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……

Many horses of East Glacier Montana

This blog entry has more to do with one person named Many horses or Mouse to his friends then anything else. It was a day that Erin and I happened upon a decision to go horseback riding at Glacier National Park.



Mouse’s roots are here in East Glacier but his story began over a hundred years ago when his father a native Texan rancher moved his cattle into Montana and leased land from the Native American Indians which mouse’s family still lives on today. He is related to Lewis and Clark and two past presidents of the United States. Although his lease to his lands expired 4 years ago he has no intentions of leaving today nor does the Indian nation intend on giving him another lease. The story of Mouse comes from a chance meeting of a chef named Jonny B who I had met in Livingston Montana a few weeks earlier. He persuaded Erin and I to visit East Glacier National Park we had other plans but as fate has directed me in the past it has directed us where we were going now.



Our detour was just another day our chance meeting was not: Mouse an ex bronco riding champion, cattle rustler, horse thief and from what I had heard a real wild child. At 81 his smile and his stories are as real as the champion belt buckle that keeps his pants up, or the scares on his fingers and the calluses on his hands. His knowledge is un-matched and his sparkle in his eyes still glistens with a threat that he could hurt you. We spoke to him for over an hour we learned much from him and then we booked out ride.



Erin and I ran back to the motel changed and then quickly headed back to meet our guide. We were greeted by Mouse’s son in law who also was a bronco champion, horse trainer and guide, Tony informed us that Mouse would be taking us out into Glacier National Park and through and over the reservation for our tour. Nice I respond and then Tony mentions to us that Mouse never takes out tours or people he rarely spends more then 2 minutes with clients, he barely rides so here we are honored by his presence in awe of what has transpired prior and about to be blown away by more of his stories and sites to come. For the next few hours time stopped and we were in Mouse hands and on his prized horses.