Phoenix then east to Silver City, New Mexico.

Sunset at White Tanks from our beautiful campsite.

We both experienced the poverty of heart leaving dear friends in California. We sailed along in silence, towing our Flying Cloud. Shortly after crossing into Arizona, we re-entered the Sonoran desert and after spotting the first towering saguaro, with their open arms lifting skyward, we felt welcomed. Returning to places that we love is one of the treasures of this pilgrimage so pulling into White Tank Mountains Regional Park in the golden late afternoon light refreshed us. The cholla are in bloom now and plump buds adorn the top of the saguaro, like tiaras. The desert marigolds continue their endless blooming, palo verde are fragrant with their yellow flowers, now buzzing with busy honey bees.

Mimbres of my dreams. Notes from New Mexico.

Photo from the official literature about the Mimbres Collection at Western New Mexico University in Silver City, which we got to visit.

In this past week, one of my life-long dreams came true when we visited the world’s most comprehensive permanent collection of Mimbres pottery.  You will immediately recognize it for its delicate and graphic nature-referenced painting on pottery. I fell in love with this pottery on our earliest trip to New Mexico in 1989 when I first saw it in collections in museums in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.