Meeting a Lady

One morning mid December, Owen, Karen, and I took a stroll in our neighbourhood here in the Village of Oak Creek. Our destination being an outdoor artisans fair. A couple of blocks into our walk, I noticed a little lady that was coming towards us, cane in hand. As we were passing I paused and said hello, commenting on the lovely day. She stopped and we began to have a courtious chat. You know the kind. She was 77 and talked about living in Sedona for the past 17 years and how her husband had driven trucks cross country for a living prior to his retirement. At least 10 minutes must have passed and as we were about to depart, she asked if I liked to read poetry. What was there to say? 'Ofcourse, I read some poetry and would be delighted to take away one of hers.' There was a white business size envelope with a small clothes line type clip attaching the envelope to the chain around her neck. From it she produced a printed one page copy of a poem. Her name was Pat Stull and she wrote it after accompaning her husband on one of his road trips. She said she hadn't gone on many trips with him and this was either the first or one of the first. I realized later that perhaps she had suffered a stroke at some point in recent years.

Below is a copy of her poem. Enjoy. We did.

TRAINEE RIDER

Here I sit in the shotgun seat, western boots upon my feet.

Passing trucks (I think that's neat!) then I call out "All's Clear!"

Straw hat on to beat the heat. Pillows prop up my physique,

To view the scene for my critique, then I call out "All's Clear!"

The overpass is rather low, the driver takes it very slow.

I check the 'stacks' to let him know, that "All is Clear!"

The driver shifts his load to scale. (if overweight, a fine or jail!)

His fifth wheel slides on double rails, then I call out "All's Clear!"

The 'chicken coops' are closed up tight. We rumble on thru the night.

And when that cop car's out of sight, then I call out "All's Clear!"

The drivers backs up to the dock. I jump out and unlatch the lock,

Open the doors and the wheels I chock, then I call out "All's Clear!"

The parking lot is overflowing. The driver has no way of knowing,

If his trailer end is showing, 'til I cal out "All's Clear!"

The driver is the best (I boast) he's always on time - well almost!

I raise my glass and drink a toast, then murmur "All's Clear!"

Quote for today, December 30, 2009

Those who love passionately
Teach us how to live
Those who live passionately
Teach us how to love
Yogananda

Drats!

I uploaded 3 posts at a time and,once again, they loaded in the wrong order. So, if you are interested, be sure and scroll down to catch all of the excitement as I regale you with TMI (too much information) on Ruins, Dwellings and Rock Art. How can you not be waiting on bated breath to read more?

Since I'm posting this anyway, I am including another photo and one more little tidbit. The photo is of Montezuma's Well. It's like no other place in the world. A natural sinkhole, it is 268 feet wide, with cliffs that tower 70 ft. above the waters surface. Fed by underwater vents, some as deep as 56 feet), 74°F water flows into the well and exits through a 300 ft. cave. The Sinagua constructed an irrigation ditch almost 1000 years ago and farmed the land for centuries.

The End of Ruins, Dwellings and Rock Art (maybe!)

Have you ever been to Europe, specifically England, Scotland or Ireland and wandered through and experienced every castle the country boasted, or have you ever been to Rome and visited every Basilica or Museum and Gallery you thought imaginable, well visit North Central Arizona and you will get the opportunity to visit as many cliff dwellings, village ruins and rock art you ever thought possible!

More on Ruins, Dwellings and Rock Art

We visited the areas largest rock art from several different cultures. The Petroglyphs and Pictographs were amazing. Apparently Petroglyphs are rock art engravings and Pictographs are rock art paintings.

Owen has memories of his visit to Montezuma's Castle as a 13 year old and being able to climb the ladders and go inside the dwellings. Not so today. Infact, I think I read that the public could no longer access the dwellings sometime in the late 50's/early 60's. It looked like it would have been a little scarey and hard to believe they would have let the public climb around in them. The Sinagua began building the 5 story, 20 room dwelling early in the 1100's. It stands in a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley. Just beyond the first structure was another dwelling that was once 6 stories with about 45 rooms. They had a whole community happening. One could sit and ponder what life must have been like back then.

