February in Albuquerque, 2019

February in Albuquerque

The icy wind snaps at my face and bare hands. The high fluffy, white clouds seem to mock me from afar as if to say I would be better off if I had a few to wear on my hands to fool the biting wind. It is a clear, crisp day on our New Mexican ranch and the dark green, low shrubs and juniper trees stretch out as far as I can see. Across the road I see my favorite windmill whirling in the wind, the clean fresh winter filling my lungs and spirit. It is good to be in the place my heart already calls home.

It is snowing on the mountaintop and so we climb from the valley to meet it. The pale new sun is diminished within the opaque sky. The road has a dusting of snowflakes at the start of our ascent but this quickly becomes more and more pronounced as we climb. My new Acadia seems up to the task as we slip and slide a bit, thankful for my driver and the traction button, to put things right. At the end of the road, the sun is shining bright in the clean, crisp air. There is something about the altitude, I think, that creates a clarity of vision that is sharp and vivid. The white of the slopes separated from the same color sky only by the snow sprinkled pines within the silent wonder of the snow filled air. It is a brilliant day to play in the snow.

We have 3 skiers and a snowboarder with us today clad in makeshift warming layers. Two of the skiers are skilled, the others braving this mountain for the first time. They manage an initial couple runs in the bright sun before the clouds cover over, the wind picks up, and the snow flurries come down in earnest. The valley below becomes invisible as the fairyland mists cut us off from all but the awe of this pocket of winter.

I marvel at the tenacity and bravery of my young charges. They are not daunted by the challenges of learning this new skill; not the fear of the ski lift exit nor the falling at intervals nor the simple cold of sitting in the snow awaiting the inspiration to muster. Their willingness to brave the unknown makes me smile in fascination.

We are told the sun is again shining at the very top of the mountain, above the clouds, so off go a dad and son to conquer the last of the slopes. I am transported into my world of words as my spirit is overcome with the hardly containable joy of the ‘nature’ of this place and the spirit freeing magic of skiing.

Skiing is a place where you can be free of self judgement; free of the voice in your head; from the shackles of expectations, self recriminations, regrets, doubts, hopes and even dreams… to let go of all of life’s pressures and loss and fly free in the glorious gratitude of the moment. A small window of time to allow the crisp wind of your descent to clear away the accumulation and complications of life and empower the pressing of your own reset button. Such a gift it is to be wholly present in this present.

Inviting you to being wholly present in the precious present with me,

Anne