Yellow forsythia and pink fruit trees are blooming early in Santa Fe. I’ve been missing Munson Gallery, where I used to admire Russell Chatham’s misty tonalist landscapes. Having read on sfgate.com that Chatham was broke and living back in California’s West Marin County in remote Marshall (population: just 50), I convinced my mom Helene to drive there with me recently when I was in the Bay Area. Maybe we could buy a little Russell Chatham painting.

Our drive was pastoral – – two hours of marshlands, green hills, and cows. Peaceful wide-open farmland. We dipped down right into Marshall at the Hog Island Oyster Co. (fresh oysters, and that’s it) on Highway 1. Two buildings away was the house where Chatham had last been seen painting: J. Shields & Sons: Dealers in Coal & Feed. I knocked. I called out, “Russell!” We spotted a canvas frame in the upstairs window. But no response.

I asked at the Oyster Co. if Chatham was around – – “Never heard of him,” said the salesgirl. “Yeah, I think he’s somewhere around here,” vaguely replied a guy barbecuing oysters. We had fish tacos (disappointing) at The Marshall Store, where the waitress shrugged, “Don’t know him.” There wasn’t much else to Marshall. A few houses. Some boats in the water. Shells underfoot. No cell reception, but Tomales Bay was clean and glistening. Cuter towns to the north (Bodega Bay) and south (Bolinas, Stinson Beach, and Point Reyes Station, with its Station House Café). Maybe Chatham has moved on to one of them – – more life of the mind, more gustatory diversity.

On the plane returning to New Mexico, the teacher seated next to me commented, “Santa Fe has a lot in common with Marin County – – an interest in organics and health things. Nobody can plant genetically modified organisms in Marin County. It’s against the law.” Back home, I called Munson Gallery, which is now Meyer East Gallery (http://www.meyereastgallery.com/home/). They’re no longer representing Chatham, but they do show Marc Bohne, whose moody, layered landscapes have some of that ethereal quality.

Tightly wrapped yellow forsythia and fuzzy gray pussy willows are budding here in Santa Fe in chaotic weather conditions, with snow one day, 60 degrees the next. Weather playing havoc is what March is about. In like the proverbial lion, out like the lamb. The color of spring is green (we should eat greens and wear greens to be in harmony with the season), and the emotion is to embrace growth and movement, and to give freely and passionately, according to my former acupuncturist Beverly Bakken. Right now in Santa Fe, mostly everything is blue (sky) and brown (bare trees and adobe homes), with a ribbon of green running through. The green gets stronger every day.

March highlights in my world so far? I made a new friend in my neighborhood: an adorable Jack Russell – Chihuahua mix named Hercules that’s 11 pounds and has a white body with toffee patches – he looks like a paint horse. Dinner last week at Ristra was a treat, especially sipping the aromatic ginger martini. Power lunches at the Palace with other writers like my old friend Charlotte Berney (www.charlottedaigle.com) and my new one, Pat West Barker (www.thezenchilada.com), have been fun; the tuna burger there is fabulous. I just edited a story mystery novelist Sandi Ault (www.sandiault.com) wrote about Indian artists; it was a fulfilling collaboration. And I glimpsed a preview of the big art show “It’s About Time: 14,000 Years of Art in New Mexico” going up at the New Mexico Museum of Art in May. There’s a great piece by Galisteo-based Bruce Nauman in the show, a rebellious 1985 lithograph with “Live or Die” printed in red ink on a white background. To me it symbolizes the significance of independence, resourcefulness, and doing what’s important to you, as opposed to living your life through other people’s values. That’s good in any season, right?

I was in Truchas this past weekend, researching the surge in art galleries in that isolated mountain hamlet north of Santa Fe. With a population of just a few hundred people, it’s impressive. I met two artists who had done work for the Smithsonian, somebody who creates the loveliest steel bells out of castoff oil-field pipe and expired pressure vessels, and a Swedish painter who moved in behind the church years ago because she had nowhere else to live with her wolf.

The Swedish painter is Anna Karin, now running Anna Karin Gallery in an old adobe house. She had been creating murals in Colorado when she first arrived. She remembers, “I didn’t want to be on scaffolds anymore. I had a wolf that I couldn’t take back to Sweden. I moved in behind the church. I hung up an `open’ sign, and the first day I sold three paintings – one to a guy on a bicycle who only had a camper to live it. It just seemed like a sign! So I stayed.”

Almost everyone in Truchas lives in an old adobe house, and almost everyone is capable on their own. Say, when a skunk sneaks into one of those old adobes—and I sniffed a skunk just outside town—there’s no calling Orkin pest control for same-day service. Jeane George Weigel, who writes a terrific blog about being an artist in Truchas, posted about my visit (http://high-road-artist.com/9710/southwest-living/wolf-schneider-interviews-truchas-artists/) and told me, “Those of us that settle here are a quirky group.” I could see that. Most of the rustic live-work studio galleries that I visited were heated only by woodstoves. It gets really cold in Truchas – – like single digits and minus temps at night. The steep road leading up to town would be treacherous when iced over. And yet Truchas is a very special place, attracting some of the most creative minds in New Mexico. You’ll be able to read about what I found in my story to be published in May in The Santa Fe New Mexican (www.santafenewmexican.com), in the Bienvenidos special section.

