Saturday, July 14, 2007

Albuquerque Airport

I met Monica at the Albuquerque airport Saturday at noon and we've been hiking and wandering the desert since. Now we're back at the airport, at separate gates, waiting for the planes that will carry us back to our respective worlds.


Monica halfway up the trail to Chimney Rock.



Monica at the top of Chimney Rock, tempting fate.

So much to think about. I'm anxious to go home and yet can't imagine fitting back into my everyday life. So much has changed inside me. After living under such vast skies and taking part in such important conversations and mind-opening classes, will I fold in upon myself to accommodate my usual place in the world? I just don't know.

Muddy water runs through NM like blood through its veins, bringing life and nourishment and energy. The landscape doesn’t just sing to my soul, it sets up a tent revival and shouts Amazing Grace to the heavens. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind but now I see.

Having coffee on the porch in Ojo Caliente on Sunday morning, beneath a cloudless sky, I found pictures in everything: rocks in the garden, the whirl of bark on logs supporting the ceiling. Messages everywhere, from the divine to my soul: See beyond the surface, dig out the stories lurking everywhere. Excavate. The workshop handed me a shovel. The class shouted to me, "Get to the damn digging."


One of the pictures from the ceiling. Can you see the snake's face?

I think of all the times, all the many, many times I longed to find that world. I read Anne LaMott's essays about writer's workshops and dreamed of being the kind of person who attends them. And now I am. I stepped into that place, tilled up a tiny patch of garden and planted a handful of seeds that now have to survive hungry birds and high temperatures and poor soil.

Life may be short, but it's wide. Thank God and all the angels, it's so damn wide.

7 comments:

The Geezers said...

Damn. Got to get me to New Mexico one day.

Nancy said...

Will I fold in upon myself to accommodate my usual place in the world? Oh I don't think so! Holt tight to that shovel and dig!

Go Mama said...

Thanks for sharing your reflections Jerri. Sounds incredible...and if anyone knows how to garden, it's you. Keep digging! You can do this.

Michelle O'Neil said...

I feel the electricity in your written word. Things are happening Jerri! You are soaring!

Carrie Wilson Link said...

Hi, Monica!

kario said...

Damn! I left this terrific comment yesterday and it has disappeared into the ether.

I was trying to express my awe at your rich, luminous words that somehow are earthy and ethereal all at the same time. I love that you've pushed against your own boundaries and are feeling rewarded instead of frightened. You are an inspiration to us all, my dear!

Alijah Fitt said...

I see the snake wearing an aviators hat, is that the one you mean?
Funny how when you return from a vacation from your normal routine, your purse doesn't seem familiar, as if the contents never belonged to you at all. Beautiful things seem to be happening all around you.