Everyone in Taos has a story.

Taos Ski Valley. © Ken Gallard

But these aren't your run-of-the-mill stories, though. The ones you'll hear from residents of this northern New Mexico mountain town are the kind that'll likely raise your eyebrows and in the end, leave you wondering if fate works overtime here.

Sara, a part-time employee at Wabi Sabi (a cool Japanese decor shop in which I spent too much money), is also a painter, a welder, a jewelry maker and a mother of a three-year-old girl. Twelve years ago, she just happened to be driving through Taos when her car broke down. She sought refuge in a local bar, and "felt like I'd known these people all my life." That night, a local family took her in. The next day, she found a job. And she's lived in Taos ever since.

"I will never leave this place," she said with an air of simplicity and understated determination. It's something you hear a lot in Taos.

Many residents will vow the same, and will also make reference to Taos Mountain, which is believed to either embrace or reject each newcomer. According to legend, the mountain will either steal a piece of your soul so that you must stay in order to feel complete -- or the mountain will reject you, and you simply won't feel right in Taos, leading to your departure.

"The mountain is more of a religion to most people here than anything else," Sara told me one afternoon over a cup of steaming tea. "If you're meant to be here, things just fall in your lap."

Taos Pueblo. © Rachel L. Miller

The land, including the famous Taos Mountain, is also sacred to the first inhabitants of the area, the Native Americans. And the Taos Indians were also the first artists to find inspiration in the land. The Taos Pueblo, a series of multi-storied adobe buildings that have been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years, is a work of art itself, rising proudly against the mountain backdrop. (CONTINUE...)