Red Willow River Refuge

Have a look. In the photo you see my little car, a 2003 Ford Focus, parked along the wetland red willow forest of the Rio Grande de Ranchos, which is commonly call the Little Rio Grande. It's little alright. At least compared to the big one that runs along the nadir of the Rio Grande Gorge, just a few miles to the west. One thing I really like about this photo is that it doesn't show how dirty my car is. 

I've shown a photo of this place before in this blog, with my mother walking along, just about where the car is parked, with an aster sprig or two in her hand. That photo was digitally enhanced and embellished to depict a somewhat more mystical quality. She was about 200 hours away from her death at the time the photo was taken. I'd unplugged the drip nutrition pump that was feeding her through a gastroenteric tube (g-tube) which had been installed surgically just left of her navel, then helped her to dress warmly, loaded her into the Focus and took her up into the mountains for a final look-see before she let go the reigns (sic) which held her to this mortal coil. I told her that I was taking her up into the mountains to let the Mountain Spirits instruct her as to what was happening to her. She bought my story, lock, stock and barrel, which is good because it was the truth. That makes things a far sight easier to navigate - the truth, that is.

I went back to the place yesterday, as a getaway from the anxiety of life (plugged in to a weekend that exists because of the work schedule). I enjoyed walking along the icy mud of the river bank, positioning myself to get the best gander at the play of light on the rippling waters. I enjoyed stepping into the 10 foot high red willow forest to feel myself ensconced within a growth of sacred trees. The only regret I have, at this point, is that I did not take off my shoes and dip my weary feet into the icy waters of the Rio Grande de Ranchos. Might a done me some good, that! My feet run a close second to my brain in the attrition from doing commerce for a corporate entity. Sho' 'nuff my soul gets fed and my spirit gets to exchange light, but the central nervous system really takes a beating in the marketplace. Little things like demographics and marketing strategies, enhanced by trendy customer service techniques, can really run riot through a fella's nerves. That's why a trip to a sacred place helps, as it does. It breaks things down into the basics, where the way that light plays through fields of form and information is more important than who does what, and why.