When I arrived at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs & Spa with my friend Maria, I was bundled in a sweatshirt, sweatpants, and ski parka. It was in the twenties! We were shocked to find hardy souls in bathing suits and flip-flops. After our massages and mineral soaks, we had almost joined the club, stripped down to T-shirts and sweats. Here are the highlights as we both experienced them.

Wolf says: For just an hour's drive north of Santa Fe, Ojo Caliente made me feel like I'd gotten away into the country. The snow-splashed mountains along U.S. 285 gave off an expansive vibe. At lunch, the Green Chile Fries (potato-crusted Poblano chiles) were a crunchy treat alongside the Ojo Fish Tacos (blackened mahi-mahi, mango salsa, and jicama peanut slaw). Soaking in our private iron-arsenic pool with our own kiva fireplace and mountains just steps away was memorable – – as well as making us feel like we were in that fabulous western McCabe and Mrs. Miller.

Maria says: I arrived from California on New Year's Eve wearing fleece and fake fur to visit my friend Wolf. I was looking forward to returning to Ojo Caliente after 20 years, yet when I got there I didn’t recognize it due to its recent facelift. Lunch was created by Culinary Institute of America-trained chef Neil Stuart, an ex-New Yorker (as I). I was disappointed that my long-remembered Watsu treatment was no longer available, but delighted we could share a private pool with minerals known for improving circulation, immune systems, and arthritis, enhanced by our kiva fireplace’s heat and wonderful aroma. As we drove home feeling reinvigorated, I thought, what a great beginning to 2012 to warm up in the waters of New Mexico’s high desert.

Street posts in Santa Fe are wrapped in green pine garlands, and Christmas lights are glowing on Canyon Road. Artists, skiers, and spiritual seekers are all here for the holidays, reveling in this winter’s great ski conditions. Seekers have always come to Santa Fe and especially Taos, chef Joseph Wrede recently pointed out to me while I was having a fabulous tuna-steak sandwich with coleslaw at The Palace. Taos is even more removed from the rest of the world than Santa Fe.

Somebody who famously dropped out in the forties and moved to Taos was Millicent Rogers. Taos-based author Cherie Burns (www.cherieburns.com) recently wrote Searching for Beauty, a perceptive biography of the Standard Oil heiress and fashion trendsetter who first popularized the Southwest socialite look of a white blouse, long black skirt, and lots of silver and turquoise jewelry.

I interviewed Burns over coffee at Collected Works Bookstore, and told her my favorite section of the book was the Taos years. Burns said, “I had to explain what Taos is, and what it was to Millicent and to women then.” Which was? “It was in some ways like what it is now, but more of a frontier. The Anglo population making a life for themselves there – – the artists and the prosperous Anglo women – – came for a certain kind of experience. It was a smaller and wilder place.” Which influenced Millicent how? Burns replied, “There was a profound shift for Millicent from looking for beautiful things that could be bought like fine clothes and Faberge eggs – – she had a real eye for beauty and quality. When she came to Taos, she was reset to appreciate a whole different palette of beauty – – like starry nights in the dark and being led by torchlight after dinner parties.” To all my blog readers: I'm wishing you light in the darkness too in these final days of 2011!

Fall is turning to winter in Santa Fe. Aspen leaves are browning and there are glorious purple-flowering cabbages – – a fall/winter outdoors plant – – looking profuse and gorgeous outside Agua Fria Nursery. At the Santa Fe Farmers Market, there’s pumpkin pie chevre from The Old Windmill Dairy. With bracing temperatures ranging from the 20s at night to the 40s during the day, Santa Fe is hopping.

A big, big welcome to Santa Fe Studios, which opened this week with 175 people at the ribbon-cutting, complete with mariachis and a champagne buffet. The first phase has opened with two 18,000 sq. ft. soundstages and 24,000 sq. ft. of production offices. Studio representatives from Warner Bros., ABC, Fox and Sony were on hand for the opening, according to The Santa Fe New Mexican. We’re glad to have Lance, Jason, and Conrad Hool here bringing more filmmaking!

The Tony Hillerman Writers Conference is taking place at the Hotel Santa Fe from November 10-12. It kicks off with a writing workshop with the vivacious mystery writer Sandi Ault. Other highlights include a panel on Building Tension with the talented Jo-Ann Mapson, the lively sounding Friday night Flash Critiques with David Morrell and Ault, and Saturday’s seminar on Queries to Seduce an Editor/Agent. Day passes are available (www.wordharvest.com).

Just hiked at the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve, up near the Randall Davey Audubon Center on Upper Canyon Road. We saw plenty of lemony autumn leaves, bright yellow-blooming chamisa, and purple asters. October is my favorite month in Santa Fe – – the scent of wood-burning fireplaces on cool mornings, the glow of yellow and green leaves swaying on still-full branches, and afternoons in the 60s and 70s. What could beat that? It’s a wonderful time to be out and about. This weekend feels like the absolute pinnacle of autumn, with green chile and marigolds at the Saturday morning farmers market, Saturday’s artists-out-everywhere Canyon Road Paint Out, and the Galisteo Studio Tour where the vistas go on forever.

