Tag: desertmedicine

Onward Part II

Sometimes I think, how did I do It? Live in “isolation” i.e. in a rural land, 50 minutes away from a Whole Foods,(GASP) these past 6 months. But really, my soul needed it. My body. My heart. My brain..needed it. Sometimes we don’t know what our Selves need for nourishment because we’ve been so busy — Building, competing, looking down, purchasing, fighting, comparing, fixing, over serving, and yes, for many, just trying to survive  — That we haven’t been open to life’s other invitations. They arrive in whispers, most of the time. 

I have come to understand more and regard, not just my Valdez roots/DNA here, but feel into all those, whose land, this first belonged to. Or shall I say, that which was beheld and honored by, taken care of, and lived by. It was a way; a way in which we have lost. I have had my breath taken away on more than one occasion as I’ve driven the open roads, climbed mountains and gazed into infinite desert space/color. Colors that brought me to tears. Light that wiped them away. I will miss the sage brush rolling in the winds, talking to the Ravens and all those other birds that made their way inside my home. Haha. Animals come to know us…you know?!? 

I will miss the classic cars, mostly the trucks. The lift of a couple fingers off the wheel or a nod of a cowboy’s hat, to say “hello.” I see you. How do you do? I will miss the warmth of people here — at the gas station, the DMV,(yup!) the Co-op,Taco line, and in the Starbucks drive thru; especially the later. I have so enjoyed our brief and sweet life conversations. I will miss random hikers and will never forget being given an apple and a bar from a woman on her way back down the mountain and to the young man in the air force, I had the honor of climbing the last bit up with. I will miss the Post Office woman and no lines. Hah!  I will miss the music, sometimes on a Friday evening, of one of my neighbors — Some country. Other times, Mexican Blues. 

With that said, I feel there will be no shortage of music in Louisiana. 

Be well.

From August

 I sit here in the high Desert of Northern New Mexico. It is August, this I know. Three days after a Full moon in Aquarius, a pandemic and revolution wage on. A divisiveness seeps into American Culture like no other. Today I feel the emotion rage; like the marvelous storm I had pleasure to bear witness to, only days ago. I want to smash my coffee cup against the adobe wall. Let the brown water dissolve this divide, creating a new story, on the smooth mud surface. I’ve lately come to recognize that it’s not about getting it together. That a flying cup across the room, may just be the bridge to freedom. Being cracked wide open as the desert just did, after her perfect storm. A symphony that happens once in 20 years leaving deep grooves, splitting the desert floor wide open; new channels in the making, like the shape of my throat that longs to release her song. To share. Exhale. And clear the tears from her heart that have lived there, hers and theirs for so long. Strong and Dignified, the newly formed cracks say today, “I have you.”  May you speak, in all shapes and forms so that others may surrender to the mystery. The wildness. The power. The magic medicine of a desert flower and perfect storm.  ⁣

Loss and Light

I wept for all the loss tonight. 

And all those hearts, 

Thirsty, to make sense of it all.

It started to rain then, cool drops

Falling, on warm desert sand.  

One seemingly dark cloud,

Hugging, my mud brick shelter.

I beheld the sun’s descent

Surrendering, to the mouth 

Of mountains, like paintings.

A bird with grey wings,

Perched on a juniper;

In her company,

We witnessed an ascent of angels. 

I will be intimate tonight, 

With both loss and light.