I am lost and I am alone! But I have found something.... Something at a place called Santuario De Chimayo! Like no other!

I am lost and I am alone! But I have found something.... Something.....



I’ve met all types of people; farmers, cops, bankers, CFO’s, day laborers, bartenders, truck drivers, a few celeb’s, hunters, the unemployed, the old, the young, the retired, etc. Work has blessed me with nights under a canopy of stars, the luxury of staying at five-star resorts, or enjoying the most amazing experiences with new acquaintances.

And then I arrive ,I am lost, I am alone , and I am at a place called Santuario De Chimayo It is just outside Santa Fe which should have been a 20 minute ride from where I was in New Mexico… But on this day after driving for around for 7 hours searching for this magical place I was flustered I was thirsty I was annoyed..

I was had just about giving up on finding this town this church this place that sits on the Chimayo Indian reservation. I was on the phone complaining to my friend about my day and then the road I am on just ended. Nailed to a tree starring at me was a heart painted sigh! Next to that sign were arrows pointing north and south, leaving me with 3 choices: turn around, make a right or make a left… I went left and drove for 15 minutes attempting to find I25…….

The sign, the dirt road, the arches and now I had come to a halt in a empty driveway. I have arrived. Nearly 8 hours after I had begun this journey with the morning sun glaring at me to now watching the sun retreat for the night!

I first felt this “”change”” when I exited the car. My breathing had slowed down but my pulse raced as I took the first steps in the dirt. I felt the chill of the afternoon air on my neck, my eyes start wandering and I am stopped dead in my tracks by a horse with a blue eye….




Entranced by him as he was by me a couple of moments passed and I have a feeling of floating on a level that I have never experienced before anywhere in the world. I am transfixed I am completely out of my body out of my mind out of everything I was taught, everything I believe in.

Here at Santuario De Chimayo the wind speaks, the animals speak, the ground you walk on speaks, I am seeing hues of color, I am talking with out words. Something has gotten a hold of me. I walk through the old stone gates and walking in sync with me was a horse that is behind a fence walking along the fence with me. Instead of my shadow I have this horse. Above many hawks circled around criss-crossing each other flight paths and I noticed that I had stop walking and was looking up at them as turning slightly the horse had stopped to. I take a few steps forward the horse takes a few steps forward. I take a few steps backward and the horse takes a few steps backward. There are a few people in the distance that I noticed watching me watching the horse watching the hawks watching me. I as survey the town, the church, I feel as I am not me . I am someone else. I am here for something, I am in deep thought and I speak up and direct my voice towards the family starring at me from 50 yards away. Do you see this I say? Do you hear me? Is this horse following me some answer me… from another direction a voice who’s pitch is high this child voice is almost like a whisper in my ear he says I acknowledged it I saw the change begin once you left your car. I close my eyes I take a deep breathe and I reopen my eyes and the kid is now walking off heading west up a dirt trail that leads to town.



I also see that while he is walking away the sun is at the most perfect height and it following him through 2 arches that separate the church grounds and the town. Words simply can’t justify this experience: images cant capture this and here I sit months after this and my hair on my neck my arms stand at attention as I try to explain it……

Signs that shaped my present

“To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed.” ~Bernard Edmonds


This post is about all the signs that have come my way, whether by accident or by curiosity which drove me to that destined place. Years have past since I have found myself starring at and capturing signs, clouds, roads, trees, graffiti, license plates while on or off assignment. Today after going trough the many images that I have shot over the past 3-4 months while out on the road. From crossing tanks signs, humps signs, warning signs, trespassing signs, animal signs, welcome signs, vacant signs you get the idea there are so many signs that have crossed my site. Over the course of the 6 months signs that have been written in many languages including Spanish, Dutch, English, French, Chinese and also Native American.. Today lessons for me are simply: to stop, to read to listen and to learn from…




For instance flash flood signs which are common through out the Southwest and the west go hand in hand with rattlesnake signs or bridge freezes before road signs. All these signs have lead me back to NYC where after a year of thinking about her or it or them or how I was not paying attention to the signs. Today those signs brought me home to NYC, those signs made me realize that I was viewing without seeing, driving with out a destination, swallowing but not chewing, breathing but not living.. Out and about so many ideas came into my head while many new friends made random appearances, old friends become lovers and my new chapter has been forged.



Today I show you signs, signs that changed my path, signs that prevented me from going further, signs that made me work harder and drive further, signs that still have more meaning that the words written on them. Simply put. Signs are there for each of us: to protect us, to prepare us and to warns us it allows us to see and understand that we all have to find our way home. I am on such a journey and the signs are all there by way of man, women or by way of an animal, in either case I am now plugged in and can see, and I can finally say I hear…

June NYC 2009