Angelisa’s Musings: Seasons of Travel
It’s November in New Mexico, and I’m on an early dawn hike throughout the stacks of ancient earth and the multi-layers of hued sandstone. They’re whispering to me in the golden light about a colorful story that once existed on earth, out here on the edge of the Colorado Plateau, where so many have been hearkened to go West. This is a place where dinosaurs once roamed, where ancestral Puebloans wandered, and later where Georgia O’Keeffe found her greatest voice through her paint strokes.
Exploring out here on this edge of this physiographic region my mind wanders to my own personal travels across the world and how they contributed to sculpting my geomorphology of body, heart, mind and soul. Geomorphology is an Ancient Greek derivative that means to study the physical features of the Earth’s surface and their relation to its geological structures. For me, it is a metaphor as we all have our own imprinted geomorphology that I believe is dramatically impacted through our seasons of travel. Travel challenges us, inspires us, educates us, connects and even heals us. When studying our own physically and internally inscribed features, some of us are foisted to reach out towards something foreign and use it to further transmute our topography.
As I watch the dying leaves of the cottonwood decay and notice how they’re withering back into the humus of the soil, which will provide the nutrients needed for next Spring, I think how travel offers its profound seasons and I can hear the lyrics of this song by The Dillards that says it so simply and beautifully.
There is a time for love and laughter
The days will pass like summer storms
The winter wind will follow after
But there is love and love is warm
There is a time for us to wander
When time is young and so are we
The woods are greener over yonder
The path is new the world is free
There is a time when leaves are fallin’
The woods are gray the paths are old
The snow will come when geese are callin’
So do your roaming in the springtime
And you’ll find your love in the summer sun
The frost will come and bring the harvest
And you can sleep when day is done
We travel for many different reasons, sometimes it’s for business, or a to spend quality time with your someone special, or a reunion of friends. Sometimes we are brave enough to journey solo, allowing travel to become a way of sifting through our own voice and challenging ourselves to reflect and indulge in a new region that may have been tugging on your soul for a while. Each season cultivates a new flavor and perhaps even a new genre for travel.
As we near Thanksgiving, a time for gathering in honor, in gratitude, and in communion with loved ones, the air gets chillier and we layer on sweaters and scarfs. The fragrance of our favorite ingredients be it pumpkin, nutmeg or sage start to burn a nostalgic emotion throughout our being. It’s our season in the song when “There is a time when leaves are fallin.” Wherever you are traveling this month may it feed your soul and offer you joy, balance and rejuvenation despite the busy nature of our holidays.
We have a few dreamy cultural occasions to add to the layering of your travels in December that we invite you to explore. In Taos I will be hosting our Horno Baking in Taos Pueblo tour on December 27th and limited spaces are left. On Christmas Eve, our guide Bobby Gonzales will be hosting our Christmas Eve Celebration to experience the luminarias of Old Town and then enjoy the native dances at Acoma Pueblo. In addition, it is our favorite year to journey to the historic village of Chimayo, or “Tsimayo” to indulge in the Magical Heirlooms of Chimayo where you can visit the healing sanctuary, learn about New Mexican traditional and contemporary weaving, and taste the elixir and healing spice of our beloved heirloom chile.
“There is a time for us to wander” and I would say that time is any season as long as your travels etch new formations within your own geomorphology. Happy November, folks!