I had a fabulous dinner this week at Restaurant Martín – – you haven’t lived until you try their delicate Yellow Fin Tuna Tartare with avocado, jalapeno oil, soy, vinaigrette, pickled pineapple, and buttermilk pancakes! And you have to have the Bittersweet Chocolate Truffle Cake with sweet and salty caramel and toasted cinnamon ice cream.

Coming up: I’m looking forward to Santa Fe’s Tony Hillerman Writers Conference (www.wordharvest.com) from November 10-12, with Sandi Ault and Jo-Ann Mapson both on panels! Especially popular, I’m going to predict, will be the new Writing with the Stars flash critiques on Friday night, where the opening page of manuscripts-in-the-works will be dramatized out loud, then authors Ault and David Morrell will be on the spot to spout instant critiques. Think: “Dancing with the Stars” morphs into a literary salon! I developed the concept with Ault and Wordharvest, so I’ll see you there.

The Atalaya Firefighters—a group of handsome hard bodies--got a round of well-deserved applause at the Santa Fe City Council meeting this week. Then the mayor recognized the winners of the Santa Fe App Challenge, including the app/website I co-created and co-founded, Backstory Santa Fe. As I stood on stage with the commissioners and lanky Mayor David Coss, it was a mix of formal (the Pledge of Allegiance, saluting the NM flag) and informal (I saw one commissioner casually refreshing her lipstick).

While developing the app, I’ve gotten to know some particularly smart and sophisticated folks, like Marie Longserre from the Santa Fe Business Incubator (www.sfbi.net), Kate Noble from Santa Fe’s economic development division, and Eric Renz-Whitmore from the NM Tech Council. With a population of around 100,000, Santa Fe is the perfect size city – – a place where anybody can go to the city council meeting and you might even do some social networking with the mayor online.

Don’t think Santa Fe has lost its Wild West spirit, though. As summer winds down, everyone’s gabbing about Fiestas and most particularly the media coverage of surveillance pictures of a New Mexico State police officer in full uniform including his tool belt, having sex outdoors with a woman on the hood of a car (www.kob.com).  Word is that the al fresco commingling was not illegal, but it sure has incited plenty of opinions!

Pretty much anyone who’s anyone in the Indian art world was in Santa Fe this weekend for the 90th Indian Market, the largest Native American arts festival in the world. Pickup trucks filled with jewelry, sculpture, and pots wrapped in blankets covered with plastic streamed into town from the rez. Big-deal artists like Darren Vigil Gray and Michael Horse held gallery shows, while other prominent painters, sculptors, and jewelers like Mateo Romero, Presley LaFountain, and former U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell could be found in the thick of the Indian Market throngs among more than 1,000 booths surrounding the Plaza.

Heavy thunderstorms let loose, prompting power outages and in a single weekend doubling Santa Fe’s rainfall for the year to date. My Anglo friends said, “What a shame, everyone’s getting wet,” but my Indian friends marveled, “It’s a blessing,” and, “I came here from the Texas drought and this is great.” Driving home late Friday night in the rain, I got capsized by a flash flood when an impromptu foot-deep river thick with tree branches crashed across Rodeo Road creating a makeshift arroyo. I lost control of my SUV, but luckily regained it. The next morning the car was coated with mud, even on top.

Favorite things? Ledger art paintings by California’s Horse, beadwork by Oklahoma’s Les Berryhill and Choctaw artist Elena Pate, and jewelry by the Navajo and Zuni artists. Best conversations? Laughing with painter/jeweler/actor Horse (http://www.michaelhorse.com/) over the casting director who recently told Horse he should play three decades older than he is in a film, and then how that movie shut down, and a more serious moment with jeweler Coreen Cordova (http://www.coreencordova.com/) commenting, “Whether you believe you can do something or you can’t, you’ll be right.”

The green chile roaster is spinning at Santa Fe’s DeVargas Center, the Whitehawk jewelry shows are on, and a bear was just relocated from South Capitol. August is the height of the Santa Fe season, the momentum mounting for Indian Market on August 20th. Creative types will want to consider entering the Tony Hillerman/New Mexico Magazine Mystery Short Story Contest (www.wordharvest.com). The deadline is August 15 and the prize is $1,000. Yes it would be nice to have more time, but consider that the year Craig Johnson won, he wrote his story in a single day!

Want to spiff up your wardrobe this weekend? The Fifth Annual Designers Estate Sale is at 328 Delgado between Canyon Road and Acequia Madre on Saturday morning, August 13th—look for the cow! Expect Southwest jewelry, shoes from Manolos to Donald Pliner and Bruno Magli, rhinestoned denim jackets, even new stuff. Canyon Road is Santa Fe’s quintessential art lane—it’s where Tommy Macaione used to paint and the ‘hood where Los Cinco Pintores settled.