Loomings

"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bring up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.”

Herman Melville, from Moby Dick

Near the end of a difficult year without a proper vacation, I was badly in need of a change of scenery. I was even becoming alarmed at seeing myself begin to identify with Ishmael, Melville’s discontented narrator of Moby Dick. So by November, I accounted it high time to take a trip. Where my literary friend and I differ is that I prefer the land to the sea. Mary Ann agreed, so the decision was made. Strangely however, we ended up in a place that was once an ancient sea.

November was drawing near and the leaves were beginning to turn color in Dallas, at least on a small scale, so a trip to see an abundance of autumn color seemed like an attractive idea. But it was too late in the season for New England, and although Texas was still a possibility, this part of the country is not known for its fall colors. Nevertheless, Texas is big and full of surprises, so we gave her a chance to show us something that we had never seen.

Our destination would turn out to be the answer to a riddle:

Where do you find a place that will envelop you in brilliant autumn colors along a clear running mountain stream in the desert of far west Texas?

The answer is the wild and picturesque McKittrick Canyon in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. As I began to read more about the Guadalupe Mountains, it became clear that this was going to be more than just an autumn colors road trip. This unique place is a relict of past ages, full of ancient stories and unexpected beauty. We were undaunted by the well-publicized warnings: “this is a wilderness area…don’t expect to find a general store…bring water, food, everything you need to survive…don’t call us—call 911…” that is if your cell phone works. The warnings only served to heighten the sense of adventure, but we would soon learn that we were taking on much more than just a “Sunday walk in the park”.

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