I’m Back

After 16 days away from home, visiting family in the Sooner State, and then, howling at the moon in New Mexico’s Peco’s Wilderness, I’m back. My little home is welcoming and bright. The climate is atrocious–a jillion days in a row of 100+ heat with no rain. But, my good neighbors watered the potted plants and topped off the fish pond. The Freds, our three goldfish, didn’t miss us.

I don’t have any witty observations about travel that are printable because a) my family would no longer speak to me or b) I’ve already earmarked the idea for my next manuscript, set in the New Mexico Wilderness. So, I’ll list my favorite moments:

• Coffee with my extended family every morning in BBC1′s tiny travel trailer.
• Watching my girls slosh hand-in-hand up Holy Ghost Creek.
• Hiking to see wildflowers taller than me.
• Aspen trees.
• Corned-beef hash and fried eggs eaten off a paper plate.
• An up close look at Georgia O’Keeffe’s painting, Jimson Weed.
• People watching in Santa Fe Plaza.
• The silence of St. Francis Cathedral.
• Blue mist over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
• Stars. In the woods, stars light up the sky.
• Staring into the campfire.
• The sound of Holy Ghost Creek lulling me to sleep every night.