Home again.
And it’s good to be here. It is good to travel, and it is good to come home. This year has been a time of travel for me. Relaxing, Educational.

I lose myself in the clouds as they lumber across the sky, and get caught up in the flight of birds as they pass overhead.

I relax into the scent of Flagstaff pine, salty California ocean air and Santa Fe sage.

I am soothed by early morning mountain breezes tickling my face, startled by Texas wind pummeling my skin.

My blood quickens with the buzz of crickets in Gallup, the babble of water in Arizona fountains, the low moos of cattle in Texas, the crash of the Newport Beach surf.

And my tongue tingles with the cool of frozen yogurt in California and the heat of New Mexican green chilis.

This most recent trip, driving to California, crossed the Texas Panhandle, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Much of the view during the drive was desert-like. Western Oklahoma was dry, Texas was dry, New Mexico was dry, Arizona and California – the same.

Drought predominates in the southwest U.S. And with the drought, the heat.  Beautiful, glorious sunshine, all you would ever want. And yet this year, it has been too much.

No taste of fall in the air this trip, even though the calendar page has flipped to September.

A pause, now. A chance to rethink, regroup. Autumn. That gentle slope when days shorten, heat lessens and breath comes easier. I am ready.