A side story: As we approached the last 4 miles to one of our excursions, Owen was most perplexed by the condition of the road as we left the pavement. A sign appeared saying "Primative Road, use with caution" or something like that. Yep, no doubt about it. The only difference is that at home on the Sunshine Coast, they wouldn't have posted a sign. It reminded us of the little road down by Sargeants Bay. You know the one where they only fill the pot holes once a year and then, only if you travel it frequently, would you know they'd been filled.

Ruins, Dwellings and Rock Art

During Karen's stay with us, we traveled the Verde Valley to visit many nearby ruins, dwellings and petroglyphs. We have been to Tuzigoot, V Bar V Petroglyph Site, Montezuma Well, Montezuma Castle, and the Patlatki Ruin. We also stopped at Wupatki on our way to the Grand Canyon. So as not to bore you completely to tears, I will keep my history lesson brief. Firstly, the people archeologists refer to as the Sinagua (pronounced seen-aug-wah), came to the Verde Valley about A.D. 650. We saw the ruins of the pithouses from that time. About A.D. 1125 they started constructing cliff dwellings and the state of Arizona has done an amazing job of preserving the sites. The Yavapai and Apache also migrated into the Verde Valley about A.D. 1300 - A.D.1500 but they were hunters and gatherers living in small bands and there is not much archaeological material remaining from that time. End of lesson.

Sadly, the ruins have been pilfered and pillaged by the 'white man' in the late 1800's and early 1900's limiting the amount of archeological research that can be done. Visitiing the dwelling sites gives one pause to consider the simplicity of the Sinagua life style, the hard work it took to exist and 'our' arrogance to diminish it in anyway.

A New Christmas

What was it like this year? It has been different. Sad that Jeremy wasn't there Christmas Eve to read T'was the Night Before Christmas and that he wasn't there Christmas morning to greet me with his smile and enthusiasm for the the day ahead with friends, food and good cheer. Christmas always meant the three of us putting the turkey feast together to be shared with numerous family and friends over the years. We always had a large breakfast usually prepared by Jeremy and Owen prior to getting comfortable in the living room to listen to Christmas music, open gifts and sip on a warm beverage. Phone calls were received and phone calls were made. There was usuallly a walk. In the days of Richmond it would mean a stroll on the dyke and in Halfmoon Bay, we would walk down to Sargeants Bay. Anyone who would drop by would help us with the holiday jigsaw puzzle while munching on nibblies and sipping a drink. Jeremy loved my Nuts and Bolts and Christmas baking. He could pour a mean Ceasar or make a great hot chocolate laced with something that would warm your tummy. I have so many stories of Christmas with Jeremy. How he would always think I needed to add more salt or butter to whatever was on the stove, or how I would find him with his head in the refrigerator looking for a hunk of turkey or how he insisted that there should be garlic in the Christmas dinner mashed potatoes (I don't think he ever won that one) or how when he was little, he would come into our bedroom, too early, Christmas morning with his Christmas Stocking and climb into the middle of the bed and open and play with the surprises he found in the stocking. In the last several years, after a few days of feasting, Jeremy would pack his Christmas gifts, his clean laundry, tins of baked goods, left overs, and Nuts and Bolts into his 4 X 4 and head back to Vancouver. The past two years he headed back to Ruxton and last year Sarah was with him. There are so many good memories.

This year was A New Christmas. Owen and I had a quiet Christmas Eve. We purchased dinner at a great Health Food Market in Sedona. Mushroom strudel, chicken parmesan and a very good brussel sprout and almond dish and a tray of sweets. We did the preparation for a salad and appies for dinner Christmas Day in Mesa. We had our dinner late and talked about Jeremy; sharing each of our most memorable stories of Jer from his pre-school years, his grade school years, his teens, etc. Before bed, we watched the video clip of Jeremy reading T'was the Night Before Christmas from 2007.

We rose early Christmas Day and packed up the car to drive 2.5 hours to Mesa to spend Christmas Day with my Uncle Jack, his wife, Pat and their youngest daughter Stacey and her family. It's another story, but I only met my Uncle Jack 10 years ago and although we have only seen each other twice, we have been in touch regularly. He was quick to invite us to be with his family on Christmas Day and we were just as quick to accept. Owen had never met Uncle Jack and neither of us had met the cousins (Jack's 3 kids). It was a lovely day. Stacey, her husband, Tom and their two boys, Zack (9) and Nathan (7) welcomed us into their beautiful home. Tom's folks were there too, Dale and Carol. As well as my cousin Scott. At 50, he is the oldest of the 3 kids. We spent the night at Jack and Pat's and the next morning (they don't celebrate Boxing Day in the U.S.), Saturday, we went out for breakfast with Jack's other daughter, my cousin Pam, and her daughter Nisha. It was lovely.

