Arizona Highlights and Happenings

Howdy everybody!

It was recently brought to my attention that my last post was way back on July 3oth.  Goodness, how time flies!  Since that time, I have been busy with school, busy with school, busy with school, taking extra courses in Craniosacral Therapy, starting my Hospice Training so I can give massage in the homes of patients, and praying for cooler weather.

Shortly after Labor Day, the cooler weather arrived along with my eldest brother, Hill.  After a nationwide search, he purchased a VW Eurovan here in Cottonwood and flew in to collect it.  He’s here getting organized before heading out on a Walkabout of his own.

To follow are some highlights of the happenings here in my little neck of the woods since last I posted.

Highlight #1.  The countdown has begun.  There are exactly 14 more school days until I graduate on October 6th.  Ceremony at noon.  Potluck Party at 1:00.   You are all invited.  Please bring a dish to share.

Highlight #2.  The Sedona Full Moon Drum Circle.  This event happens every full moon about half way up to the saddle of Cathedral Rock.  Folks just show up with their drums, flutes, glow in the dark hoola hoops and whatever else strikes their fancy and watch the moon come up while they dance and drum and juggle and hoola etc.  Here’s a link to a YouTube video from the August 13th circle.  You get a prize if you can spot my very brief appearance.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apy8SsNqUpE

See Katie, Ben, and Coyo having fun dancing to the drums.

Highlight #3.  Hill arrives and sets up camp with Dora, Lil’ Pea, and me at #10 Turquoise Triangle, not to be confused with #10 Downing though I know the distinction may be tough.

Here he is enjoying the morning paper and coffee inside his rig.

Highlight #4.  Not too long after his arrival, I took him on a hike in Sedona.  We hiked Boynton Canyon, a gorgeous spot and home to one of the 4 main Vortexes (vortices?)  At the trail head, we ran into a guy playing a flute by his car.  Not a flute like you might see in an Orchestra, but a big wooden Native American flute that had been gifted to him.  He said he was trying to decide which one to take back into the canyon with him since they each resonated differently with the canyon itself and with the human body.  While neither Hill nor I felt the effects of the aforementioned Vortex, we were so very fortunate to hear this man playing his flute off in the distance as we neared the back of the canyon.  What a treat.

Here’s Hill with a view looking back up the Canyon.  This was Hill’s first visit to Sedona and I think it and the Boynton Canyon hike were a definite hit.

And look what we found on the way back to town.

Some of you may know why members of my family call me “Merge” from time to time.  It has to do with a childhood incident and a roadside sign similar to this one.  Sigh.

Highlight # 5.  My friend Jeanine and I took Hill to The Blue Hole in Sycamore Canyon where he braved the jump from the high ledge to the blue water below.  Here he is enjoying the general beauty of the area from his pre-jump perch.

Let’s see, what’s next?  Oh yes, Highlight #6.  I went on a brief hike yesterday up in Sedona and stumbled upon the Cockscomb Loop trail, which was exciting because it is one I had read about the day before in relation to single track mountain biking.  Why was I researching area single track trails you ask?  Because my sister and a friend from Alaska are coming to Sedona in the Spring for a week of mountain biking and hiking fun in the sun!  Yipppppeeeee!

Here’s a shot I took while on the Cockscomb Trail.

Highlight #7.  And the final highlight is the fact that we have the work of a famous British street artist right here in small town Cottonwood.  To quote from Wikipedia,

Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter.

His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique. Such artistic works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world.^[1]    To see more of his work, http://www.banksy.co.uk/.  I don’t see anything subversive or irreverent about this particular piece of art.  In fact I drive by it twice a day and it always makes me smile.

That’s it for now.  I hope all of you are doing well.  Stay tuned for more AZ happenings.