Fields of sage brush and pinion pine trees fill the landscape driving south on highway 285 towards Ojo Caliente, new Mexico.  A few trailers and abandoned gas stations appear now and again along with off-grid earth shelters and a handful of meandering cattle.  The sky is vast and blue with wisps of cirrus clouds; long and slender accumulations of moisture carried by unseen air currents high above.  To the east are the Sangre de Cristo Mountains where the Taos ski resort sits tucked away in a hidden mountain valley.  But mostly, the high dessert valley is open and baron.  The town of Ojo Caliente is not much more than a mercantile store, a fire station and a diner.  Less than a quater mile off highway 285 is the entrance to the mineral pools and spa.  True to the New Mexican spirit, it has a blend of Native American and Spanish influences with a funky charm.

The spur-of-the-moment trip with my husband to New Mexico included a stop at Mike’s Cafe in Taos, a local favorite for breakfast, where we ordered huevos rancheros, hot coffee and a sumptuous sopailla with honey.  Curious about the mineral pools near by, we headed west across the Rio Grand canyon.  I had heard mixed review about Ojo Caliente; people seemed to either love the place or feel uncomfortable there.  Regardless of personal experiences, the springs have drawn travelers for centuries and legends abound of their healing powers.  Native Americans believed Mother Earth offered the mineral pools as a way to restore those who lingered in her liquid embrace.  Feng Shui masters describe water as one of the five key elements that shape and transform all life holding qualities of descending, peace and stillness.

Given the underlying stress of the current economic climate that hovers like a thick fog, relaxing in warm water held an alluring promise of rejuvenation.  And so my husband and I entered the mineral springs for a quiet pause in the midst of our hectic lives.  We moved from the iron pool, to the soda pool, and then the arsenic/iron pool, each known to alleviate various ailments from stomach problems to muscle tension.  We sat under cascading water letting it flow over our heads and onto our shoulders, floated suspended and weightless and felt our feet being massaged as we walked across pebbled bottomed pools to stone ledges where we reclined.  And like the hot water that bubbles up through thick layers of the earth, we felt our own vibrant energy begin to rise to the surface as we soaked in the soothing waters.