The Yaeger family made our Christmas something new and special.

The weather couldn't have been better. It was warm (in the 60's) and sunny. The homes in Mesa were decorated for the season; complete with Santa hats for the cacti.

We were home in Sedona in time for a late afternoon hike around the Big Park Trail at Bell Rock.

Photo 1) Jeremy and Sarah Christmas 2008

Photo 2) Nadine, cousin Pam, cousin Nisha (Pam's daughter), Uncle Jack and Aunt Pat

Photo 3) Zack, Nathan, Tom and cousin Stacey

Photo 4) cousin Stacey, Nadine, cousin Scott, Uncle Jack, Aunt Pat and Owen

Christmas Eve

My friend Angela wrote to me recently. She lost her father a few weeks ago. She spoke about the strangeness of the first Christmas without a loved one and how puzzling the feelings are at this time too. Cheer...sadness...needing to be part of the wider community...needing to be alone. I miss my Christmas tree and decoration, the baking and preparation, my family and my friends. I miss being festive. Yesterday I had nigglings of emptiness and today it is full blown.

Owen and I will go for a long walk today and then we will come home and have a quiet Christmas Eve dinner. We are taking care of each other and celebrating the life we had with Jeremy; his bright light and the love he gave to us and others.

Wishing you peace on earth and love and light in your hearts.

Nadine and Owen

Computer Glitches

Just a quick note to let you know that it appears as tho a couple of my 'new posts' on this blog are out of sequence, hence, scroll through the entries to see that you don't miss any of my diabtribes. ie. the Chapel of the Holy Cross is out of sequence.

AND I did put the photos in the last post 'This and That' in order but when I published it, they seemed to be placed higgly piggly.

I still think technology is great even tho I haven't gotten past MS Office on my laptop. Wish I could learn more about Photoshop.

This and That

1) Javelina: If you are lucky, you may meet a herd of Javelina in Red Rock Country. Javelina (hah-vel-EEN-a), live in desert scrub and feed mainly on prickly pear cactus. Javelina usually feed at night during hot summer months but are active in the day during cooler months. Javelina do not see well but have a great sense of smell which helps them find tubers deep underground. While not aggressive, they have sharp canines that can inflict a nasty bite (keep your dogs leashed). P.S. The picture is poor but we were shooting it from the car up a long driveway where the heard of 15 - 20 of these rather large beasts were being fed by the owners of the 'estate'. There were a couple of little babies too. Had we known before I read about them being non agressive, I may have gotten out of the car.

2) Prickly Pear or a variety of the same, bare fruit. I would suggest (my expertise comes from experience), that you do not handle the fruit of the prickly pear. Appearing innocent, the fine little peach like fuss thorns actually pierce the skin and are almost impossible to see or get out. Unlike a splinter, tweezers would only do the job if you also had a magnifying glass.

3) We are calling the dirt road that begins at the end of Verde Valley School Road (the road on which we reside), 'Red Rock Road'. The fine packed red rock dust/gravel is compacted just like any dirt road back home although when damp from a recent rain, is real pretty.

4) Longer days in Red Rock Country. This photo was taken at 4:55 pm our time. 3:55 pm in British Columbia.

A Little Story

A friend sent me a "FW" through e-mail. It was titled 'the Old Phone'. You know the kind of e-mail I mean. They are usually jokes, a photo, or a story. This one was a story; I cried my eyes out. We all know someone who is singing in another world.

Here is an excerpt.

Then, there was this time, Petey, our pet canary, died. I called, Information Please and told the operator the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her, 'why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?'. She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, 'Always remember that there are other worlds to sing in....'

A Full Day of Hiking

Hiking (but it was probably more like walking) the Bell Rock/Courthouse Butte Trail

Not far from here, 5 minutes by car, is the parking lot and trail that leads to Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte. Some of you will remember from Segment 1 that we walked up to Bell Rock on our first day in Sedona. About an hour round trip if you are meandering.

