On The Trail

Watched the blood moon of a full lunar eclipse this morning. It was hanging in the clear skies over the Guadalupe Mountains. I tell you; I have fallen well and truly in love with West Texas. First it was Marathon, then Big Bend, now the Guadalupe Mountains. I have no idea how I managed to miss all this while living in Texas for 60 years, but I did. I guess three kids, jobs, and living a long way off in Houston had something to do with it.

And speaking of something a long way off, I believe you can drive all day and all night, and El Paso will never get closer. I think all the highway signs should simply say, El Pass, you’re still not there. Or El Paso, nope you’re not that close. Anything else just breeds false hope and probably destroys souls. We’re still not in El Paso and we drove for six hours from Ozona yesterday. It is possible to believe El Paso is simply an imaginary place.

Meanwhile, here we are sitting in a campground at the foot of El Capitan and Guadalupe Peak waiting for the sun to rise and the day to start so that we can go hike McKittrick Canyon. We did a short turn up Devils Hall trail yesterday to get the blood flowing and our legs warm. It felt good to be walking and there was beauty all around as the maples are turning while the Madrones and Alligator Juniper’s are full of berries. It is showtime for nature. It feels good to be out in it and I can hardly wait as the sky begins to lighten and the day beckons.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Tale