Public Art and My Adventures in Santa Fe

Today is the first day that I wasn't running some kind of errand at lunch since I arrived in Santa Fe and started the new job.

I took my camera and played tourist, walking to the Plaza, enjoying the music, chatting with the artists whose carts were set up along the edges. And I took photos of it all, too, with the idea of coming home and blogging about my blissful midday moments.

Instead, I came home and finally dug out the cable to upload all the photos I've taken so far. Most look like white squares. I hope it's a low battery issue or I accidentally changed the settings and that there isn't something wrong with my camera. And so, here is plan B–a photo taken with my iPhone. This sculpture sits in front of one of the State of NM government buildings.

I don't know who the artist is or what meaning is attributed to this piece of public art, but I love him (or maybe, her?)

Sadly my first Santa Fe adventure happened here. On Monday, after feeling lousy all weekend and waking up dizzy and wheezing, I went to urgent care with what I thought was the usual challenge of adjusting to the high altitude here. I thought the doctor would give me an Rx for O2, but instead he told me that my oxygen levels were fine and referred me to the nearest ER for tests to make sure I didn't have a pulmonary embolism. 6 hours later, I was told, no embolism, no infection, no heart problem ... probably just the altitude.

A few days later, I am feeling better and better and thinking that it really was just a matter of altitude adjustment ;-)

It's probably a good thing that my camera isn't working–I might be tempted to share a photo of my bruised wrist, forearms and elbows. Between the nurse on duty and the doctor using ultrasound, they probably made a dozen attempts to get a large needle in one of my veins. They never succeeded, but I am walking around with gruesome proof of their efforts.
 

UPDATE: Yesterday I found the plaque identifying the sculpture.  I couldn't resist taking a photo of the inside/other side of the head.




You can see more of James Tyler's  Brickheads here:

Tyler Sculpture