Out Here

We're small out here. In the middle of the Arizona big sky, awash in a sea of Juniper trees and red sand, it becomes easy to appreciate the privacy, solitude and the astounding vastness of the stars.

What one is most confronted with here is the self. What were our notions about our own identity, about our likes and dislikes, possible futures and our inevitable passing into history? By nature we are soft and compliant, we change and adapt and at times it's easy to feel lost. But it's just as easy to understand that the very concepts of lost and found are mere constructions of our own thoughts, and that we therefore are not threatened by anything but that which we have ourselves built out of words and feelings. Out here it is quiet. Out here it is plain.

On our walks we step over thousands of rocks and pebbles, fallen wood so old that it has become stone with ice- shattered edges pink as flesh. The earth is the color of rusted iron and country roads stretch out to the horizon. We get to know the ravens by sight. The cottontails, giant jack rabbits and small birds with wings which hum like a cat's purr take stock of us and move on.
Out here it is quiet. Out here it is plain.

A couple of Sedona photos

3 shots taken at Crescent Moon Ranch; 2 feature one side of Cathedral Rock. I put them both up for sale here. We're back at Snowflake now working things out. I'm a little handicapped in that I just smashed my toe walking around barefoot. We do go through our ups and downs, currently enjoying much improved internet access-- at the same time coping with some very strange behavior from one of my image browsers which I heavily rely upon. I'm pretty sure that an OSX software update just made Kodak Easyshare totally unusable.

Leaving Sedona

Had a weird day-- went down to check out Cottonwood again and had a similar non-reaction to it again this time. I'm sure it's a nice enough town, but we'd need a tour guide or some such in order to appreciate it more. If we knew anybody there they could probably point out a nice cafe, a park, a walk by the creek maybe. We just don't know our way around there.

So from there I thought we'd visit Jerome again: a former ghost town/copper mining town built on a very steep hillside above cottonwood. We got some trippy photos there last time because the town seems to be built on the "it hasn't fallen down yet (not for awhile anyway)" principle. But my plan this time was to drive all the way through it, then turn around and come back, park, and walk around. We caught some pretty scenery just on the far end of town so we thought we'd drive just a little further up the steep and windy grade. Hmmm, not much more scenery-- then Sheryl looked at a map and said, "I'm sure it's not that far to Prescott, then we can loop back on a flatter road." OK, I'm paraphrasing, but we ended up all day in the car and never saw Jerome again. Should have turned around when I felt like turning around. That, or commit to checking out Prescott which we probably came just near to the edge of before turning around.

End of the day we were on the far end of Sedona back at Boynton Canyon. Probably not a good idea to climb Doe Rock near sunset with somebody who is a bit afraid of heights and especially hates descending a steep rocky hill. Yeah, we got a few pictures but it wasn't worth that moment at the peak when I looked behind me to see just how slowly Sheryl was creeping along down those rocks, then I looked at my watch, at the setting sun, and wondered how much fun it was going to be rushing down the grade just to try to find a flashlight so I could come back up and rescue Sher. I think it was even less fun for Sheryl. Well it didn't go that way, we got to the bottom before dark, barely. Man, we are such novices at this stuff. But hey, the adrenaline made my severe allergy symptoms go away for awhile. I have not mentioned it before, but I appear to be acutely allergic to Arizona. They tell me it's the Juniper trees, could be the red dust, I don't know. I've never sneezed so much nor blown my nose so many times over a period of several weeks. We're going to work on it, have beaten allergies before through counseling and healing work.

So twice in one day, partway up the hill would have been just fine, going the whole way simply was not worth it. OK, we're at the freakin top, it's almost dark, the view isn't much better from here so whoop-de- dee. Also, would rather have walked around Jerome than sat in the car all day. Between Sher and I we've been getting our signals crossed lately. We're thinking this little trip is about over.

Also, we've been doing the research and finding that some 2/3 of the people who work in Sedona, live outside of Sedona because it's just too expensive and I think that puts us off just a bit. You know, everybody here is so nice and the place is beautiful but we are unfocused in our shared intent-- don't really know quite what we are doing here and so it appear to be time to go back to Snowflake, reunite with family and our cats and think things through.

Still Journeying

Still not posting photos because I still don't have proper access to my computer, editing software, etc. Still enjoying Sedona very much and still seriously considering relocating to this vicinity. We learn more everyday and are blessed with meeting the most wonderful people here.

Sheryl and I cope with things differently at times, and we're working out the details. We've got an idea that lower cost housing is available in quite a few of the surrounding areas. The scenery in Sedona does come at a higher price. If you want to live with Chapel rock right out your back door you're bound to pay a little extra for that.

Aside from some of those basics, the whole trip from California to Arizona has really been a "trip." We've been defining and redefining ourselves and our life choices over and over again. It gets a little tiring at times, it gets stressful, and it's also endlessly fascinating. You think you know yourself pretty well-- until your environment changes. Give yourself a month out in the quiet, wide open calm of the desert and then see what happens when you pop back into a college town like Flagstaff. Suddenly you're adapting again, and a small town similar to the one you left feels like a crazy hustling and bustling big city.

We've even gone through a lot of changes in about a week's time in Sedona. It's hard to describe, but it's an almost daily thing. We'll get there, to a space where we feel more stable and moving towards a common set of goals. In the meantime it's nothing if not interesting.

The Journey

Ok, no photo, I've been saving them up because I don't have access to my own computer. We've been on an interesting journey. Currently we're in Sedona, Arizona. We've had quite a few experiences, met a lot of really nice people. I like very much how honest everyone is here. They just tell you what's on their mind, straight up. Being new to Arizona I'm still taking it all in. The photo opportunities in Sedona are pretty plentiful. The weather has been amazingly good. I was running around in a t-shirt today, no jacket, near Cathedral rock. I still don't know what to say about vortexes, but the views of the towering red rock monuments all over town are so stunning as to be surreal.

High points of my day, however were talking to a couple of locals. In particular Doug Hayden of Hayden Custom Homes, and especially Michael at Infinite Light Healing Center who simply exudes loving kindness and the true spirit of healing. I found Michael's website here.