land of enchantment

I returned home from the Land of Enchantment a week ago.

Writing those words just now made me wonder about the origin of the phrase.

I found this: “The phrase was first used by American journalist and author Lilian Whiting in her 1906 travel guide The Land of Enchantment:From Pike’S Peak to the Pacific. The book does not actually focus on New Mexico alone, but on the southwestern states of Colorado, Arizona, and California as well.”

It took nearly 30 years for New Mexico state authorities to take up the phrase. In 1935, New Mexico’s Tourist Bureau described the state as “the Land of Enchantment” in one of its brochures in an effort to attract visitors to the area. In 1941, the legend was added to license plates and came into common usage soon thereafter.

I find Land of Enchantment fits my expectation and my experience of travel in New Mexico. I am often enchanted in this place.

By the vistas…

by the food…

by the silence when everything is covered in snow…

by the faith expressed around me…

and by the people, some of whom have become treasured friends. Abby, Dean, Sue, Lydia, Pablo, Bonnie.

I will return again and again to this enchanted place.

Traveling mercies.