El Paso to Houston

We are gaining speed

 I wait for the second it happens

The familiar pull, the drag, the weightless lift

We are up

The earth expands and shrinks

I can see more and less

Is the world more or less clear

From up here?

Do I know more about this city

Because I can see it from above?

Or

Is the truth in

The sand the cactus or the wind

The grit and heat of the desert?

Detached I watch the mountains

Ripple against the plain

The roads winding between endless horizons

I wonder

Who and what is down there?

What is it like to be there?

In that world?

Two feet on that land?

 The moment comes when we

Begin our return to earth

The engines cut power and

Measured descent begins

In the clouds we are tossed

By unseen currents

Flying blind through the clouds

Faith and instruments guiding us

 

Suddenly the clouds open

The world is green

Lush trees and water

A wet and foggy world

So far from the dryness of desert

We straighten ourselves and wait

Anticipate the transition that is landing

We have arrived  

But not yet home

HIKING IN THE ARIZONA SUN

Hiking in the sun is

Less than fun

But it is instructive

The dangers controlled with

Sleeves, hat, water and sun screen

Special shoes to keep feet firmly on the trail

It’s the length of the challenge

A marathon of finishing

I start, hopeful

Imagining myself an explorer

A naturalist, a women of the wild

But soon my mind asks

How long?

When will it be over?

 It’s not something I admit

How could I?

Hiking is so virtuous

Environmental  and healthy

But fun?

Not  exactly

Too much vigilance is required

Rocks to trip

Vicious cactus to scratch and draw blood

Keep eyes and thoughts down

On the ground

Focused and concentrating

For long, very long minutes

There is the conversation

Challenged by single file

The questions, comments and musings

About topography, geology and botony

The best is the philosophical reflection

The exploration of the constant metaphors

About life

Taking wrong paths

Not reading the signs

Tempted by less travelled trails

Unmarked by wisdom

Perhaps travelled by fools

There is failing to look up

Fixated on the path

Too intent on avoiding risk

To see the beauty of the panorama

The sky, the vista and possibilities

Perhaps losing faith in finishing

Famished by the load

Dried by the sun

Exhausted by the climb

Losing joy in the journey

Wanting only the end 

Finally it does end

Back to the parking lot

And the question

How was it for you?

Did you like it?

And the response?

Of course

Ya it was great!

What trail should we try next?