NEW MEXICO - OJO SARCO

If you go to the Google map of northern New Mexico, you will see that there are two distinctly different routes from Taos to Española.  Just southwest of Taos, in Ranchos de Taos, NM 68 continues SW and follows the Rio Grande gorge through Embudo, Velarde, and Alcalde into Española.   By heading south out of Ranchos de Taos on NM 518 and then on NM 75 and 76, you are on the "High Road to Taos" scenic route.  To go this way takes quite a bit more time, but it is most worthwhile - the scenery and the small towns of Vadito, Peñasco, Chamisal, Trampas, Ojo Sarco, Truchas, Cordova, Rio Chiquito, Chimayo, and La Puebla are all interesting.  In Ojo Sarco, we saw a sign for a local potter, and we decided to stop and browse.  We have been looking for individual table settings by different potters [and idea that we got from Ron and Jane Wisner], and we found a very nice set.  Since many of the NM towns have Spanish names that are readily translatable, e.g. truchas = trout, we asked the locals about ojo sarco.  We knew that ojo = eye, but we did not know how sarco would be translated - in biology, sarc refers to "fleshy" and often is related to connective tissues, and so "fleshy eye" did not make too much sense!  What we learned is that ojo sarco refers to the nearly transparent ice-blue eyes that are common in huskies and some other dogs.  Muy interesante, sí?