"You don't need a weatherman to know..."

I came across this and thought it was a preview for a new horror movie...with over 1,000 tornadoes in the US, record flooding in the northwest and drought in the southwest--all I can think is fasten our seat belts...




an explanation...

Flowers in the Desert

I spent the last two days of 2010 reading. For me,  reading is the best way to slow down and begin a period of introspection.

Recommended by my dear friend, Mercedes, I chose "The Turquoise Ledge: A Memoir" because I longed for the warm sun of the desert and I was looking for a way to quiet my mind after the holiday rush and focus on my goals for the coming new year.

Sometimes the best way to find clarity or a solution is to literally walk away. I walked with Silko as she spoke about her thirty years in the Tucson desert, feeling blessed to be there and how she made friends with the rattlesnakes, pack rats and bees understanding the tenuous balance that existed between the wild and not so wild. I listened as she worried about the approaching development and destruction of the desert by bulldozers, painting small white crosses on boulders to ward off Machine Man like she had seen in the petroglyphs left on the boulders by the ancient people centuries earlier. I cried when the owls raided her aviary and killed her beloved macaws.

Silko explores the sacred and mystical quality of turquoise.

"When I was a child, people at Laguna and people in Spanish-speaking villages nearby used to paint the doors and window frames bright turquoise blue to keep away witches. The Spanish-speaking people used to save the bright blue stamps that sealed the Bull Durham tobacco bags, and whenever they had headaches they wore the bright blue stamps on their foreheads to stop the pain."

Thrilled whenever a piece of turquoise appeared on the trail, she returns home and places the new found treasure on her desk among the other treasures, writing or painting about that particular piece of turquoise and where she had found it.

With the recent shootings in Tucson, I am recalling the peace I felt as 'walked' with Leslie and the strength I get whenever I am in this part of the country, envisioning bits of turquoise being left by the ancient people for those harmed and lost as well as their families in the hopes that their pain will be eased and the healing will begin.

Theme Thursday-Over the Hill

Age is a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter.

Satchel Paige

I am in constant awe of the Southwest's beauty. The land is relatively untouched; the silence and the beauty is healing. On this day, Mr. Jackson and I hiked Little Horse Trail to Bell Rock Trail and halfway up Bell Rock in Sedona--about four miles round trip although we were convinced on the way back that it had to be at least six! The land and the history of the people who have walked it date back to 300 B.C. I cannot imagine my life without the experience of walking these trails and feeling the lives that have been here before me.

Bell Rock is one of the vortexes in Sedona where spiritual energy is released. Boynton Canyon, Airport Mesa and Cathedral Rock are the other sites known to possess spiritual energy. Having hiked through most of these locations, I can only attest to feeling really mesmerized by the surroundings and as a result, very happy and at peace. So, I cannot personally confirm the existence of this phenomenon. I do believe given the history of the people --this land has meaning and is sacred. On this trip I witnessed Mr. Jackson bounding up the trail to Bell Rock stopping only because I was nursing a sore foot and was fearful of my ability to make the trip back if I continued the climb. So, who knows?

He felt great, loved the landscape and would have climbed to the top.  For those of you who hike in groups you have witnessed that one hiker who charges ahead, tireless and oblivious of peril. I call that hiker the 'billy goat." It is an honor and a position to which all hikers aspire. Well, on this day, Mr. Jackson won the award!!

We climbed over many a hill and in these sacred places, Mr. Jackson and I will always be forever young.

Boynton Canyon and South

On our first day we were up bright and early. Our first hike, located in Boynton Canyon, was to Doe Mountain. A short hike with minimum change in elevation; it was a great start for us east coasters. The morning started out bright and sunny but as we walked, the monsoon clouds started to move in. 

In the summer months, the Southwest experiences a monsoon season which when hiking should be taken seriously. Thunder storms with lightning, hail and flash floods can make life on the mountain or trail more than you bargained for. Another thing to note, don't be fooled by the distance of those ominous clouds, lightning strikes can happen miles away and where the sun is shining. Given my experience hiking in the southwest in the summer, I have spent many of my hikes looking over my shoulder keeping an eye on the weather. The catch-22 is that you don't want to be caught on a mesa with lightning or in a canyon with the potential for flash floods, so hiking in the summer always keeps the senses alert and the adrenaline going.

 We were able to complete our hike and the skies cleared so we could view the amazing landscape.

Our reward for a great hike was a great breakfast. We ate at Kaiser's West on 89A in Sedona. They not only serve a great breakfast all day but lunch and dinner--solid place that has been there for years and really appreciated when one is very hungry!

A great start to a wonderful getaway!

Shadow Shot Sunday #69

V-V Petroglyphs Verde Valley Arizona

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