Welcome to my Moonbox: a gathering of musings, learnings, and aspirations held (perhaps, sometimes only briefly) by the many expressions of me, Sarita.
From the desk:
Burrowing owl flies over me as we follow faint burro trail, through creosote desert do we gather westerly time, do we note wariness in the dozen burro eyes, airy snorts rattle across the volcanic plateau — we must keep our distance, the sunlight is pooling in heat, we've yet to reach the dusty roads. The hollow tubes of desert trumpets snap when we brush against them, rainbow husks paint coarse topsoil, Joshua Trees thicken the skyline, the desert weaves us. By the time I reach the old mining town, the sun has gone and the earth radiates moonless cold. Another runner joins me and we pitter-patter north into the rolling juniper of this now high desert. We descend steep canyon, slide scree, widen steps for cactus, reel our heads adorned with light, scan the slopes for eyes or better passage. What we can and cannot see fold into themselves, become desperate, yet drowsy stupor. Time has lost us. Owls hoot from invisible places, from the rocky canyon walls we now trudge between, from the tucked earthen dark, behind the eyes of a fox who follows us. We walk the fins of an alluvial fan, a tongue of the mountains we'd come, yet face in darkness a mountain we've yet to reach. Dawn approaches, not close enough. I lay down to rest my feet upon a small stone, they hurt, I hurt. I stare at the stars. My eyes want closure. It would be so easy to let them have it.
Earlier, at dusk, I closed my eyes when my husband embraced me. I was crying. My eyes closed and all I saw was redness. A fiery light with pulsing veins. I was seeing the back of my eyelids. They almost burned to close them, and the more I held them, the more my eyes saw into themselves. How sane it is to shut your eyelids, to take a deep breath, to also keep them open, beneath such stars. I shrink and my vision narrows, mimicking such pinholes of light. My pacer gently speaks to me. We're so close, and close we are. To the rest of pre-dawn hour. To the final approach. To the van with the bed and my husband. Once again, do we embrace, do I lay down. Time finds me homely burrow, and my eyes follow the trail into the rattling vastness of sleep.
Life updates: First and foremost, for all those who may still be wondering about my L2H Project, I successfully completed the route! I set the first female fastest known time for the Lowest to Highest (CA) FKT with a time of 2 days 15 hours 29 minutes. My fundraiser is still very much open, and we’ve got more than halfway to go to reach my goal. Check out the fundraiser here and please donate!
‘Tis the season of athlete contracts, and Merrell is not offering me one for 2025. This is rather bittersweet, and if you’ve been reading my Moonbox Notes this year, then you might already have a guess as to why. At the very least, it’s probably best that I seek other shoes to wear for the long term health of my feet, given that I have wider feet than their market target. I’m obviously bummed that negotiations weren’t even a thing in my case; I was prepared to propose me wearing their men’s shoes, because that would be the width I need. I know the athlete manager really likes me, but business is business…I think partnering with smaller brands would actually align with my ethos in a better way. So we’ll see what happens! It was sad to hear the news, but I remain optimistic about the future of my athletic career.
[Previous: Moonbox Notes #25]
La Vida Mundial:
The Salt Lake Tribune | With Trump back in the White House, what will happen with Utah public lands?
Indian Country Today | What a second Donald Trump presidency could mean for Indigenous Peoples
BBC | Would Donald Trump’s tariffs hurt US consumers?
Colorado Public Radio | Congress passes bill to increase outdoor recreation opportunities
HBD to all Nov/Dec birthdays!
Recent Top Pick Reads:
+ “We Live and Die in Real Bodies,” by Sophie Strand, Substack, Nov 26, 2024. A sobering read regarding the realities of women with chronic illness or disease and how Hollywood films have always failed to portray them.
+ “As Seen on TV: Finding our reflection in survival television,” by Casey Lyons, Orion Magazine, Winter 2024 Issue. A thoughtful look into how survival shows have changed over the years and how they have reflected or reconsidered the status-quo of man vs nature.
+ “Ackee Fruit,” by Maria Pinto, Orion Magazine, Foodways, Nov 19, 2024. An interesting look into the stories and history of the ackee fruit, its origins and associations, and how it came to be a metaphor for home for the author.
+ “Raptor,” by Penny Guisinger, Short Reads, Dec 11, 2024. A brief account of how a woman desires to save a raptor on a busy highway, a metaphor for her desire to control chaos in her life.
Books/Mags in progress:
+ Curandero: A Life in Mexican Folk Healing by Eliseo “Cheo” Torres, edited by Timothy L. Sawyer, Jr.
Recent Listens/Watchings:
+ “Surviving Our Story – Skiers caught in an avalanche, surviving is only the start of their journey,” SacredStoke and Isaiah Branch-Boyle, YouTube, Nov 25, 2024. This documentary not only shows how skiers Ryan McClure and Connor Ryan survive a harrowing day, but how they navigated the onslaught of media and their own physical/mental recoveries.
+ “WATCH: Our Panel With Indigenous Athletes and Activists,” Trail Runner Magazine, Outside Online, Nov 17, 2021. A panel discussion between Dustin Quinn, Verna Volker, Jordan Daniel Whetstone, Dinée Dorame, Guarina Lopez, and Zoë Rom.
+ “Sugarcane,” by Julian Brave NoiceCat and Emily Kassie, National Geographic Documentary Films, Disney+ & Hulu, 2024. CW: Discussions of Indian Residential School, infanticide, sexual assault. I watched the film through my Disney+ account, and this is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in a long while. It was so well done and is a must watch to further understand history.
+ “Megadrought and Indigenous Voices,” by NOVA PBS Official, YouTube, Legacy of the Land series, Oct 20, 2024. In partnership with NativesOutdoors, this episode (one of a six part series), dives into the southwestern U.S.’s current megadrought and how mindsets based on Navajo tradition have endured droughts in the past. The whole series is wonderful!
Writing/Projects: (updates are highlighted)
+A film project! I’m making a film with 41West Productions about my L2H FKT, but it will be about so much more than just an athletic endeavor — it’s about community, the body, poetry, a moving ofrenda, how we mourn, how we build altars, how we are the sum of both our pain and joy…
+I currently have zero general submissions in the ether. The short nonfiction piece entitled, “A Searing Thing” (Hippocampus Mag) was declined.
+The hybrid essay/memoir I wrote in 2021, “Chuckwalla,” still needs some major revision and writing.
+I have a Science Fiction novella that I’ve been slowly working on since 2017.
MISC/Brags/Swag:
- I’m halfway to my fundraising goal for ReNew Earth Running! Please check out the page and please donate!
- Fenix Lightning sent me two headlamps for my L2H endeavor, and they also provided me an affiliate link and discount code for you to receive 10% off! Enter AFSARAA at checkout.
Thanks for tuning in to Sarita’s Moonbox.
¡Feliz invierno!
bivytales.com 
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