Medicine Wheel in Wyoming…one of the most magickal and alive places I have ever been.

Currently, I am reading Neil Peart’s book “Ghost Rider” which details how he found healing after the untimely deaths of his wife and daughter. I admit, there is a definitive appeal to being able to travel places without any aim or destination in mind. I do find long-distance driving to be relaxing, and quite a bit therapeutic. Two summers ago, Pam and I traveled up to Glacier National Park in Montana – driving the entire distance. Along the way, there were stops in South Dakota – which included a drive through Pine Ridge reservation, and a very wild scene where a protest was being made against the liquor stores in the “community” of White Clay, Nebraska. The return trip included a stop at the very magickal place of Medicine Wheel in Wyoming – a location I have a very strong desire to revisit.

The long drive went along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, which afford some wonderful views of the majestic peaks just to the west. And while Glacier National Park was a fantastic location to visit – along with the wonderful energy that the entire area gives off — it was the long driving that was most therapeutic and relaxing for me. I enjoy being behind the wheel of the car during the long drives – watching the scenery unfold before me, as each mile moves beneath the vehicle. Perhaps there’s a bit of gypsy in me, perhaps its the ability to viw the beauty of the vistas that appear before me — I have no true idea. But its something that definitely drives into my soul.

This year, the big trip was to Mesa Verde, and the beauty of the trip was marvelous. The land around me was filled with the wonderful magicks of Place, and the misty touch of Ancestors that were not my own. This December, I travel back to England – the first time I have been back to the island since the mid 1980s. I have no idea what to expect — except that I will be on a tour with the college. So my time in various locations will be limited. But I know that I will be filled with a desire to come back again – on my own terms, and my own speed. And that will happen.

But I came back to my apparent wanderlust. My desire to travel to places and see. To experience. To connect. And I am sometimes a little unsure of the “why” factor or if that even matters. And I read books like Peart’s, and I understand some aspect of riding a motorcycle those long distances – the freedom, the feeling of experiencing….and I know a kinship with that.

And I am left wondering how that fits in with who I am, and where I am in life — and how it connects with where I have been, and what I have been in my past. And I realize…there are shadows in who I am.  Darkened little corners that I have yet to explore too deeply. Some areas that I once was very connected with – that I have set off to the side, to sit in the dark, gathering dust until I returned…I know who I am. But there are always parts of me that I will discover and rediscover….