When I wiped my brow, I felt loose sand trickle over my eye and onto my cheek. I clenched my eyes and mouth shut. I could feel grains of sand crunch between my teeth. It was extremely windy at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We tried to beat the heat by staying in the car and driving down the 4WD road but putting us later in the day meant higher winds in the dune field that afternoon/evening.
Crossing the stream barefoot was cold but it didn’t take long for the warm sand to soak up all the moisture. We walked until the sand-studded wind irritated our skin. Walking back through the creek was refreshing.
We returned later that evening to see how the light had changed and discovered even higher winds. The stream colder still and there were other crossing into the dunes—likely to enjoy the night sky. How they survived the wind storm, I don’t know.
Monday was all about high wind and rain. We were traveling to Salida, Colorado from the southwest and my mom was joining from the east. We were soaked all day and night. But we set up camp and tucked in early in an effort to stay warm.
We woke up earlier than it could warm up in the vintage 1973 Argosy my mom affectionately calls “Sweet Tater.” Parked at the headwaters of the Arkansas river, we encountered a large caddis hatch and Ray caught a few fish. He was especially excited to catch one on a dry fly right at camp.
Mom and Ray spent two days flyfishing while I read and meditated on my health and well being. It’s been a rough road that I don’t like to talk about as I’m working on changing my story. I’m working on writing my next chapter that I hope to be sharing over the coming months and I continue my rise from chronic pain to thriving.
In addition to learning some new healing techniques to support my journey, I am feeling a flood of information forming from my collected skills and wisdom. I’m writing a lot and it’s showing up both in my professional and personal life: Work I’m doing for Kadabra, supporting the instructors by training tech hosts for the Legacies III conference.
For those who don’t follow me on social media, I shared this video last month after taking Julie Gieseke’s Tiny Memoir class. I highly recommend!
Please stay tuned throughout the summer. We have a few camping trips planned. Our goal is to spend as much time in nature, with each other, and making our way to a thriving state again.
On the Road with Flo 