Dancing with horses . . .

Monday

Neither John nor Dennis was at dancing tonight, and I have to admit . . . it was a relief. There were a ton of guys there tonight, though, and I totally enjoyed the dancing. There was this really cute guy there tonight . . . Sam. About twenty or twenty-five years old, cute personality, and southern accent. This is a big confession for me . . . but, now I think I understand how "old" men my age fall for cute young things!

I was reading an archeological novel the other day, and I came across something interesting. I know that the authors do a lot of research, so even though it was a novel, this is probably true. One of the characters described certain gorillas (or maybe all) . . . and she said that gorilla females always gravitate toward the alpha male in the group.

This helps explain what happened in India with the young girls and the older men who wore the black and white robes . . . the teachers . . . they could be perceived as the alpha males. It makes perfect sense!

The difference between a sixty year old man with a twenty year old, and a sixty year old woman with a twenty year old . . . the sixty year old woman knows she looks like an idiot! Ah, well. So much for Sam.

Tuesday

Today, I went back out to the horse ranch. I met Alicia, who is her assistant, and Kelsey, a student from the local college here. She is in the last class of that horsemanship program that I wanted to get in.

First, Alicia got on a young, green horse, and Kelsey lunged her. That's when a rope is attached to the halter of the horse, and the person holding the rope is in the center of a circle that the horse goes around. Usually, the horse is riderless. Alicia was on today as a transition. Many of the commands are taught to the horse before a rider ever gets in the saddle. So, as a transition, once the rider is on the horse, it is lunged to tie together the initial ground work and having a person in the saddle. I've actually never seen this before, but it does make perfect sense to me.

At the same time Kelsey was lunging Alicia, Jennifer was riding another horse at the other end of the arena. She had like a running commentary telling me exactly what she was doing. The horse was incredible . . . a high stepping gorgeous . . . Lipizzan stallion, I think. He had a lot of energy, but Jennifer kept him perfectly controlled the entire time. It was a thing of beauty to watch. Jennifer apologized to the horse, telling him that she didn't ride as well as she used to, and that it might confuse him a little bit. But, they still did well together and it was awesome to watch.

After that, Kelsey went to get a green mare . . . she could barely lead, and was very spooky, and Alicia got a horse that was in for re-training. Jennifer said that the horse lost its "want." She says that horses are herd animals and that they *want* to please you. This horse, who was overfed horse cookies, had lost its *want.* It had been rearing up, bucking, and never standing still. I saw it stand still, and Jennifer and Alicia said it took weeks to get that to happen.

Jennifer also said that domestication is basically a symbiotic relationship with man . . . each entity comes out ahead. I never looked at it like that, but it's exactly right.

She also made this great analogy involving cults . . . but, I can't remember the other part of it . . . was it animals in a herd, or was she talking about horse clinicians . . . you cannot argue with them or they throw you out. I think it was the latter, and since I am going to one in another week or so, it should be in-ter-es-ting!!!!

Dancing was a blast, as usual. I'm really getting into this. I'm improving, but I still have trouble with some of the spins . . . the spins are different for every dance. And that's the hard part for me.

Knight on a brown horse . . . or a pinto . . . or a black horse . . .

Friday night I decided not to go square dancing. The last time I was there, I didn't dance that much, and in the beginning, during the lessons, there were a lot of little kids there, and it just wasn't that pleasurable. So, instead of driving all the way to town, I enjoyed a movie on my computer. "Photographing Fairies" . . . very interesting movie.

Amazon.com has a list of their top five hundred reviewers. If you click on them, you can see the kind of books they're interested in. So, I'm now going through the list looking for people who are into Deepak Chopra or spirituality or something in that direction. Then, I send them an email and ask if they'd allow me to send them my Unicorn Whisperer book. So far, I have about five or six who've said yes. I'm hoping that they love it and give me five star reviews. That should get me off and rolling. I've also sent the book to Oprah and Louise Hay . . . Louise has a publishing company and also has seminars with all kinds of spiritual people. I just have to remain confident that the book will find itself in the right hands.

Saturday

Another relaxing day reading and working on my feet pajamas. The bottoms to the green ones are finally finished. Now, I have to finish the top. I still have the cuffs and the waistband to do.

My aunt called me today. She's kind of been my surrogate mother since my Mom died. She asked if I had met anyone yet. I told her that I'm not really looking. She said, "You have to look! Do you think he's going to walk right up to you on a white horse and say, 'Here I am?'" I told her that the horse doesn't have to be white . . .

