to Repeat:

"The word doesn't translate.  It is used in Spanish to designate that mysterious little area in the bullring that catches the fancy of the fighting bull when he charges in.  He imagines it his sanctuary:  when parked there, he supposes he cannot be hurt….So it is,  borrowing the term,  that one can  speak of one's "querencia" to mean that little, unspecified area in life's arena where one feels safe, serene."       William F. Buckley              Racing Through Paradise

These words had huge significance to me when i first came to New Mexico.   When,  leaving for almost a year,  then coming Back.  When i moved here,  to this small acre,  Great meaning.  When driving back Home from the visit to my mother in Minnesota.   And last,  when driving home from the airport long term parking lot after flying to San Diego for my granddaughter giving birth to her son.   The woman in the parking booth, collecting fees,  asked me where i'd been.  I told her and she said   "Oh,  and you had to come back",  and i burst into tears and cried all the way home down I-25.

In a conversation with Cynthia, she gave these words…."entering the arena of the old".

Entering the arena of the old.

these words have sifted through all the rest.  Entering the arena of the old.  I am that child down at the creek,  the invincible 17 year old,  the first time mother of 26 years,  the restless woman of 39 years,    the one who set out i don't know what year and then….the one who just went.  For a long time.  A long time of Just Going.  but now…..

Threshhold.  A place between Here and There.  From where i am to where i will go:  Entering the arena of the old.   Here i am.  and funny…i have always love the Idea of it,  since i was a child.  But arriving with no turning back,  well…..it's going to take some Work.   

the Goats.  The Goats were/are a kind of Basket to put things in because they are so Obviously a Change and so so FULL of all manner of things.  But i really think the Goats are not It at all.  It is that realization of the Threshhold.  So.  OK.   The Goats are PART of IT,  but really,  its the sense of  Finite.   Such finite time,  so much to love              and How Best to Love It.

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Today,  the Dog Cloth arrived at Wendy's.   It was Worked in the Sand Tray.  "it was buried and unburied and there was howling and barking".    

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any time i look in her direction,  she is looking Back at me

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the Roots go

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the blue….water….is it something that needs to be here?  I don't know.  Maybe

 

 

 

 

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17 responses to “Querencia”

  1. Mo Crow Avatar

    your words and images brought to mind a favourite old song, “Box of Rain” by Grateful Dead
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4SqDx1vi4c

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  2. ² Avatar
    ²

    for me yes , the water blue or grey or green it is always there …. sometimes deep soooo deep , roots know how to find it ….. even a smal drop ; so YES , sister who lives in N M .

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  3. .cynthia Avatar
    .cynthia

    oh i had not heard that song or listened to it in so long..now it is in my head..happily exactly there..believe it if you need it..and i do right now..

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  4. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Barry Lopez’s The Rediscovery of North America: “Lopez explains that querencia is a place where one feels secure, ‘a place from which one’s strength of character is drawn.’ In Spain, it is the place in the ring where the wounded bull goes to renew his strength and center himself, ready for a fresh charge. What a beautiful concept: ‘A place in which we know exactly who we are. The place from which we speak our deepest beliefs.’”
    How would we each define querencia in our own lives? Being a vagabond for so many years, what grounded me and this is no pun is the ground, the land, wherever we lived. Foraging among weeds, trees, grasses, this is where I knew I belonged, no matter where we were.
    We speak of meaning and intent sometimes in our cloth: the dog cloth arrived and was used immediately and the howling and barking well, I like to think that this was the gift of spirit that Tay imparted to the cloth…children need to do that, howl and bark, and roll around and laugh and FEEL safe and silly…
    Yes, I agree with Maria, put water on this cloth because it is so needed here and has been for several years now of drought in New Mexico. It certainly could be seen, your piece of cloth or however you depict water by stitch, as an extra blessing because we are scheduled to have rain and snow today and tomorrow, supposedly we will get from 1 -2″ of snow and you will get from 1-3″ of snow tonight…I say, yes, let it come, helped along by some water stitching!

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  5. Carol Avatar
    Carol

    Wow Marti!! “…what grounded me and this is no pun is the ground, the land, wherever we lived. Foraging among weeds, trees, grasses, this is where I knew I belonged, no matter where we were.” That is exactly what grounds me—no matter what is going on in my life. Always among the wild things and rooted things I feel secure, safe, happy.

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  6. Saskia Van Herwaarden Avatar

    tears of joy or sadness at returning?
    those roots bring alive the magic of this cloth for me

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  7. jude Avatar

    life is a big sand tray.

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  8. .cynthia Avatar
    .cynthia

    ..it is amazing to me how much better i was handling this threshold in the summer..when it was warm and i was outside and barefoot in the dirt all the time..
    i like the background ..it refracts light right at me like all the snow and ice surrounding me here..the roots so alive are grounding me even as they fly..and the flower spirit makes me smile..she does look back…

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  9. grace Avatar

    the difference it makes…when our feet are bare
    footpalm to the Earth
    and the roots
    those roots that Remain Alive and silently thriving Under It All
    those roots
    i Count on them
    i ask them to also Ground me, hold me

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  10. KAMFreeman Avatar

    it is always the earth. in my hands, between my fingers, planting seeds…..tilling with a small hand trowel…these activities always make a place home….a peaceful plsce

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  11. grace Avatar

    yes. believe it if you need it

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  12. grace Avatar

    Maria…it IS there, but covered with Winter and so i took
    it away.

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  13. grace Avatar

    grounded by the ground. It sounds like the title of a Song
    in Jungian terms, dogs represent the body.
    as i said to Maria above, i took it out. Maybe thread? Maybe

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  14. grace Avatar

    Joy. Just sheer Joy and Relief. San Diego was another world
    to me, all concrete and overwhelming

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  15. grace Avatar

    this acre certainly is

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  16. grace Avatar

    it is the loving gift from the Planet, isn’t it. Yes. Always.

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  17. ² Avatar
    ²

    i have asked myself more than one’s the question
    when is it start that are planet become to have some soil/earth
    the same name we give it as the planet name
    for me …. after a verry long time ….. when there become little vegetal growing and after the four seasons they become some compost they were mixt with sand ( that came from the scour of the wind over the rocks and the work of water )
    so IS are earth we plant in our plants verry close connect with ROCKS
    wath do you think ?
    it is hard to translate with the write words
    just some toughts on a verry early morning ( 4 o clock )

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