Well, a shocking idea has taken hold in the farmhouse. Maria and I are actually talking about taking a vacation in the Fall, after the October Open House.

In our decade together, we have taken a number of short and weekend trips, and two trips to Disney World under very divergent circumstances. The first was a desperate escape, it was a brutal winter and we both had just left long marriages and were in pieces. The second was a gift given to me by people in my online creative group after my Open Heart Surgery.

Disney World is fun, especially for kids, but I have to confess that I have outgrown it. It is frightfully expensive, insanely crowded and overbooked, and for us, anything but restful. Since then, we have not had anything like a real vacation and since both work all of the time, usually seven days a week, it is time.

We talked about Maine, but after browsing online for a bit, I told Maria is didn’t feel like it was the right place for us.. – also very touristy, crowded and lobster-centric and crafts obsessed. And expensive.

We have often talked plaintively about taking a vacation together, but never mustered the will to do it.

I have always wanted to take Maria to Florence, and she has always wanted to take me to New Mexico. Since it has become more apparent every day that I will not be able to take Maria to Florence in this lifetime, I suggested we go to New Mexico. I am drawn to the desert, to seeing George O’Keefe’s house, to taking photos.

She was thrilled, it was, I think, what she most wanted to do. We will try to learn to relax (I will blog from there at least once a day, sending photos in the early dawn) and stare out at the desert, visit museums, walk and read. We have found a wonderful hotel in a small village a couple of hours outside of Sante Fe.

There are very cheap flights and exotic and inexpensive places to stay.

We’re thinking eight days. We will have all the requisite freaking out and money discussions, but it is a good thing to do, it is an essential part of being productive and creative and engaged with the world. Sometimes you just have to step outside of yourself and sometimes, you just need to relax, and let the body and mind re-charge.

This is hard for us to do, we feel guilty about taking trips, being away from the farm. We’re also very excited by the idea.

We have a wonderful kennel nearby for the dogs, and good people to watch over the farm. Life is, in fact, short, and I will be dead for a long time. I think I’ll love New Mexico, and Maria already does. Win-win.

So, barring some change of heart, I think we will do it in late October or November. Our first real vacation in some years. We both know it’s something we want to do and need to do. I write a lot about mercy and empathy, I told Maria it is time to be merciful to ourselves.