(east/west, day seven: New Mexico)
Stopped in Santa Rosa when the sun hit my windscreen
Quit nice and early after eight hours on the go
Now it’s nice and early in the morning and I’m loaded up on caffeine
Ready to go deep into New Mexico
It’s good to get going after knocking off so early
And get the motor running into this enchanted land
It’s the middle of the morning when I reach Albuquerque
Where I round the southern Rockies and cross the Rio Grande
This is the desert of the heart
Where we are purified before we restart
Where we’re strengthened so that we can face
Our new lives in a brand-new place.
The view spread out before me is nothing short of jaw-dropping
It’s a widescreen cinemascape—but the wind, oh, the wind!
On my right, 20 massive waves of painted-rock outcroppings
On my left, the scrubland plain … did I mention the wind?
Blowing hard from the south, threatening to bowl me over
Its stiffness and insistence more than a match for my weight
If I keep watching the scenery, I’ll veer into the shoulder
So I keep steering hard to left to keep the beast straight
This is the desert of the heart
Amidst all this divine fine art
Where we can’t help but be impressed
But remember our goals as we onward press.
And the road keeps on going and the beast keeps on rolling
Until I’m up and over the Great Divide
From here all rivers flow west, and so I must join them
From here I can already sense the end of the ride
Sign outside the travel stop says don’t stop for anybody
Prison nearby, gee, that makes me feel so reassured
This one time I wish I had a thirty-eight road buddy
One sure-fire way to keep myself secure
But I see no desperadoes as I push back into the desert
So I take these desperate thoughts and push them out of my mind
And head into the vista that seems to go on forever
And soon enough I’m barreling over the state line
This is the desert of the heart
Where our grand ambitions play no part
Where our biggest plans are made so small
And our egos are nowhere at all
This is the desert of the heart
Where we reckon together though we’re far apart
The shape of things the future will take
And decide upon the life we will make.
©2024 The Hesh Inc.
Monday morning, June 23, 2003, I got up just as it was getting light outside, had my continental breakfast, and headed for the continental divide. But before I got there, I was witness to what I consider the most breathtaking vista of the entire trip ... an entire series of massive painted-rock outcroppings, spread out for many miles to the north of and parallel to the interstate. I should have stopped to take pictures because no photographs I have ever seen since could capture the landscape's sheer panoramic majesty. The other main feature of this leg of the journey was the stiff wind, blowing unobstructed across the plains all the way from Mexico. I knew that the word kansas means "people of the south wind," but the wind was just as defining of the climate in New Mexico, and I reflected upon this tidbit as I constantly steered to the left, into the wind, to keep from being blown off the road. Soon I was up over the Great Divide, and I thought, if I had any hesitation since I crossed the Mississippi several days before, now there was definitely no turning back.
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