The Sedona area is known for its beauty - the sandstone formations of red, beige and orange rise above green forests of juniper, pinon and cypress, all beneath an azure sky (on a sunny day and most days have sunshine). It's gorgeous. People have also been coming here for years to connect to the energy of the place. The energy now has a brand name, Vortex. Definition of Vortex: A Vortex is a place on the planet of increased energy. A place on Earth that is exceptionally alive and healthy. google 'Vortex'. The energy created by a Vortex can be sensed immediately if you are open to it, whether on a physical, mental, emotional or spiritual level. The most prominent energy forces are identified on maps at tourists centers throughout the Sedona area (4 of them). So this is not just a pretty place, but 'it's a powerful one'. Bell Rock is one of the 4 main energy forces identified in the tourist handouts and books.

Anyway, I regress. The whole point of this story was to tell you about our plan to walk up to and hike a bit around Bell Rock and maybe even climb a bit. No big plans for these folks! It was cloudy when we started out but they were high enough that they did not obstruct our view of the mountains surrounding the area. If Bell Rock were your home, this trail would be your drive way. Pretty easy and only a little over a mile to get to the far side of Bell Rock. The path from the parking lot is fine red dirt. Darn pretty. Prior to deciding whether or not we wanted to take the Courthouse Butte Loop, we took the uphill path that was well marked with wire baskets around red rock piles. Cairns in baskets! We climbed to rock plateaus, shaped over mega thousands of years. We went up part way and sat and enjoyed the energy and scenery. We did not, and I repeat, did not venture to the pinnacles ahead although there were folks, in way better shape than we were, that ventured forth. Some to turn back and others to press on. We understand that many a walker, come climber, have added their name to the list of folks happy to make it up... and embarrassed to find they can't get down. They have been saved by Ropes That Rescue. Kinda cute name, don't you think?

All the while I'm thinking, if Jeremy were here, he would have pressed forward (as many do) and he would wind his way up the rocks, hanging on in places, retracing his steps, only to press forward and then he would be waving to me from high atop on of the pinnacles. And I think he was, waving to me, that is.

We decided we wanted to go back down to the main trail, and hike around Courthouse Butte. There was so much good stuff to see ahead. Views that stopped you dead in your tracks. Lee Mountain, Gibraltar Rock, Twin Buttes, to name a few. Great scenery. We were walking right through red rock country. The further we walked, I noticed that the formations begin to look taller, probably because the elevation was dropping again. We came across a dry creek bed but because of previous rains, there were some brick coloured puddles of water that were amazing. There is prickly pear cacti everywhere as well as something they call strawberry hedgehog cacti. Owen and I noticed the smooth mahogany coloured barked bushes (not unlike the arbutus tree trunks/branches but way smaller) and later found out that they are called manzanita bushes. As we came out of the loop and back onto the path, the sun was shining and a huge rainbow encased both Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte. Hikers were just beginning their walk as we were ending ours. We nodded and wished them a good hike. Probably a little over 4 miles under our belt, we were saturated in our satisfaction of a beautiful walk, good exercise and great memory.

I didn't mean to forget, but my sister, Karen was on that walk with us. A little more strenuous than she anticipated but she was a trooper, not one complaint, infact, although she was tired and a little stiff, by morning there were no aches and pains, just smiles.

We have done the hike again, sans Karen, she decided to visit the Chapel of the Holy Cross.

More to come: Owen climbing the 'mound', cliff dwellings and petroglyphs, shopping... Keep coming back and bring a cuppa tea with you because as you can see, you have to almost camp out to get through one of my posts.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

With no particular destination in mind we were headed north to Uptown Sedona. I'd been told by a couple of people back home that we must see the Chapel on the hill and that we couldn't miss it. So when we came upon a road sign on our right that said, Chapel Road, it was a bit of a no brainer. Surprisingly, we had passed the Chapel on the hill a couple of times but I was so busy gawking at all there was to see (Bell Rock, Castle Rocks, Cathedral Rock, etc.), I missed it, and ofcourse, Owen has been doing most of the driving, so he missed it to.

