Sometimes there is a clear path we march along, our heads held high, our goal in sight. But more often we are led down the abstract way where the twists and turns are so jagged that we can't see our way forward. We keep moving along because we have no choice…that is what life asks of us.

As we take each step our journey is fueled by the hope that the answers we seek are up ahead…just around the bend of the abstract way.

Chapter 34-Bandelier



At the top of the ladder I crawl forward into the room that has been formed out of the mountain. Edward soon follows.

"People really lived in here?" I ask marveling at the idea of it. It feels like someone took a sharp spoon and carved out the center of a stone.

You are completely surrounded by nothing but shale rock and the air and light that passes through the ragged openings. It is so organic that I feel like I'm part of the earth as I sit on the cold stone floor.