I have spent much of the past two days reading Ladies of the Canyons, A League of Extraordinary Women and Their Adventures in the American Southwest, by Lesley Poling-Kempes. It is the “true story of several remarkable women who left the security and comforts of genteel Victorian society in the early 1900’s and journeyed to the American Southwest in search of a wider view of themselves and their world.” The women were from families with money, and all were educated in the arts - piano, poetry, writing, painting, etc. Much of the story that covered about forty years, happened in northern New Mexico and Arizona, many places we have traveled, including Ghost Ranch, just across Abiquiu Lake from our rented house for the summer. I couldn’t have enjoyed the book more!
Favorite quote from Ladies of the Canyons, “A life is not necessarily more valuable because it is broadly remembered or publicly applauded. Even celebrated worldly success may ultimately amount to a handful of sand scattered in the winds of time, and stupendous failure may spark a fire that burns brightly for decades. When all is said and done, a life well lived leaves only silence and beauty behind on the trail, and footprints and dreams merge seamlessly into the landscape.”
