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| Highway 380, Valley of Fires, near Carrizozo, New Mexico |
I have the luxury of locating myself in a travel destination - New Mexico - for one year.
A year is a roomy expanse of time to explore the state in the breadth and depth I wish. No hours hunkered over a one- or two-week itinerary, weighing the must-see value of too many sightseeing candidates against too little time and money.
With a year, I can see all that I want to see.
But I find this isn't entirely true. While the geographic locations of interest remain constant, their seasonality does not.
To wit: fall foliage. Or signature annual events, like the upcoming Day of the Dead and the Festival of the Cranes.
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| Credit: Calavera Coalition |
I arrived in New Mexico toward the end of September. With my focus on finding a place to live and settling in, before I knew it, I was at the end of October.
In Alamogordo, in the high desert, there's no fall foliage to speak of (at least thus far in the beginning of November), so I've got to go out in search of it.
I can't wave away the sightseeing deadline with a casual, "Oh, I'll catch it next year." I don't know where I'll be next year.
So there's a sense of urgency in some things.
Thus, where will I be this weekend? At Mesilla's Dia de los Muertos. Because the dead won't wait.
2 comments:
When I saw the title and description of your blog, I was like wait a minute! Who's writing about me? LOL I'm an introverted woman of a certain age who's gotten rid of her stuff, in the process of selling my house, and I'm now confronted with this "paradox of temporary permanence." Thank you for giving me a perfect label for this transitional period of my life. :-)
Enjoy New Mexico! I've landed outside of St. Louis. Who knows where this journey will take me? :-)
That is so funny! And guess what?! I just relocated from outside of St. Louis! I hope you have wide distribution of your book and the successful completion of your next.
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