Stumped

Haiku My Heart Friday
February 4, 2011

Haiku My Heart Friday is the creation of my friend, Rebecca. You can see more fabulous photos and read more Haiku at her blog, recuerda mi corazon

As many might know, I am spending time away from home, in the Southern reaches of New Mexico, in a town named Truth Or Consequences. Unusual name for a town, but there is a good story behind it HERE. You can catch up and read the posts below for a snapshot of the journey down here and my surroundings if you care to.

I've been coming down here for many years. I like this part of the desert. I wander about, looking at this or that, learning about things I find of interest, meeting people, talking, just being. This visit, I have endured a powerful cold spell that had temperatures plummeting down below zero in a place where the average daytime high is in the 50's Fahrenheit.

The thermometer on the wall of the office of The Artesian Trailer Court where I'm living these days.
Thursday's temperature, a cool zero degrees (F)

That didn't hamper my quest to be out in the desert wandering about. I took a ride yesterday along the road that follows El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, The Royal Road of the Interior, and the famed portion that runs East of where I am staying called Jornada Del Muerto, The Journey of Death.

I am intrigued by this trail. It has been around since before 1600 AD, and portions still can be seen and walked upon. Yesterday, amidst a cold stinging hard blowing North wind, I stood at a place that was figuratively and literally frozen in time. I was frozen, figuratively and literally, as well. Yet I stood there, in the cold wind, looking out, seeking wisdom, praying for answers to dreams, trying to empty my brain of my past and my future, alone, on the doorstep of a portal that the Sacred Earth Mother has allowed me to witness.

It had snowed, and although most of the snow in town was gone, the remnants lingered out here, still being carved into sculpture by the wind, felt to me as I became a Phoenix, riding on a Zephyr, facing it, asking it to carve some sense into my mind. I could have worn my goose down insulated parka and wool hat, but instead I opted for a bright red hooded sweatshirt from the University of South Dakota at Vermillion with the Coyote logo, and a light jacket. I stayed unzipped, and looked into the wind instead of putting my back to it. My eyes watered. I wanted to catch whatever message The Creator or any of the Spirit Guides had for me.

I came across this image that I posted below. I wondered so much about this particular tree stump. What do you see and think about knowing where this stump is in this place and time?

There were none others like this anywhere around
Click once or twice to enlarge

Desolate alone

Still reaching for the Sun light

Alive beating heart

Mesmerized by the numbing from the cold and my thoughts, I wandered home. I had driven some 60 miles into the desert. The hard top road ended miles ago, but a strip remained. Railroad tracks run parallel, so this road may serve for maintenance. But these lonely roads took the path of least resistance, like the animals in the beginning to the searchers and pilgrims, to today's ranchers and explorers of history and wonderment, like myself. The surface dips for arroyos and rises for hills created by nature.

This road runs North and South about 15 miles east of Truth Or Consequences, NM
It follows closely The Jornado Del Muerto section of El Camino Real

I reached home, which is a small RV set up in a small tourist park in town, and came in out of the cold. I sat a while, thinking. I'm still thinking, and the jury is out. I'm not sure I was even out there. I'm afraid to go back because I know that stump might not be seen again, just like many of what seems like Brigadoon places that I remember in my mind from my travels, but can never find again when I return.

Peace