Desert Hot Springs, California

Last week we drove out to the Mojave Desert to a 1940s motel with a natural hot spring. I’ve been going to Miracle Manor for thirty plus years. It’s all about the water which comes up from the earth at 156 degrees. The water’s cooled before flowing into the hot pool, which spills into the swimming pool, where it finally trickles back to the desert to water the plants. The water is always flowing, like consciousness and the cycle of life.

It was a warm evening with a new moon. After a hot soak, I stepped into the swimming pool. The water felt cold, but I slid under and pushed away from the wall and glided below the surface as the single light refracted through the ripples. I broke the surface slow and easy and floated on my back. Staring up at the stars, slowly turning, I let go and joined whatever was still there from a time before when the native Americans used these springs for healing. I let myself emerge and merge with it all. And I didn’t have to say a prayer.