Showing 1—14 of 14 results

The Return Fourteen Christina Nealson

There is the most yellow of yellow butterflies stuck under our windshield wiper. A piece of the sun, moving with us towards the border, flapping in the wind. Journal, June 16 Xilitl... read more

exploring-tourism perspectives

Guanajuato Christina Nealson

Narrow, serpentine streets. Old world baroque buildings. Steep hills - shoehorned with vivid-colored casas. I have dropped into a spectacular place - a cross between San Francisco and Paris. ... read more

exploring-tourism perspectives Guanajuato, Guanajuato

12 - La Pena of Bernal And Mexico Magico Christina Nealson

It is like a scene from a Fellini movie. Shrieking laughter of women. French music from a boom box. Chop chop chop of a machete. And we, hunkered down in our sleeping bags. Journal, June 13... read more

exploring-tourism perspectives Guanajuato

Eight - On To Morelia And Patzcuaro Christina Nealson

We get out of town, skipping the tianguis of Ajijic. It was just … time to leave. Journal, June 4, 2003 We pile into the packed car once again. Destination... read more

exploring-tourism perspectives Morelia, Michoacán

Mexico Notes Christina Nealson

Ten Narrow, serpentine streets. Old world baroque buildings. Steep hills - shoehorned with vivid-colored casas. I have dropped into a spectacular place - a cross between San Francisco and Paris. Journa... read more

exploring-tourism Guanajuato

Seven - Ajijic And Lake Chapala Christina Nealson

This place, where people do not say buenos dias , they sing it. Mexican men and women alike. Journal, June 3, 2003 Soon out of San Blas we hit the four-lane ... read more

exploring-tourism perspectives

Xilitla And Las Pozas Christina Nealson

The final three days of our journey raise me above the lather of crowds and traffic. Muse returns, to the swish swish of the Mexico broom. Sweep sidewalks. Sweep streets and and home. Brooms in blue an... read more

exploring-tourism perspectives

Pátzcuaro Christina Nealson

A family with creamy brown skin walks by, holding hands, swinging arms. Laughing aloud. They are arranged like stair steps - father, mother, big daughter and little daughter, who look to be around ages... read more

exploring-tourism perspectives Patzcuaro, Michoacán

Eleven - San Miguel De Allende Christina Nealson

The Anglos of San Miguel remind me of the frog that happily swims round and round in a pot of cold water, brought so slowly to a boil, that he doesn't recognize his demise until it's too late. They sti... read more

exploring-tourism perspectives

Alamos Christina Nealson

This morning the church bell rang at 5:15. One lonely ring. A pause. And all hell broke loose. Clang, clang, clang-edy clang. Clang. Clang-edy. Clang. Pause. One ring. No obvious rhyme or reason in thi... read more

exploring-tourism

Three - Border Crossing Christina Nealson

Across the unforgiving Sierra Madres. There is nothing soft about these mountains, unless you happen upon a view in low light that carries the eye across a widened vista. Journal, Mayo 23 ... read more

One and Two Christina Nealson

Solstice morn. Hot sun on my face. I have been awake since 4:30, Mexico rising to the surface, a wakening jolt of images and smells, not to be forgotten or unwritten. Journal, June 22 ... read more

driving-routes exploring-tourism perspectives

Introduction To The Series - "Mexico Notes" Christina Nealson

"Pedro" stands in my parent's house, a permanent fixture. He is a concrete, life-size Mexican man, in a loose, dirty shirt and dark, baggy trousers held up with a piece of rope. He leans against a ligh... read more

exploring-tourism perspectives

Mazatlan Christina Nealson

Breathless foam Starfish-laden scaly crest of wave Balloons of stinging jellyfish The crush of birth called beach. Journal, Mayo 27, 2003 ... read more

exploring-tourism perspectives Mazatlán, Sinaloa

Showing 1—14 of 14 results

Christina Nealson

At the age of forty I left behind the roles of psychotherapist, wife and mother, and moved into the wilderness, alone, to seek a wisdom heretofore unknown. I imagined that I would live there one year, through the four seasons. At the end of the day, I had lived in my little cabin at the edge of wilderness for over five years. One never knows what soul has in store.

This solitary retreat is the subject of my first published book, Living on the Spine: A Woman’s Life in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (“It is gentle, gracious and profound …” Library Journal.) It has recently been reprinted in a second edition by EarthTales Press. My second book, New Mexico’s Sanctuaries, Retreats and Sacred Places (Westcliffe Publishers, 2002), was a natural extension of my solitary experience. On the heels of experiencing the sacred relationship of landscape, body and spirit, I was asked to guide people to those places where they might experience a special moment. I chose the places and wrote the book.

In addition, I write for the Taos Journal of Politics and Art, “Horse Fly.” My essays have appeared in numerous magazines, including the “Santa Fean” and book collections that include Living in the Runaway West (Fulcrum publishers, 2000) and Writers on the Range (University Press of Colorado, 1998.) I was a featured writer in “Santa Fe Trends” winter/2003 article on sacred architecture and space. My travels have taken me into the Mayan lands of Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, across Canada and the United States, into France and Zimbabwe. My photos appear along with my writings in New Mexico’s Sanctuaries, Retreats and Sacred Places. I am the photographer for the book In Fire’s Way by Thomas Wolf, University of New Mexico Press, 2003.

Current writing projects include: Taos: Outpost (Recollections from the Land of Light) and To See My Breath At Twilight (Menopause and the Unlived Soul). I live and write in Taos, New Mexico, tucked between the magnificent Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Rio Grande Gorge. As teacher, counselor and coach I assist individuals and groups with their writing efforts. Oh! and I love to teach women how to shoot.