Chasing Comets: — Wicking Willow Chandlery

the story behind the scent

written 12.29.23

chasing comets was inspired by true events. that being said, it’s story time!

side note: if you didn’t know yet, i’m a star freak and kind of a space nerd.

first, a little backstory:
new mexico road trip - july 2020
(in the middle of the pandemic, in the heat of the summer)

trip-goers included:
my family- my husband, two daughters (9 & 5), dog- merlin and myself
my friend’s family- her husband, their toddler, herself, and her brother

on this vacation, i quickly learned things don’t always go as planned… in fact, on this trip, nearly nothing went as planned… here’s a few (not all) examples of what i mean:

our friend’s truck broke down on the hottest day of the year just 30 minutes away from our first destination (carlsbad, nm).

no touring of carlsbad caverns was expected. however, we were still excited to spend our single sunset in carlsbad, watching thousands of bats emerge from below, to take their DAILY flight…

haha, just kidding! apparently, they were under quarantine too (at least for that day).

additionally, upon returning to our airbnb, we discovered we had no electricity/ac or hot water. thankfully, it was fixed within an hour or so.

next stop on our very detailed itinerary: ufo museum, in roswell. for weeks leading up to this big trip, i was checking daily on closures and “new covid rules and procedures.” i was thrilled this stop was one of the few attractions that remained open, but additionally it was also dog-friendly! (remember… mid- july, in the desert… any indoor attraction with ac, that was also dog-friendly was a win in my book!) the aliens were a bonus…

haha, just kidding! the international ufo museum decided they needed to close their doors the day before we arrived...

during our side by side adventure, in red river, brad managed to pop a tire. of course it would happen after driving so far up the mountain, where there was barely any service. i don’t remember exactly how help found us, but they brought us a spare.

kicking off my 30th birthday, we headed from taos to socorro. we made a stop in santa fe, to explore downtown.

(as a child, my family took me on a road trip similar to this one. one of the sights i remember, was loretto chapel.
i was only four or five, but the image of the spiral staircase stuck with me. plus, i love a good story…
i loved the idea of returning, with my kids, so loretto was at the top of my list. i’m so glad this stop worked out.)

the heat wasn’t going to keep us from shopping and hitting the margarita trail! i had a list of restaurants with dog friendly patios…

haha, just kidding! santa fe had just recently changed their pet policies, for all patio dining, within city limits… with some cranky, sweaty [and hungry] kids, we were turned away unexpectedly, from our planned meal.

after making some calls to other “pet-friendly” patios (and given the same response), we ended up dining at thunderbird bar and grill. the kind manager returned my phone call within minutes, and quickly accommodated us, with a couple of shaded tables allowing our dog to sit with us.
knowing his courtyard-view tables would fill regardlessly, he could have easily responded by turning us away, too. with merlin, under the shade of our umbrella, the fence between us made no difference. because of that man’s kindness, quick thinking, and effort, our short time spent in santa fe was absolutely delightful.

i was extra excited for our next destination.

i was also probably the only one excited about it, lol.

seeing the vla (very large array) was the first thing on my list, when planning our trip began.
yes, the vla was in the middle of nowhere, and a two-hour drive out of the way, from one of the smallest new mexico towns, i chose to stay in.
yes, unfortunately it was closed to the public due to covid.

i didn’t care. i just kept thinking, “how cool it would be to spend my 30th birthday in the middle of the desert, while watching the sun set behind giant radio telescopes, with hours of stargazing to follow.”

you know it sounds amazing!

the long day was a lot for the little one, so our friends tapped out for the rest of the evening.

after scarfing down a to-go dinner, my husband and i decided to take a chance and make the most of our one night in socorro. i mean, what else were we going to do in a small town under quarantine? i didn’t want to spend my birthday in a cheap motel room, wondering if we could have made it in time or not, especially because this stop was kind of the main reason i even considered road tripping, through new mexico, in the first place.

it would take almost an hour to get to the vla, from our motel. on the way there, as i was checking exact time of sunset for that area, i noticed we would soon intercept some heavy rain.

highway 60 has some turns, but thankfully it was a pretty mild road to travel…

haha, just kidding! visibility was quickly reduced, as the sun sank below the horizon. i was a little bummed that we had missed out on that vla sunset, which i so badly wanted to witness. the photos would have been amazing. i just added it to the list of trip mishaps. besides, by this time, i was only focused on the road ahead and what i could see of it… literally.

now, with no sun, and just a few days shy of a new moon (9% luminosity), we passed through the tiny town of magdalena. also known as, “trail’s end.”

don’t blink, or else you might miss it!

this area is classified as a “dark sky area”, which is fancy terms for, a designated region recognized for its exceptional quality and preservation of starry night skies. these areas are carefully protected from light pollution by minimizing artificial lighting. basically, we were driving into darkness, in the middle of nowhere.

this wasn’t our first rodeo… when planning any vacation,
i tend to gravitate towards barely-populated towns that are overcrowded with stars.
i also aim to vacay during a new moon. darker skies mean more stars… on clear nights, that is.

remember, the heavy rain, i mentioned earlier? that thunderstorm was now crossing our path, as a hailstorm. with any storm, clouds are inevitable. with clouds, chances of stargazing are slim.

don’t get me wrong, i appreciate a good storm.
after watching the movie, twister, i just knew i’d grow up to be a storm chaser… lol. (rip bill and dustin)

by the time we arrived to the vla, the rain had turned into a sprinkle, but we still could not see a thing! we got out of the car and quickly snapped a couple photos, with what-we-assumed-to-be one of the telescopes.
using “flash,” the photos we got, still don’t show, what we were actually “seeing.” even merlin was spooked, as i held him. he began growling at something in the distance. was it rattlesnakes? aliens? the fbi or mib?

(we may have passed some signs that read something like, “government officials only beyond this point.”
i’m not sure. it was too dark to tell.)

i admired my husband’s patience and effort. after this chaotic drive, he was willing to give the clouds a chance to roll out. we found a spot off the main road to park.

(the kids were not thrilled about this. i’m sure a part of them were wondering if he was actually serious.)

we waited for a while and noticed the clouds started to dissipate.

we sat in the car admiring the stars through the windshield and sun roof. we got to watch a pretty intense lighting storm off in the distance, too. after a couple hours, my husband talked me into getting out of the car. he had noticed a larger break in the clouds behind us. i was hesitant, thinking about the scorpions, snakes, or fireants sharing the ground below me.

i had known about comet neowise and that it was easily seen from all over the country in dark areas. i even mentioned it a few days prior, during our first night in carlsbad. we stayed so busy, this had completely slipped my mind.

i stepped out, onto the dark desert ground.

i’m so glad i did, because as soon as i turned around, there it was!

i squeaked with excitement and pointed out comet neowise!
(an object flying through space at about 144,000 mph (about 40 miles per second)! this thing won’t be seen again for another 6,800 to 7,000 years!) how magical is that?!

july 17, 2020, the universe, indeed had a plan.
i’ll always remember how special this entire day was, and how it came to a close.

and to think, we thought we were just chasing the sunset…

best birthday ever.