Hints of fall are in the air, summer is winding down. Plants are thick with growth from the incredible rainfall we've received. A hike down to the Rio Grande is one of our favorite ways to celebrate any season.
"Have you ever regretted coming down here?" Chris and I ask each other. "Never!" we agree. Every time is a unique gift.
Avoiding prickly thistles hidden in the masses of foliage, we press our way through thick willows and mystery plants grown human-tall with the high rains.
As soon as we arrive at our special "beach" spot, Amber and Olivia jump in the water to cool off and begin covering themselves with river mud, a summer tradition. Chris pulls out his fly fishing gear and finds Zen with casting. I lay back on our blanket, soak-up the summer sun, eyes closed, absorbing the sweetness with all of my senses. I doze for a few minutes - a micro-nap, as I like to call them. The coyote willows all around me whisper gently in the breeze, giving off their honeyed, willow-bark smell. I am grateful for their feathered shade.
When I get out my paper, brushes, paints and pallets, it is the coyote willows that beckon to my brush. I attempt to capture their diversity of fresh dessert greenness and wispy strength. Winds lift and clouds gather. We hear thunder in the distance. Time for clothes; time to fold things back into packs; time for shoes and boots; time to retrace steps up the basalt bouldered trail to the top of the gorge. We're homeward bound.
Winds lift and clouds gather. We hear thunder in the distance. Time for clothes; time to fold things back into packs; time for shoes and boots; time to retrace steps up the basalt bouldered trail to the top of the gorge. We're homeward bound.
Thanks to Rachel of @3in30podcast for helping me recognize experiences like this as "flecks of gold."
This took place on Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), Pueblos and Jicarilla Apache lands in present day Northern New Mexico. This information was gathered by using the @NativeLandNet app.
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