So, I don't know. Other people, and my heart, have said . . . let him come to you. And I think that's what I need to do. I'm not really looking, but I'm open. And I'm doing things to put myself out there . . . ballroom dancing, and I'm going to this horse thing in Arizona in a couple weeks. It would be nice if "he" was a horse guy, so I need to do horsey things . . . which I love anyway. So, I'm keeping myself happy at the same time . . . and not really looking. But, if he does show up on a white horse or a black horse or a brown horse or a paint . . . I'll invite him in!

A full day and a relaxing day.

Wednesday

I left the house early to get to Durango by 9:30 for the weekly walk with my Seniors Outdoors club. I met Rosemary and we walked together. I think it's about five miles, but I think it might be more because we walk farther than we used to. They've extended the walk quite a way farther now.

Then, I went to lunch, and it was pleasant. Afterwards, a quick trip to the health food store and then I drove out to Jennifer's ranch. "Molly" was getting a lesson. The horse they used was "Marvin," an ex-racehorse who is handsome and well trained. In fact, he is so well trained that if you don't do things correctly, he refuses to cooperate. Jerking on the reins won't help . . . if you're not moving your body the right way, Marvin won't move. The last kid who tried to force him to respond to jerking reins got thrown off! He was the only person Marvin's ever unloaded, though. Do the right thing, and he'll be fine or he just won't do it. That's pretty awesome, really.

Jennifer says that too many people depend on the reins to do what their bodies should be doing. I watched a video of a woman riding a horse with no reins at all. You wouldn't believe all that horse did . . . it was truly amazing. You don't need reins to communicate with the horse. I think it's all pretty awesome, and I can hardly wait till my lessons begin.

I'm also reading a book on horses written by the guy whose clinic I'm going to in a couple weeks. He says that horses are incredibly intuitive, and that you should always start by "thinking" what you want the horse to do before you even ask him to do it. The guy, and his horse sense, are awesome. I think I'm falling in love.

Thursday

Yesterday was so full, and last night I didn't sleep well . . . so, today I just took it easy. I read almost all day and did a little sewing. I still have to finish my feet pajamas before I leave in a couple weeks.

And, I was totally right about the energy shifting with Dennis. He called me today, and said he'd been wanting to, but he had to work up the nerve. He said he was reading my India book and noticed all the things that we had in common. And he said that he'd like to spend some time with me . . . he mentioned hiking.

Thank goodness for Phil . . . at least he's good for something. I used him to basically get rid of John, and now I'm using him again to put Dennis off. Dennis is very nice, and very funny, and we do have things in common. Is there a possibility there? I don't think so. For right now, I just need some space . . . which is what I told him. I do have to say, though, that there were some red flags back then when I went out with him a couple times. I remember one or two of them . . . and my lesson with Phil was ignoring the red flags. So, time will tell.

When I met him before, we went miniature golfing, which was fun . . . he made me laugh a lot. And then we went out to lunch. But, there was no click. Then, he asked me to go to Mesa Verde with him . . . and I love going to Mesa Verde, so I said yes. But, the night before I didn't get any sleep and so I called him the following morning to cancel. He was just leaving the house. He never called again after that. I thought it was my heart telling me . . . NO! And I didn't care that he didn't call again . . . in fact, I was glad. So, here he is again, and I'm still fairly certain that it's no.

If I'm tempted at all, it's because of the disservice that Phil did me . . . he made me remember how nice it is to be with someone that you're close to. I miss that. A lot. But, I also have to remember that it's not so nice if you really don't want to be there. Patience is the key for me. The right guy will come along when he comes along. I am confident the universe will send him to me at the exact right time.

Peace Dance and more dancing.

Saturday

"Do you know how much your love means? Do you know how many hearts you've lifted? Do you know your love is healing? What a wonderful feeling."

Those are the words to one of the dances that we did tonight. Aren't those awesome words?! Most of the dances are that way . . . talking about love or peace or all being one. And all of them from a different culture. This peace dance was in Mancos and there were a ton of people there. I asked one of the instructors that since there are so many people at the Mancos dance and so few people at the Durango dance, would they consider having it more often in Mancos. She said I wasn't the first one to ask that, and it might be a possibility! That would be awesome!

Monday and Tuesday

Back to ballroom dancing. John acted normal tonight and didn't harass me at all . . . so that was really good. Dancing was very fun again. The last few times I've been enjoying talking to Dennis, the guy that I met months ago from match.com. But, tonight, it "felt" different when I talked to him . . . coming from his side, not mine. The energy had shifted. I hope he doesn't ask me out again! He's nice, but I just don't want to go there. Not interested.

