RETURN TO TAOS

Natalie Goldberg was my first New Mexico tour guide. In Writing Down the Bones and Wild Mind, two of her amazing books about writing, Natalie often works in a Santa Fe or Taos cafe, nibbling something yummy and scribbling something lovely in her ever-present notebook. When I first read Natalie's descriptions, some small part of me believed that if I got a cup of coffee in New Mexico, and lingered, pen in hand...I could write as I'd never written before.

In my early twenties, I traveled from the bleak canyons and grey snow of New York City to marvel beneath the world's biggest, clearest, bluest sky. Taos' blinding, pristine winter stunned me into speechless love. I adored everything: the ever-present hanging ristras, the heat and comfort of green chili, the nighttime smell of pinon burning in kiva fireplaces. New Mexico was, by far, the most beautiful place I'd been. When I returned home, I subscribed to New Mexico magazine and ached for the day I'd be a famous writer living in an adobe house.

I don't remember if I wrote a single word when I was in Taos.

Though I've revisited New Mexico several times, I haven't returned to Taos. I am contemplating a quick visit in a couple of weeks. I'm curious to see what summer is like, and what the town has become.

Has my unrequited love been worth these years of longing?

For this visit, I plan on bringing (and using) a notebook, camera, pen, and laptop.

And, of course, my copies of Natalie's books.