The Magic of a Clean Slate

There are so many cliche things about a new start. I could use them all, but I won't. I just want to begin, to sit and talk as if with a group of friends. A few of my favorite things--raindrops and roses perhaps but no kittens. I am allergic to cats. Not that I do not like them but they make me sneeze and my eyes run and my skin break out. Not pretty. So I stick with dogs for my fur-friends mostly.

The title says it all, or as nearly as I can in a few words. Of course all my faves are not 'D' words but many are and these four are very near the top of the list. Throw in sunsets and happy endings and the many faces of nature.... All those will be saved for other days.

Right now I celebrate the fact that I am back in the true southwest which I know and love, I truly believe from many lives here or in similar places before this one. My spirit is at home here--rugged mountains, dust, heat and all. In Carlos Casteneda's books about the Mexican shaman and wise man Don Juan, he spoke of finding one's place. The high desert is mine--more specifically I have many smaller bits of this world that call to me and in which I fit and feel right but the desert is home. The Welsh have a word "Hireth" which describes the soul-deep longing one feels for that true home-of-the-heart. Although I have a lot of Celtic blood and I am very much drawn to the British Isles and ancient sites there, either from genetic memory, past lives or other ties, I am most drawn to the desert. It is good to be back.

The picture at the top is one of the spectacular sunsets for which New Mexico is known. I call the dominant color shown "fire gold", a term I coined many years ago when I was a teen living in the middle part of Arizona and even then entranced with sunsets. Enjoy! We'll be back to talk more tomorrow!