Memorable air flights over el norte and the Sangre de Cristo mountain valley
Ilove flying, whether by regular airplanes or by imaginative thought or by my spirit. The things and creatures that soar in our magnificent skies, like the great eagles and crafts and other objects, have fascinated me all of my life. The view from altitude grants much–needed perspective and a broad context of earth, waters, sky and life-giving sun.
My first airplane flight was in the mid-1960s as a passenger in Dr. Ashley Pond’s small private plane, from Albuquerque airport to Bill Miller’s landing strip aquí en Taos.
It was a good trip and he was an accomplished pilot. I was awed by the landscapes over which we flew including the Río Grande, ancient pueblo sites and all the views, which seemingly stretched to infinity. I will always bless the memory of Dr. Pond for that trip and of course for the safe landing back in Taos.
It would be almost 15 years until my next flight. In the meantime I worked with the stewards and caretakers of our cultural and land and water resources, advocating for the preservation and strengthening of our acequias, for example. In 1972 I began my writing association with
In 1980, I traveled for the first time by jet craft, from Albuquerque to Seattle, Washington, and the vista was so much
greater; we flew in the clear view of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, and I could sense the inter-dynamic relationship between the mysteries of our planet and those of our humanity.
As time passed, it became increasingly evident to me that a surpassing transcendent and binding truth exists, namely that there is an essential and ineluctable fusion of the human spirit or soul and of the energies and forces that drive the movements and cycles and mechanics of all else that exists, and that probably sooner than later, that truth and others will be plainly revealed.
In 1985, the Tres Rios Acequia Association of Taos was awarded a grant from the Charles Lindbergh Foundation. I was invited to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to receive the award and to address the Lindbergh gathering– to speak about the relationship between humans and the natural world as expressed through the acequia cultures and traditions.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, widow of Charles Lindbergh, told me about times circa the 1930s when she and her husband would fly over lands in the Southwest including Northern New Mexico and they would comment on the rivers and the networks of acequias that were bringing water and life to some seemingly arid landscapes. Also present at that gathering were some of the American astronauts (kind of like all those flying and space people flocking together).
We used the Lindbergh Grant funds to produce a good video production, which is still available for viewing.
As part of that acequia video production, we arranged for a comprehensive view flight over el norte with a special focus on the Sangre de Cristo mountain and valley lands and region, over the high lakes from which flow the Río Pueblo de Taos and the other rivers and streams of the area, and documenting the acequias and the lands they serve in the “spiritual symbiosis” of our area. Perspective and context.
Many more books and stories about all this can and will be written and told.
And we say a prayer: “Father, who touches the skies, Lord of the lands and waters, Lord of the Moon and the Sun: Come to us, standing tall and full of generosity. Give to us our daily nourishment. Keep away bad spirits and the evil ghosts. Vanquish the evil ones. Bring forth our good spirits, so that we may prevail for you. Listen and grant our prayers.”
David Fernandez is a Taos historian, spiritual leader and writer.
‘As time passed, it became increasingly evident to me that a surpassing transcendent and binding truth exists, namely that there is an essential and ineluctable fusion of the human spirit or soul’