There was an interesting moment there, tonight right before class, though . . . with John on one side of me and Dennis on the other side of me . . . and both of them talking to me! Funny!

A really cool day!

I started off early this morning toward Durango. I knew it was going to be a good day when I saw two elk and then a cool hawk on the way.

I met five other members of the Senior's Outdoors group at Haviland Lake. We all put on our snowshoes and we were off! It was a beautiful day up in the mountains . . . that high altitude deep blue sky, and the green pine forest. It was a silent walk except for the crunching of our snowshoes in the snow. I was having a blast, enjoying every minute, and then we had to go down this steep slope. It was different from the one I went down a few weeks ago, last time I went snowshoeing. This one has loose powdery snow on it, so that when we stepped down, our snowshoe went about four inches down and sometimes even slipped a little. It was a little scary, but felt like an accomplishment once I got all the way down . . . without falling!

After that, we had some little gentle hills and gradual inclines. I'm not good at hills or inclines . . . and sometimes I could hardly catch my breath. It probably didn't help any that I was at a higher altitude than I was used to . . . I live at seven thousand feet, and this was eight or eighty-five hundred feet. Several times I had to ask to rest for a few minutes . . . but, I had to do what I had to do, and nobody complained.

The last of it was a steep, ungroomed slope with more loose snow (most of the trail we had been on, had been snowshoed before) . . . Warren, the leader, grabbed my hand at the end and helped pull me up. I was tired, but we were on a flat, well-tended road now, and not much farther to go. I made it! We got back to the cars, and Joan handed out these wonderful cookies to everyone. They were like Gatoraid, only better!

Next stop, the Durango jail to visit my friend, Ken, again. Yesterday when I called, I had to ask why the strict restrictions on what you can bring in with you . . . since the prisoners aren't anywhere close to where you are. And the woman . . . she was very nice . . . said it's because they don't want that room all messed up . . . or something like that. I had to stop myself from saying something like . . . that makes sense given the clientele . . . because, really, I WAS one of the clientele!

So, I got there the requisite ten minutes early, but I have to confess that I brought some "contraband" with me. I thought that if I got caught with it, it would make for an interesting read on my blog!! I had stopped at the grocery store on my way to the jail, and picked up some of those valentine heart candies. I stashed them . . . a clear violation of the rules since you are only supposed to bring in your car keys and a government id . . . anyway, I stashed them in the front pocket of my sweatshirt. AND, I got away with it! That is just the most satisfying feeling, I can't tell you!! And I noticed this time on the walls where it said that the whole interview between you and the prisoner is recorded and videotaped! So, somewhere in their archives, they have a video of me sneaking valentine candies, "contraband," into my mouth . . . plus, I have this thing with those valentine candies . . . I'm not allowed to eat them unless I read them, first. You know, they have things written on them, like, "first kiss" or "soul mate" or a new one is "email me" . . . crazy, huh.

So, anyway, back to my visit. I sat in my little cubicle, number three this time, and picked up the phone, and in a minute, I see a concrete wall in front of me, and my time . . . my thirty minutes . . . is ticking away! And Ken isn't even there yet! Bummer. I think two full minutes went by before Ken finally came on the screen. He didn't look as good as last time. I asked him what was wrong, and he said something about them trying to freeze them out that morning or something. But, he had gotten his books in the mail, so that was a good thing. I told him a funny story about something that had happened to me with someone he knew, and then we mostly talked about therapeutic riding business or horses. I told him about my upcoming adventure with horses, and he's anxious to hear about how that goes. And I told him that I was "interviewing" at a place in town to be "working student." Ken thought he had heard about the woman, and he knew all about her horses.

My final adventure for the day was meeting, Jennifer, a horse breeder and trainer. The local college had an option for continuing education with horses. When I inquired about it, they had already stopped the program. But, Jennifer gave me the option of possibly being a "working student." A working student would work around her horse ranch in exchange for lessons and knowledge.

Jennifer was very happy when I told her that I wasn't interested in a career with horses, and just wanted to learn more for when I get my own horse. She teaches primarily English riding and jumping, but wasn't opposed to Western . . . which is the way I ride. Also, she was extremely happy when I told her that my favorite way to ride was bareback! So, it all went very well, and I'll probably start next week.

She did give me one warning, though, that scared me. She said she can't take any responsibility if I fall in love with one of her horses. Knowing what happened with me and Chaco, I know this is a very real possibility! The real bummer, though, is that her high end horses cost thousands of dollars! Yikes!

