Homeward Bound

And so Epiphany in Taos is completed. Yet it will continue in my heart and soul. I so much needed this time and space for my soul-healing.

It took a leap of faith to substitute 22 years of Advent trips with the new Epiphany "look". And a leap of faith that winter travel in and out of both Atlanta and Albuquerque would work.  There's a lesson there about trust.

And now we each fly our separate ways back home, knowing a new tradition has begun. I return home filled with the northern New Mexico winter quietness. Fed by New Mexican red files and blue corn tortillas, this sustenance will carry me on the way to see what God has in store for me now.

Epiphany Discoveries

Switching up the 22 years of Advent travel to Epiphany travel has opened up new possibilities and promises of New Mexico travel. Forced by situation to abandon the annual Advent trip, and to create alternate travel, the Season of Epiphany stepped in.

With the new plans, came new ways to experience this place. It is quieter in January. Colder too.

Lots less bustling. With time to feed the birds. 

Many more cozy fires.

A slower rhythm of moving through each day.

Time to stop and savor.

Old friends.

New friends.

Much joy of this place in this time.  

Winter Beauty and Quiet

There is uncommon beauty to be found in this area.

There is also uncommon silence. And a feeling of solitude.

May Sarton says,
"There is a wilder solitude in winter
Where every sense is pricked alive and keen."

Snow covered sage whispers "shhh."

This Epiphany journey has been on the quiet side.  Just what I was seeking. Days filled with unhurried tasks and activities. Hours spent lolling in front of the fire. Reading, crafting, enjoying a meal. 

A body and soul healing massage. 

And quiet drives through the countryside covered in snow, skies solemn gray or bright blue. 

All covered in a sense of quiet. 

Except for the laughter. Rich beyond words. And so it is, beyond words. Simply outrageous joy. 

Reunion Day

This day brings the joy of reuniting with two long-time friends, both artists in their own way.

Bonnie is a massage therapist I've been going to for a decade. She sculpts my muscles and my circulatory system into ways of healing and rejuvenation.

That's her place up ahead on the right.

But first, this new day brings 17 degrees outside, and a warming fire inside.

And a stop at Coffee Apothecary. 

Lunch of fire-hot green chile. 

There's a forecast for snow later.

Tonight Abby, a local ceramist will come for dinner. We've been friends now for many years. Time spent with her is as delicious as the meal will be. 

It's a Snow Day!

I've anticipated and looked with expectation to snow during this trip. I've checked my weather apps over and over. Yes, snow was forecast. We rented a SUV that could power us through snow-covered roads. And so I waited.

Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Taos, gathered provisions at CID's, the local grocery store, and moved into our casa. I made a dozen trips from the woodshed to the house carrying firewood. Then we waited.

ANTICIPATION.

All the blinds were left open so we wouldn't miss the snow if we woke up in the night. Around midnight there it was. The sky was colored in shades of pink and yellow. The trees glistened in the night sky.

With dawn came a fairyland!

Followed by the requisite fire.

We ventured out to try a new espresso shop, the Coffee Apothecary. 

Fabulous!

Nachos by the fire this evening.

Abundance filled this day. 

Dawn of First Day of Epiphany Trip

Awoke early to get going north. Greeted by New Mexico sunrise. 

Coffee stop soon after at aptly named espresso shop.  

Drive to Santa Fe for another cappuccino. 

A beautiful drive along the Rio Grande

Late lunch of blue corn cheese enchiladas with red chile. 

Finally home! Casa a los abuelas.

Welcome Back

Descending into Albuquerque the view below offered a glimpse of one hoped-for expectation for this Epiphany journey. Snow. Just a dusting, but still, my heart felt a tug of promise. 

With the traveling friends reunion complete, we set out for a late meal of wonderfully delicious small dishes. 

                               

Then in for the night at Home2, a new member in the Hilton chain.

I've been impatient with detours and road blocks, and the time it seems to take for my heart and soul to heal.  Epiphany in northern New Mexico is filled with balm. 

"An old adage says that if you want to travel fast, travel alone, but if you want to travel far, travel in a community. But even beyond that, if you want to travel with depth, learn the names of flowers along the way, fall in love a thousand times, believe that you can meet the demands of suffering you encounter, speak your truth to power, and live into the mission of your life. Travel together, so you can travel light. Community too is a sign that we need others as we make our way."  Becca Stevens

Detour

2016 was filled with road blocks and detours.  One of those "road blocks" will open in a few days. 

For the past twenty-two years I've traveled to New Mexico during Advent. Advent 2016 passed without the New Mexico trip.  It was hard to miss, hard for me to experience Advent in any way without New Mexico.

But now New Mexico is just ahead. The Advent 2016 road block is about to open, and the journey can begin.  In place of Advent, will be Epiphany in northern New Mexico.

Epiphany is that in between time between Christmas and Lent.  The time when Jesus is baptized and then begins to grow into the role God has chosen for him. As Canon John Thompson-Quartey stated, "In this season of Epiphany, when we are a bit removed from the baby in the creche, we are now faced with a grown up God who walks among us as Jesus of Nazareth."

I'm in kind of an in-between time myself.  A time between the work and the roles I have shed, and the mantle of new work and roles I'm about to don.

I guess sometimes there may be reasons for road blocks and detours.  More importantly is how one deals with these un-planned-for happenings, both from the perspective of dealing with uncertainity and change, and perhaps even seeing them as opportunities for needed change.

All this to say, tomorrow I fly away- literally!  For retreat with my best traveling friend in a small town nestled in a snow-covered valley in northern New Mexico.  I can smell the pinon fires, I can taste the blue corn enchiladas, I can imagine the beauty and the bitter cold.  I am so ready!

Launching

To Launch-

            To get going, initiate

            To begin a new adventure or phase, embark

            To enter enthusiastically into something, plunge

2016 ended with a mixture of joy and sorrow, new adventure and loss, detours and confusion, endings and hoped for new opportunities.

It was a year of profound loss and pockets of unexpected joy. And it was a time of thinking I might be done, done in the sense of personal accomplishment.  It was also a time of trial and tribulation.  Before the year ended, it was clear I needed to examine the effects of events of the year, and also to see how I might fill in what I saw as empty calendar squares ahead for 2017.

So began the work of understanding and discovery of myself.  So began the launching of my new path.

I sought and found someone to guide me, even lead me at times, to help me make sense of my fears and of my hopes. Someone to journal-journey with me. A best friend pointed out how the loss-experiences I had in recent years (including being rescued in a flood) had literally "flooded" me toward much needed help.  She called it "redemption."

I put myself forth in leadership roles in my parish and my diocese.  Each offer was accepted.  I've already found unexpected connections in one ministry, and challenging opportunity in another.

Where travel was disrupted, I stumbled a bit, then saw the promise of renewed adventure for this new year.

I'm preparing to launch.