Jan27

Oh Taos!

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Recently I asked my Patreon patrons what sort of content they wanted in their monthly email update. One of them responded, “What’s the deal with Taos, it’s freakin weird…”

I can only speak from my own experiences in Taos during the last almost-a-decade during which I’ve been in and out of the area, learning about the place. Why is Taos so freakin’ weird? I have my ideas.

The first thing you need to know is that Taos is both a town and a county. The town of Taos is (perhaps not surprisingly) the county seat of Taos County. The town of Taos has a population just under 5,700 folks while Taos County boasts a whopping 32,795 people.

When I talk about “Taos,” I’m usually speaking about the whole county, including the rural areas surrounding the small town in the mountains of Northern New Mexico with a mean elevation of 8,510 feet [2,590 m] (according to Wikipedia). For example, if someone mentions skiing “in Taos,” that person is not talking about skiing in the town of Taos. There is no skiing in the town of Taos. Skiing “in Taos” really means skiing in the Taos Ski Valley, a village in Taos County about 19 miles northeast of the town of Taos.

Part of what makes Taos weird (or at least interesting) is the mix of people who live there…

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About Blaize Sun

My name is Blaize Sun. Maybe that's the name my family gave me; maybe it's not. In any case, that's the name I'm using here and now. I've been a rubber tramp for nearly a decade.I like to see places I've never seen before, and I like to visit the places I love again and again. For most of my years on the road, my primary residence was my van. For almost half of the time I was a van dweller, I was going it alone. Now I have a little travel trailer parked in a small RV park in a small desert town. I also have a minivan to travel in. When it gets too hot for me in my desert, I get in my minivan and move up in elevation to find cooler temperatures or I house sit in town in a place with air conditioning I was a work camper in a remote National Forest recreation area on a mountain for four seasons. I was a camp host and parking lot attendant for two seasons and wrote a book about my experiences called Confessions of a Work Camper: Tales from the Woods. During the last two seasons as a work camper on that mountain, I was a clerk in a campground store. I'm also a house and pet sitter, and I pick up odd jobs when I can. I'm primarily a writer, but I also create beautiful little collages; hand make hemp jewelry and warm, colorful winter hats; and use my creative and artistic skills to decorate my life and brighten the lives of others. My goal (for my writing and my life) is to be real. I don't like fake, and I don't want to share fake. I want to share my authentic thoughts and feelings. I want to give others space and permission to share their authentic selves. Sometimes I think the best way to support others is to leave them alone and allow them to be. I am more than just a rubber tramp artist. I'm fat. I'm funny. I'm flawed. I try to be kind. I'm often grouchy. I am awed by the stars in the dark desert night. I hope my writing moves people. If my writing makes someone laugh or cry or feel angry or happy or troubled or comforted, I have done my job. If my writing makes someone think and question and try a little harder, I've done my job. If my writing opens a door for someone, changes a life, I have done my job well. I hope you enjoy my blog posts, my word and pictures, the work I've done to express myself in a way others will understand. I hope you appreciate the time and energy I put into each post. I hope you will click the like button each time you like what you have read. I hope you will share posts with the people in your life. I hope you'll leave a comment and share your authentic self with me and this blog's other readers. Thank you for reading.  A writer without readers is very sad indeed.

I'd love to know what you think. Please leave a comment.