More dancing

Saturday

I drove over to Cortez tonight for square dancing. I thought I was getting there way early, and instead I got there a little late. Nobody told me they were giving plus lessons at 6:30. I was totally bummed because I love the plus lessons . . . but, I did get some in. Some of those advanced steps are really hard, and even after doing them dozens of times, I still don't really have them down. I even watched videos today so I could do them better! No such luck!

Something interested happened tonight, though. There is one female caller who isn't very good. She's been doing it for years, and for some reason, she's just never improved. Normally, if I know she is going to call, I don't even go those nights. But, sometimes, if she comes to dance, then the regular caller will let her call one "tip." So, she called one dance tonight, and I wasn't lucky enough to get out of it. I danced, and it wasn't so horribly bad after all. BUT, suddenly, I realized how judgmental I was being! Success! I knew I was judgmental, but I don't think I've ever "caught myself in the act before!" So, this was very cool for me and totally a step in the right direction! From now on, I will not judge her . . . but, I'll still try to get out of any dances that she calls!

Monday

Back to ballroom dance lessons tonight, and guess what!? We learned the dance that I danced at the country western place! Just one lesson too late! Oh, well. I had a great time tonight, and continue to really enjoy these lessons.

John was there . . . he is always there. And he offered to look at my broken scanner "as a favor." He also asked if I was married or in a relationship. I told him I had just finished a relationship and needed some space. He said he just moved here a few months ago and just wanted a friend. When I said I didn't drink, he said he didn't drink much either, and that he could even come to Mancos. He said something like . . . I don't mean to be pushy . . . But, he was . . . very pushy.

And idiot that I can sometimes be, I was going to let him look at the scanner. On my way driving home, it came to me . . . what are you thinking!?! You don't need to be beholden to this guy! Forget the whole scanner deal! So, tomorrow, I'm going to give back his company catalog that he gave me (he said he can get me a new scanner at 10% over cost), and tell him I'm not ready to do anything with broken scanner or new scanner. Then, if he persists . . . I will be as polite as I can in telling him that I am not interested, at all, friendship or anything else.

Tuesday

Dancing was great. Since there were no new people, we got a little more advanced tonight. I love this stuff! But the interaction with John was strained. He doesn't get that I'm not interested, but perhaps, now, he will. Oh, well. I'm learning all the time. I just hope he doesn't start stalking me or something!

Details on my Date

Friday

Roger emailed me a couple days ago and said we'd go dancing Friday instead of Saturday. It worked out better for me, so it was fine. Plus, my friend Burt, who is also a board member for Cadence Therapeutic Riding, and his girlfriend, Dell, would be with us. Dell and Roger are old friends.

He wanted me to meet him at his house first . . . regardless of whether I wanted to drive my own car or not . . . which struck me as completely weird. I was not going to drive into a strange neighborhood in the dark where I've never been for no reason. Besides, I wanted to go to Durango early so I could go to the health food store and the grocery store.

While I was doing my errands, I was reminded that it was Snowdown weekend . . . an affair with a lot of different activities in Durango . . . AND that there was going to be a parade down Main St. So, I had to drive all the way around to avoid Main Street, and I ended up with a great parking place right in front of where we were going dancing. I was early, so I walked down to Main Street to see what I could see. The parade had already passed that spot, but the street was filled with people, many of them in costume or with flashing necklaces on.

Then, I made my way back to the dance place. I walked up the steps and waited at the top, where I was supposed to meet Roger. There was a coat check place there, and I asked if there were any other staircases around, and she said no. I stood there for a few minutes, and then I started looking where the tables were. Some old man started waving at me. I wasn't sure if it was Roger or not . . . turned out, yes. He looked much older than when I saw him with the ball cap on when we were snowshoeing! Burt and Dell weren't there yet, so Roger and I attempted to talk a little with the loud music blaring in the background.

Attempted being the qualifying word here. Most of you don't know this about me, but I am very ADD. ADD means "attention deficit disorder." I have been all my life, but I only found the "explanation" for it a few years ago. When I am in a noisy place, I find it nearly impossible to have a conversation. Many, many years ago, I had a date end very, very badly because of this limitation. The guy thought I was ignoring him or something, but the truth was that I was incapable of carrying on a conversation in that environment. So, now that I know my limitations, I still can't do it very well, but I can give it a shot! I kept saying to myself, focus, focus, focus . . . and it helped . . . a little . . . but, didn't solve the problem.

