I do a lot of driving for my job. I try not to take kids in far-flung reaches of the county (and my county is bigger than most eastern states by a lot), but I did take a child who lives right under Peternal--Georgia O'Keefe's self-aclaimed personal mountain. I love going up to the Piedra Lumbre. I drove up to see this child this morning and had a few extra moments at Abiquiu Lake. The water is high, and at 8am on a Tuesday, it is perfectly quiet.

I find myself telling people occasionally that the Piedra Lumbre is my heart place. I'm not entirely sure what that means even. We went to Ghost Ranch a lot when I was a kid, so maybe that childhood association has something to do with it. It is mostly just a feeling I have when I am there... that the place is somehow different and that time doesn't mean anything there among the red rocks and surrounding mesas. I know many tapestry weavers who have woven images of Peternal. I've never been drawn to weaving landscapes myself. All I know is that there is no way I could capture the feeling of the place in a tapestry. It is too silent, too huge, and too personal. I'll leave Georgia's mountain for her... I can't promise I won't climb it again though. But when I'm on the top I'll say a little prayer of thanks to Georgia for being the woman of the Piedra Lumbre that she was.