I’ve worn these boots to walk the Pecos path for over ten years. Today I thanked and retired them.
It’s fitting that they fell apart on this trip as I also let go of Trudy’s tree – a tree I deemed and decorated as Trudy’s tree on my first visit to Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery, All Saints Day, October 2012. Imagine my shock when I discovered that someone had cut it down!
We have been home for a week today. I am surprised by what memories come to mind, and which images stand out from the nearly 3,700 photos we took over thirty days in France and Spain.
I am delighted to discover some of the sights and feelings have not faded and that, in fact, some show up with an insistent tenderness for notice and appreciation. Like this one: feeding the crows at Jardin des Plantes on our last full day in Paris.
Continue reading Nods of Love
Earth Day. Trudy’s birthday.
I tried not to think too much about today and it being Trudy’s birthday and fittingly, Earth Day. But too many mystical tugs and sweet remembrances from friends made it impossible for me to not write about the beauty of Trudy and the beauty of our Earth.
Continue reading Earth Day 2023
The following excerpts from ROSETEARS tell of a very special and sacred moment at the Pecos Monastery nine years ago today. It was the moment I knew, in my soul, that love is eternal. I pray it brings you peace, or nudges you to recall your special moment of sensing loved ones nearby. Love to all, always.
“That same year [2012], as my broken heart struggled to find its rhythm without family and farmhouses that had vanished, I went on a surprisingly short yet monumental-for-me retreat to a Benedictine monastery in Pecos, New Mexico. There, even though I had not named what I wanted or needed, the earth, sky, wind, and spirit of the land stood up and volunteered to be my new home of soul on earth.”
“As that first retreat happened to fall on All Saints’ Day, I felt nudged to look to the blue New Mexican skies and sink into the crisp near-winter wind for a soul-sense of my loved ones, now saints with The Others.”
“Now, all these miles and years and funeral homes later, this small pine sheltered among the trees of New Mexico somehow reminded me of Dad’s tree still standing at its now regal height on the flat planes of the farm. I crouched down on the path, and squinting against the late autumn sun, blindly snapped a few shots with my phone while having no idea if the subject was within the frame.”
“That night, surrounded by books and journals in my cozy, creaky bed, I reviewed the photos I had taken and discovered the small pine had not only been centered within the frame but was mysteriously illuminated by three distinct arches of lavender light streaming brilliant coronations of love.”
“That tree, on the walking path beside the Pecos River, became for me Trudy’s tree—a tribute to our memories and a tangible marker of eternal love.”-excerpts from ROSETEARS, pgs 59-61
I made a conscious decision to unplug and keep the focus on the inside journey of the soul while attending school at The Abbey in Pecos. But my writing continued in a plethora of notebooks and journals – recording the events of the day as well as how the Spirit (with a capital S) moved among and through us. I’ll be posting more of these as they unwind – falling to form the mosaic that I know God created in me, and all of us as one Body of Christ. Continue reading Minou the Masterful Cat
One evening, it was turning dark and a few of us noticed that the ever-present, shining beacons-in-the-night lights were not on. We teamed up and looked and looked for the magic button.
Looking. Looking. Continue reading The Light of Jesus