A town built on dirt

You may be saying to yourself, "What a stupid blog post title!  All towns are built on dirt."  Very astute.  Bear with me, though, and you'll see what I'm getting at.

After visiting Taos, NM for a couple wonderful days, we headed south to Santa Fe, via the "High Road," which is a tremendously scenic drive.  On our way, we were treated to some incredible views as we passed through several small villages.

One of these villages is Chimayo.  Based on our cursory examination of the town, Chimayo is mostly famous for two things.

Numero uno: amazing chile peppers, which (according to what I've seen online...and on my plate at a restaurant in Chimayo), are particularly delicious, thanks to the soil (aka dirt) and climate of Chimayo.  Preparing and eating them is an almost religious experience among the locals, it seems, and the peppers appear to provide a major source of income.

Numero dos: a sanctuario where, on Good Friday in 1810, light emanated from the dirt.  Some bright fellow back then noted that this is an unusual occurrence, and alerted some of his buddies.  They found a cross at the spot, built a sanctuary, and the rest is history.  Since then, hundreds claim to have been healed of all types of ailments by touching the dirt.  Like the peppers, visiting the sanctuary to get some of the dirt is, in fact, a religious experience.  Also like the peppers, the dirt seems to provide a major source of income now (through countless tourist items, including $2 plastic bags for "holy dirt.").

So, what's the verdict?  Well, we're certainly not sure if the soil in Chimayo is actually sacred, since I stupidly forgot to rub some on my nose to see if it would get smaller and/or cure my allergies.  However, between the peppers it produces and the interest it creates at the sanctuary, I think the residents of Chimayo are probably pretty darn pleased with what the dirt their town is built on.

Next stop: Santa Fe!