Galisteo Basin Preserve

I am mapping “the heart of a woman,” my current poetry and photography project, in a hermitage at Galisteo Basin Preserve. Commonweal Conservancy generously granted me permission to create a simple “refuge” in a place of deep quiet and inspirational landscape.

I found a simple structure (lightweight, portable, low impact, “origami popup” hut) and carefully located it in a clearing among junipers last November. I map clouds, wind, arroyo, hills, sunrise, sunset by day and stars, moon and dreams by night.

Each season has startled with sights and sounds.

I keep something like a ship’s log exploring questions like:

  • How does the rhythm of the land and a larger field inform our lives?
  • What is it about our home in New Mexico that inspires and heals?