Ghost Ranch Labyrinth, with prayer rocks under Kitchen Mesa, Ghost Ranch, NM, August 2, 2008, photos © 2008 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
with right foot forward
in step with the searing heat
we walk in circles
prayer for healing
prayer to Kitchen Mesa
slow walk of courage
-related to posts haiku (one-a-day), Labyrinth Walker, and labyrinth haiku.
redravine.wordpress.com 
wow, I recognise that landscape, Rick sent me photies of the ghost ranch from last time he was there, the blue of the sky against the bleached rocks, amazing…..so alien to me (coming from UK and all)…..it looks so thirsty. Great haiku, especially like: in step with searing heat; great rhythm.
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ybonesy, this is a stunningly beautiful post. As you know, I’m a BIG fan of labyrinths and the fact that this one is at Ghost Ranch makes it all the better. I didn’t know they even had a labyrinth. Where was it in relation to the pond? (I need to get my bearings on it.) I’d love to walk it next time I am there. And I definitely plan to go back.
So did you walk it alone or with other people? And did you sit at the center for a while? When I was walking the Carondelet labyrinth in St. Paul, I used to sit at the center and write haiku. It was a joy and a luxury of no time and space. Just wondering what your experience was walking it.
Love the photographs. Just great.
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Thank, QM. I knew you’d like this post, being as how much you love labyrinths. This one is on the path from the dining area to the art buildings. Where we started on that one hike with Natalie was the last art building, so we were just above the labyrinth that time.
Little Em walked the labyrinth with me. (Dee was tucked away in the library reading Breaking Dawn.) It was after lunch, about 1:30p, horrendous heat, and we were the only two people on the paths, it seemed. I think it might have been hotter than when we went with Natalie and group. I told Em that I was going to walk it slowly; she told me that she could only walk it fast. Which she did, but with her little steps she was never much farther ahead of me.
Well, with the sun bearing down, I eventually picked up my pace. We stayed a little while, not long, in the center. Em showed me the rock she had put in there with her group earlier in the week. It was the one that said Love and Hope. Then we left. Said “hi” to the donkeys.
Very calming experience. Kind of like swimming underwater, but instead of water, swimming in heat. Stillness inside.
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Jo, funny you should mention Rick. I recognized Naomi (Rick’s wife) at Ghost Ranch during lunch. It was a most unuusal experience, like if I were to see you or someone else I know through blogging, suddenly in person.
We were both there only for the weekend, although we only chatted for a brief time. Very cool. Makes me think about what these interactions mean. What are our friendships like? How are they different than friendships that exist in person, how are they the same?
It is a thirsty, thirsty land. Rugged, dramatic, extreme. And spiritual, as many extreme places are. BTW, it’s also one of the best places for a family vacation. The only place I know of, other than perhaps resorts, where the kids can run loose and independent. (And being the Cowbird that I am, I love kids who are independent — HA! Inside joke.)
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ybonesy, I totally understand about the heat. I remember Ghost Ranch on our walk with Natalie and class. And I remember Savannah and Augusta last week when the heat was so stifling, I could hardly catch my breath the minute I walked out the door.
It’s great that you walked the Ghost Ranch labyrinth with Em. Mom and I kept passing the brick labyrinth we visited in Martinez, Georgia in June of 2007 and every time, she’d point that direction and say, “There’s the circle path we walked.”
You can’t walk a labyrinth without slowing down at least a little bit. It’s kind of like working on the mandalas — the slow down is automatic and internal, even amidst all the craziness going on around us. I’ll check this one out at Ghost Ranch next time I’m there. I’d like to visit there in the Fall. 8)
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The haiku and the meditative walks sound like the perfect antidote
for a fast-paced life. Time to clear and be cleansed. Labyrinths wield such power, like a mandala.
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yb, I just read your comment about seeing Naomi, Rick’s wife. Wow! Talk about connections in the universe!
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