Chimayo dirt

Old pilgrimage church at Chimayo, New Mexico (Thomas Photo)

Last October Tanya and I made a Journey to the East.

One of our destination stops was the old pilgrimage church in the village of Chimayo in northern New Mexico--between Taos and Santa Fe.

This small adobe church has become famous for miraculous cures--there is a small room behind the main altar where a pilgrim may scoop up some of the famous Chimayo dirt.

Honestly.

According to believers, this dirt--which has the same appearance as all the other dirt in the dry gullies of this dry land--has the special properties of medicine.

I recommend it.

Thomas

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Mill Creek Lodge

Mill Creek Lodge (Where its NOT happening!)

Hello.

This is a very new photo of the old Mill Creek Lodge.

The only difference in the photo and others you may have seen years ago is our green Chevrolet Aveo parked over on the right.

Change is in the air as they say, but some things change a bit less or slower than others!

And this antique building is one of those things!


When we drove over the Lassen Park Highway from the north last fall I was flabbergasted to see the huge "new" (I imagine) parking lot at the trail-head of the hiking trail to the mountain's summit! There was even a hot-dog stand or some such in the lot--and maybe a hundred cars already parked and their occupants already on the trail I suppose!

(Population explosion!!!)

Of course it had been several years since my last visit!

And when we drove around the corner below the Sulphur Works I was surprised again by the absence of the Lassen Chalet!

Holy Mackerel it was GONE!

A brand new building was taking its place!

There is, they say, no place in the universe where nothing changes nor moves.

So it is.

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Ahimsaland

Tanya checks the columbine at the Saturday Farmer's Market

Dear readers:

You may have noticed that I took a long weekend from writing.

Nice to be communicating with you again!

I am going to write some more about Lassen National Park, Mill Creek and Mineral and that good high country in northern California that I like so well so you can be ready for some reading again tomorrow.

For today, I would like to recommend a book I have recently come across which I believe is an important good read.

The title is The Inner Reaches of Outer Space and it is by the man who understood mythology so well, Joseph Campbell.

If you are enjoying my blog--you will enjoy this book.

See you tomorrow,

Thomas

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