Just a scant month later my little one would take her second flight, this time to one of my favorite cities in the world — Santa Fe.  It was always special for my parents and me and now we were bringing our six month old to see my husband’s maternal side of the family.  Her grandmother and step grandfather have a beautiful home there that overlooks the Sangre de Cristos, one of the largest chains of mountains on Earth.  The mountains got their name, “Blood of Christ,” from the Spanish because of their reddish hues at sunrise and sunset.  It was still chilly in April and the mountains were capped with a light dusting of snow.  The piñon fires were lovely, as was the view looking out from their portal across the mountains.  They had a “Sip and See” to introduce our little one and she was good natured about being passed around.  I got a chance to relax and it was probably the first time I have ever had downtime on a trip.  It was strange for me to let go without worrying I was missing something.  I suppose I have a need to see and do everything possible because I did not have the privilege of traveling growing up.  However, I had visited Santa Fe over half a dozen times prior to this trip so it was one of the places I knew pretty well and I did not have the fear of missing out.  The Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh said:

“We will be more successful in all our endeavors if we can let go of the habit of running all the time, and take little pauses to relax and re-center ourselves.  And we’ll also have a lot more joy in living.”

As I looked out over the mountains I realized:  we were not missing a thing simply enjoying time spent in Santa Fe in the Sangre de Cristos.