Taos and Me

Last time, I had us in Taos. We had just had supper, walked home, and then spent a cozy evening in front of the little blaze I built in the “Kiva Style” fireplace in the room.

Before I get to the following morning, maybe I ought to spend just a moment talking about my personal relationship with Taos. After all, I grew up in New Mexico, and my parents did on occasion visit the place.

About the photos: First, another wall in Taos. I love the little lantern. Second, a shop specializing in drums at the Taos Pueblo (you can see us in the mirror). This is a photo from Martha, btw, and so Copyright©2026 Martha T. Tucker. Third, Martha on the road south of Taos. This is Ojo Caliente.

My very first memories of the town are not good. I recall being taken there as a very young child--in grade school. At that time, the town seemed me, well, speaking frankly, gray, cold, and distinctly dingy. I remember walking around the town square on a cold, overcast day, when all the shops seemed to be closed, and the only person on the street other than ourselves was a somewhat drunken young man who approached my father for a light. At the time my parents did not smoke and so even that was a meaningless encounter.

I remember, too, being taken to see “D.H. Lawrence’s Forbidden Art.” These were paintings the writer did while he was living in Taos with the artist colony there. As I understand the story, he took the paintings back to London where they went on display, and were promptly seized by the police as obscene. They were returned to Lawrence with a stern warning. He was also told to get them out of England or they’d be destroyed. In time, and through the efforts of his friends, they ended up back in Taos. Last I checked, they are now at Hotel La Fonda de Taos and you can see them there if you wish.(1)

How on earth we came to see them, with me as a minor, I don’t recall. I do remember that we were in some building (it *must* have been the Hotel La Fonda. But why were we there? No memory) and my parents got to talking to a woman at a desk. We were the only people in the place, and after a moment the woman got keys out of a desk and unlocked a door. We went in and there were the paintings.

Honestly, I found them boring. Oh, they were nudes and all that, but even pre-puberty I knew they weren’t very sexy. Just looked like a bunch of flesh-colored blobs to me. I think my parents were equally unimpressed.

Okay, then I don’t recall anything about Taos for several years. It comes back into my memory in a big way when my parents decided to take up skiing. Again, I wasn’t sure why they did. I’m guessing that my father hit mid-life, and at that particular time in American cultural history, skiing was very big. It was the sport of kings...or, if not kings, then sophisticated European people. It was all in classiest and sexiest movies -- Pink Panther(2), James Bond (3), The Beatles (in “Help”), and so on. Even Audrey Hepburn’s mystery/comedy, Charade, begins with Hepburn’s character on holiday in the Alps.(4)

So, we set out to learn to ski. And, it just so happens, the Taos ski area is among the most famous and most challenging in the world. So, pretty soon, we were going there on a more or less regular basis. (5) I’ve written about my adventures at that ski area a couple of times, so I won’t go into too much detail. But I will mention that then, as a teenager, I found Taos strangely transformed. It seemed brighter, somehow, younger, and more energetic. More hip, for lack of a better word. Certainly, there seemed to be more restaurants, cafes, things to do after you got back from the slopes.

Now, fast forward a bit. I gave up skiing after I had to pay for my own lift tickets. Plus, more importantly, I went off to college. Then, I got married. Then, for the next forty years, I lived in New England. I could have returned to skiing there, but it was still expensive, and, besides, I was very busy with that little thing we all know called “Life.”

So no visits to Taos. Time passed.

Then, one summer when David was a teenager, my parents invited us down for a visit. More than a visit to them in Albuquerque, though, they wanted to take us to Taos for a visit. Far out, we said, and packed our bags and bought plane tickets and were on our way.

We didn’t know it, but we were about to fall in love...

With Taos.

More to come.

Footnotes:

1. For more on D.H. Lawrence’s erotic paintings, see the following:

*La Fonda de Taos, “D. H. Lawrence’s Forbidden Art,” https://www.lafondataos.com/activity/d-h-lawrence-forbidden-art/ accessed December 21, 2025, .

*Jessica Hall, “Forbidden Art,” Private Air Magazine, accessed December 22, 2025, https://www.private-air-mag.com/forbidden-art/

2. Which is a very sexy film, btw...even though, ironically, no one ever actually has sex in it.

3. Here’s a fun article on the topic of Bond and the slopes: https://www.gq.com/story/best-worst-james-bond-ski-scenes. However, it doesn’t cover much of his early years on powder.

4. “Charade, 1963 film,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charade_(1963_film)

5. “Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taos_Ski_Valley,_New_Mexico. For more information, see the Valley’s webpage here: https://www.skitaos.com/

The Valley is home of the famous (or maybe infamous) Al’s Run, a steep and punishing trail that is challenging to say the least. I’ve written about it before, but you can also see more about it in this article from TexasMonthly: https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/taos-ski-valley/

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About the photos: First, another wall in Taos. I love the little lantern. Second, a shop specializing in drums at the Taos Pueblo (you can see us in the mirror). This is a photo from Martha, btw, and so Copyright©2026 Martha T. Tucker. Third, Martha on the road south of Taos. This is Ojo Caliente.

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Copyright©2026 Michael Jay Tucker

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