Anima Center in the Gila National Forest, New Mexico

After the Traditions in Western Herbalism Conference, my travel buddies Mario and Nina, along with 7Song, Mario's herbal teacher and direction of the Northeast School for Botanical Medicine, and I were invited to stay at the Anima Center seven stream crossings into the Gila National Forest on the western side of New Mexico. And, wow, I am so grateful for the experience of meeting Loba, Wolf, Rhiannon, and Kiva and spending a bittersweet small amount of time in a place close to paradise. Wading in the ice cold San Francisco river with Loba and Nina, floating on out backs, going with the flow, sand scraping our backs gently downstream. Hanging out in 11 year old Rhiannon's tree house on top of the mesa, or pickling carrots and parsnips in the kitchen. The first morning I was there, I hiked up past our beautiful guest cabin and ventured up the hill as far as it felt right, sitting down on a rock with dead wood, cholla remains, brown pieces of pottery, islands of grasses, and lots of plants I have never met and do not know, cottonwood trees--and I meditated. It was nice to suddenly stop. Here I felt so at peace, this is right, this place is right, and all adversity and choices have led me here, and it is okay. Quiet wind blows hot dry air across the small mountain top i sit on, I soak up sunlight, the energy reverberating out of the canyon. I feel as if I am healing already, good sleep, no buzz of electricity. 

Here are a few of many pictures I took at the canyon, and I have no idea what most of the plants are, I wish I had walked with 7song and Kiva more, but I was being drawn to alone time, sitting with the wind and river, ice baths alone in the rushing flow. 

Believe it or now, there is a forest here. I love the light in this photograph. 

Something Nina, Mario and I collected with Loba to use as a spice, and I can't remember its name.  I'm going to have to do some research.

Most of the low plants in this picture are actually of the mystery plant above. This is the grove of trees on top of the mesa in which Kiva, Loba, Wolf and Rhiannon live.

Winter squash and I think it was bee balm mead, but I'm not sure. This is in the kitchen.

 I think I remember 7 song keying this one out, some type of morning glory? I'm not sure.

On the way back up from the river, walking through a young willow forest and reaching a set of rock structures that native americans used to sit on and watch the canyon for travelers..passing them to climb back up to the mesa above.

A nice smelling flower by the river. When we hiked in at 11:30 at night or so, we smelled this flower the whole way, to then illuminate it often with out headlamps to see that there were sooo many of them.

Rhiannon, 7song and Loba outside of the kitchen. 

Shoot, I know what this is! My brain has been a big overwhelmed fuzz lately from all of my travels and the uncertainty of my future. Going to have to pull out some id books.