican motifs, with a healing-arts studio, an Orvis-run fly-fishing shop that provides complimentary casting sessions at an on-site pond, and an updated Southwestern look.

A trip to the high desert isn’t complete without a soak in a natural hot spring. For the resort route, my favorite is Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa (from $209).

An hour north of town, the hotel’s nine mineral-spring pools sit in the shadow of sunset-hued cliffs and attract just as many locals as visitors. And its 65 rooms, including vintage trailers and lavish suites that come with private pools, offer options at every price point.

Erin Vivid Riley is a writer and editor based in Santa Fe.