Wikipedia says "The Chapel of the Holy Cross is an iconic Catholic chapel built into the mesas of Sedona, Arizona, which was inspired and commissioned by sculptor Marguerite Brunswig Straude, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright". Apparently on a trip to New York City in the early 30s, Marguerite observed that a cross could be seen in the newly constructed Empire State Building when viewed from a certain angle and was inspired to build a church based on that design. She then kept an eye out all over Europe and the US for an ideal location and chose Sedona. The chapel was built in 1956. It really is an architectural wonder and amazingly beautiful. It is built on a twin-pinnachled spur about 250 feet high, jutting out of a huge red rock wall. The construction is quite a feat.

Now that we know where to look, we never miss the amazing sight of The Chapel of the Holy Cross.

Catching Up

For those of you who didn't receive Segment 1 of 'Journey to Lower Latitudes', I will one day post the whole thing in all of its verboseness (which as Owen says, is a bunch of BS in all it's glory). And for those of you who did, and so I can get on with what is happening right now, I am starting with a few little stories of what we've seen and what we have been doing since we reached Red Rock Country.

Our first 10 days in Sedona were cold. A few days ago, a local told us that on a normal basis, Sedona experiences winter from December 5th until the 15th. Well guess what, we arrived on the 5th. What do they say about Murphy's Law! But we bundled up and ventured out everyday whether we were going for a hike/walk or being tourists and visiting the many cliff dwellings, ruins, petroglyph/pictographs, museums or galleries. And for the past few days we've been able to do it in our shirt sleeves and a vest unless we go out in the evening when it's close to freezing. We understand it's the same everywhere, even further south in the low desert and Mexico, days are warm and the evenings are super cool comparatively.

The immediate area of Sedona is made up of the Village of Oak Creek (where we are), Uptown Sedona (5 minutes away) and West Sedona (right next to Uptown Sedona). Uptown Sedona is home to every type of tourist shop you would ever want to visit. Art, art and more art. Jewelry, glass blowing, carvings, sculptures, pottery and rugs. Native, Western, modern, local and imported. We didn't see too much tourist/tacky items. Mostly nice stuff. And the real nice stuff is major big bucks. I really wonder how some of the galleries stay in business but I guess it only takes one sale a month to pay the expenses at the prices of some of the art. Wowzers.

And like most tourist attraction sights, they have 'time share hawkers'. It only took some poor fellow one 'stab at it' with us, and we caught on. We are now practicing being seasoned locals. Just tell them you are not interested and look away. They are smooth tho and profess "absolutely no pressure". Bull!!!

Mexican Food: We know we are heading to Mexico after our visit to Arizona but the Mexican food in California and now in Sedona is excellent. We went to Oaxaca's for lunch one day. The prices are are reflective of Uptown Sedona - who cared - lunch was fabulous. I'm the gal who could live on rice and beans. Yummy, infact, I've made a pact that if we dine in anymore Mexican restaurants that is all I'll be ordering. Except maybe the chips and salsa although most restaurants bring them to your table with your menu's. Fresh chips and salsa. The best. All meals come with the rice and beans and it's the first thing I check when I get the menu. Would you like that with fries, soup or salad, same thing. If you know of a excellent Mexican restaurant in Vancouver, be sure to let us know when we get home.

We spent one rainy afternoon wandering around the shops Uptown. Found Pandora's. Talked to a couple of galleries about the Zuni bracelet and ring that my mother gave me years ago. There are obviously some very knowledgeable native experts around here. The fellow we talked to confirmed that the pieces (a set) are Zuni/Navajo and that the inlay work is very good as well as the stones. Ox Blood Coral, Turquoise, Mother of Pearl and Onyx and the inlay depicts a dancing warrior. I'm hoping to find out who the actual artist is. We have a signature on the silver work done by a Navajo artist but the inlay is Hopi. We have a first name - Amy. Still asking and talking around.

More later. P.S. Owen was just kidding about my ramblings. He really does like it that I'm staying in touch and we are connecting with all of you.

Blogging Live A Life Well

To our family and friends,
I've named this blog Live a Life Well because Jeremy use to say 'Live a life and live it well.' We are making an attempt to do just that; living a life well in everything we do. I started this blog to keep you, our family and friends, up-to-date on our travels and also my thoughts and my feelings. So grab a cuppa tea, a glass of wine or beer and enjoy my ramblings. I can get quite wordy.

Love to you. Nadine