New Mexico . . .

I just finished a book called Cottonwood Saints and let me say that it was a most enjoyable read.

I'll back up a bit here and say that I've been reading a lot about New Mexico and lately have been trying to focus on fiction that takes place in this area. Stories rooted here have a definite flavor that I appreciate. It seems that the land of New Mexico is a character in most of these stories, as much of a force as the people about whom the authors write.

They remind me of the writings of John Steinbeck, who wrote so often of the area of California where I was raised. In my younger years, I marveled as I read such wonderful prose about places that were so familiar to me.

That said, in recent times, it seems that the California of which Steinbeck wrote and which seemed so much "mine" was slipping away. This was one of the reasons we decided to explore other areas of this fine country.

Now, as I read stories like the Lightning Field: Travels In and Around New Mexico and Cottonwood Saints, once again I am discovering this sense of wonder that I thought I had lost.

And it feels glorious.

Life is Good.