Here’s a strange story, one that you probably won’t believe. But I will tell it anyhow.
A few days ago, I decided to do something nice for myself. I have been on my own for two months (Barbara being away in Poland and a few local Polish friends also visiting Poland at the same time). By mid-October, the warmth of the summer was going away, and the onset of cold autumn nights began. The loneliness became more acute.
As has often happened in my life when I faced a challenge, I found an inspiration in my knowledge of Apache culture. In southern New Mexico, which used to be Apache country, Apaches and other Indians used to go to hot springs, many of which are now located in a city called Truth or Consequences. For the Indians the experience was so beneficial in helping them deal with arthritis and other health issues that they considered soaks in natural hot springs sacred. No violence was allowed. Even such hostile to each other tribes like Chiricahua/Mescalero Apaches and Comanches put their weapons aside before they entered hot springs for a much-desired soak.
I did some preliminary research and decided to call Sierra Grande Lodge, a place Barbara and I once visited, maybe 15 years ago. If you book a night (for $200) you may take advantage of Sierra Grande’s indoor hot pools. The place was clean, and the soak was relaxing, but this time I wanted to try something different and continued to look for alternatives. The algorithm suggested Riverbend Lodge Hot Springs, so soon I was looking through their website and found that about a dozen of their hot springs are enclosed in private, open cabins that face the Rio Grande and that one of these cabins is called “Apache.”
Well, that was it: how could I possibly not take advantage of a soak in an Apache cabin? Every time I see the word “Apache” in whatever context, I immediately become attracted. The combination of a nice soak in a pool called “Apache” was irresistible. And at the same time, I could look at the Rio Grande River and at the foreboding, rugged and treeless mountains in the distance, the kind of places in which Apache could live well despite the harshness of the terrain and the brutal temperatures in the summer. The accompanying pictures showed very nice, colorful, clean cabins, so I quickly made plans to leave the following day.
And here is when I am approaching the strange part of the story that for me defies an easy explanation.
Before the car trip (in my brand-new Outback, which made the trip additionally enjoyable), I quickly looked through about ten or so USB drives I have, on which I have recorded hundreds of my favorite tracks with all kinds of music, mostly old pop and rock hits, but also many instrumental compositions, such as early rock instrumentals, new age music, and ambient tracks of all kinds. Among these hundreds of recordings, I have selections of Polish, American, British, Russian and other music. I suppose if I wanted to listen to all of them while driving, I would have to drive for thousands of miles.
I decided to let the algorithm select the tracks for me while I was driving. The trip took about 2.5 hours during which I must have listened to about 40 or more selections.
And here’s what happened: as I was pulling into the parking lot of Riverbend Lodge, I could hardly believe my ears: my Subaru music system began to play the legendary track “Apache” by the British band the Shadows. This is the most inspiring instrumental piece in my life! Since I first heard it in Poland when I was about 13 years old (1963), I became overwhelmed by the magic of the Fender Stratocaster guitar (the first in England at the time) and the way Hank Marvin plays this sensational composition, which became a world-wide hit in the early 1960s. It was this rock instrumental that eventually inspired me to try to learn how to play it well enough to offer my own cover. (I posted it on YouTube in 2014; it’s still there.) It took me about half a year to learn how to play it decently. I have lost track of how many times I must have played it to develop sufficient muscle memory, but it must have been about 2000 times.
I parked my car, and continued to listen, completely spell-bound, unable to explain why such an amazing coincidence could have happened! Although it may sound banal and cheesy, it is nevertheless true that I felt happiness of the kind that I have not experienced since my high school days, when rock music was part of some celestial, heavenly realm, too fascinating to be part of this earthly life.
I was quite “shook up” and texted Barbara about “magic being afoot.” She responded: “Duchy Apaczy czuwają nad Tobą”. Not a bad explanation. I couldn’t think of a better one, anyhow.
Needless to say, I had the best soaking experience in my life. The place is super quiet: the Lodge enforces “whisper” atmosphere through strict laws. (You can read some of them in one of the pictures I have attached.) As the warm, mineralized water enveloped my not so young body anymore, I was looking at River Grande and saw a few wild ducks fly over the water. The stark mountain about 20 kilometers away to the east is the same mountain the Apaches must have looked at and the same area they must have hunted deer and elk and fought a few bloody battles with their Mexican and American enemies.
It was easy to drift away into a reverie and imagine the ghosts of Geronimo, Naiche, Victorio and other famous Apache chiefs sitting next to me, singing their songs and telling their stories of mortal danger and victory. No drugs or alcohol was required. It was all a natural high for me. I have never felt more relaxed and rested. And, I must say, uniquely contented.
The same day, I slept very well in another lodge about 80 miles away to the west: Black Range Lodge. And it is at that secluded, out-of-the way lodge that I had another, very bizarre experience, hardly less weird than the one I had at Riverbend Lodge.
I will recount it in another post.
(Btw: I posted a much-abbreviated version of this story on the website of Riverside Lodge. It did not appear. It must have been censored. Can you believe it?)
I have attached 4 representative pictures.
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Komentarz mojej drogiej siostry Hani:
Pięknie, poetycko opisana historia. Cuda się zdarzają, jeszcze trochę i w nie uwierzysz.
A tu od znajomego z Niemiec:
Myślałem, że już zrezygnowałeś z wyjazdu do krainy żywica pachnącej, a tu taki wpis, który mnie bardzo mile zaskoczył, poniewaz jak sam piszesz znasz go sprzed około 15 lat. Ta wyprawa musiała być bardzo ciekawa. Zdjęcia są bardzo ciekawe, ale coz ja tam nie pojadę, a szkoda.
I od znajomego z Kanady:
Witam.Mam tez fajne wspimnienia z pobytu w Truth or Conseqences. Nocowalismy prawdopodobnie w tym samym motelu. Bylo to podczas naszej wyprawy do “America Spaceport”.
T&C jest baza wypadowa do tego kosmicznego lotniska. Bylismy tam razem z Jackiem I Gosia. Potwierdzam, ze te male baseny z ciepla mineralna woda nad rzeka sa czyms niepowtarzalnym. Moczylismy sie w nocy – to dodawalo extra wrazen. Mam nadzieje, ze jeszcze kiedys tam wpadne.
Lubie Twoj sposob pisania.