The recent herbalism conference I attended, Traditions In Western Herbalism Conference took place at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, the famed location of many of Geogia O'Keefe's inspiring paintings. The essence of place: it took me time to get over the shock of a 24+ hour car ride, constant movement, lack of sleep, to settle into this place, to feel it for a moment. I try to grab hold of memories of places I've been- I think of the meseta on the Camino de Santiago in Spain, dusty old quiet towns, adobe. It reminded me of that, but something different.. Peru. A place I've been, the highland salt plateaus of Peru and Bolivia. Maybe it was the high altitude feeling, being constantly out of breath, dry air, rocky slopes, lots of walking. This 'place' invoked a search for feelings i had of other places I've journeyed, only to find that they all contributed parts to a new feeling, a new connection to a new place that will forever be a emotional memory.
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| I woke up early on the last morning to catch some real coffee from a vendor on top of the mesa, 6:30 am, I watched the sun move into the canyon, icy cold dry air felt so good, the grasses illuminated, the shadows waiting to form. Dirt paths drawn into rocky eroding hills, slithering into the unknown of the canyon. This was a view out the other way, into the land below. Parts of the Ghost Ranch facility can be see in the middle ground. |
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| The camping area in the shadow, with the shadow of my body on the juniper to the right. |
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| A cactus, what kind? I was too overwhelmed to do plant walks here, but if i had been here a little longer, i would have wanted to. I do want to know what this is though. |
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| View of one part of the Box Canyon, as the light has filled the space with warmth, soon to make us go from sweaters to sunscreen.. |
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| Grass makes shadows on a path into the canyon.. |
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