My second day out of Ohio, I found myself looking forward…from the instant I entered “Eternity”, my Honda Civic.  Old memories of my life in New Mexico back in the 90’s rushed to the forefront.  I’d taken this very route once before…as I trailed Kevin, my longtime boyfriend in those days, from New Hampshire to Santa Fe.

That first trip out I was a follower….training my eyes to the license plate of the Uhaul Kevin towed.  That first trip I was excited, but on edge….one never knew what might set Kevin into a rant…into me driving around eggshells all over the highway.

But today I was surrounded by hawks….everywhere…soaring solo all across the fields of Oklahoma.  So many hawks, flying like me….free, alone, independent, ecstatic.

Twenty five years have passed, nearly to the month, since that first trip.  And all I could think of as my memories unraveled before me, was a line from a new favorite song, introduced to me by Annie and Mark Miller:  “Think of all the wool I’ve spun to be here tonight.”

My life could have gone so many different ways….but here I am, on the road, ready to head into New Mexico an hour or two after sunrise….to see if she, that enchanted  landscape, has survived as beautifully as I have!!