While we were waiting for Dell and Burt to show up, the waitress came over and asked what I wanted. I said, "Water, no ice," and she offered bottle water. Yes, fine. Later, Roger says to me, "Do you drink beer?" I said no. He said, "Do you drink at all?" I said no. He said, "A teetotaler, huh?" I could be wrong, and there was of course the noise going on, but I thought he was mocking me a little, so I said, "Yes, and I'm damn proud of it." He didn't say anything more about it!

Burt and Dell came soon after, and so we started dancing. We couldn't before because it was so crowded, it wasn't "safe" to leave the table unattended . . . because we might lose it. Anyway, the first dance I did okay. I was able to figure out the steps and for the most part, I could follow Roger. It wasn't one that I had learned in my dance class. When we did the cha cha, which I had learned, plus had some practice a year ago, plus actually remembered from my lessons forty-five or so years ago (!), I did really good at that, and enjoyed it the most. But, there were a couple other dances that I didn't have a clue. Roger kept saying, "Feel the beat." Well, that doesn't really help if you don't know where to put your feet. He really didn't get that. So, I enjoyed some and was very uncomfortable with others.

When there was rock/free style dances, I just kind of did my thing, and Roger did some awesome things. He really is a good dancer. He does the twist and goes clear down to the floor! He's awfully flexible for an ole guy! Ha ha! Just after leaving the dance floor after one of those, some thirty year old long haired blonde girl says to us, "Are you a couple?" I said no. She said to Roger, "Then can I dance with you sometime?" A couple songs later, he grabs my hand to take me to the dance floor. When we get there, he gets the blond girl, too. I started walking away, and they both tried to stop me, but, hey, I'm outa there. I was fine with him dancing with her . . . we are DEFINITELY not a couple . . . but, I didn't have to be there for it. I was fine watching from the audience. He came back and said that we all could have danced together . . . that he does that all the time. But, I wasn't interested.

At this point, I have to tell a relevant story from my past. When I talk about rock/free style . . . I don't know what it's really called, but you know, it's when the two people dancing together don't touch and basically just do their own thing. Well, in my youth, I didn't think I could do it, and I was absolutely terrified of dancing. I'd go to dance places with friends, but then refuse to dance with anybody. This went on for years and years.

Then, about thirty or so years ago, I was living in Durango . . . yes, same place . . . and they were going to film a movie in town, Avalanche, starring Rock Hudson. They needed extras. I stood in line for awhile and gave my name . . . but, for some reason, I got to talking to the guy taking names and gave him my "Snake Lady" card, that showed a picture of me and my snake on it. About a week later, I got a call that I was accepted as an extra! I even got permission from my job to take a few days off! It was awesome!

Except . . . when I got there . . . what did they want of me . . . they wanted me to dance! And to top it off, they wanted me to dance with no music! They were going to put the music in later. Well, I'm here to tell ya that I was not going to let my chance at fame and fortune go just because I was a little scared to dance. So, there I am up there with Rock and company dancing away. You can see me for about five seconds in the movie!

After that, I wasn't scared anymore. That definitely got me over it! That rock/free style stuff is still not my favorite, and I much prefer square dancing or even ballroom dancing. I guess I'm not that much of a rocker!

Back to the Wild Horse Saloon, currently, Roger was very nice . . . he hugged me after most dances, and held my hand to and from the dance floor. But, I'm totally not interested. When you're twenty or thirty or forty and there is twelve years difference, that's one thing . . . but, at this age and just "starting out," I think that twelve years is just too many years. I also found him to be . . . judgmental. And the interesting thing here is that being judgmental is one of my "shadow areas" . . . one of those things that I'd like to change about myself. So, perhaps noticing that he was judgmental is a step in the right direction for me. Maybe if I can see it in others . . . I might be able to see it in myself and thus put an end to that. Because, really, everybody is doing the best they can. Who am I to judge others? I have plenty of faults of my own . . . being judgmental is one of them!

So, at the end of the evening, Roger said something about going dancing again and I gave him a vague answer. But, I'm done. It was fun, and I had a good time, but no more. I've had enough! Time to move on!

Just saw this and thought it was apropos to me and my blog! And . . . it's from one of my favorite authors, Paulo Coelho:

Writing books is a socially acceptable form of getting naked in public.

Guys comin' out the ying-yang

Saturday

I had a pleasantly uneventful trip home. I stopped at a trading post, and it had lots of cool but expensive stuff. I did manage to find a couple bargains, though! Then, while driving, I took some pictures of signs that I might use in my next book . . . with a little tweaking, of course.

Sunday

Good to be back home. I relaxed, and tried to get my sewing machine going. This is a machine that I bought for $10 at a garage sale, because my good circa eighty year old Singer was still in Maine. (I love my eighty year old Singer!) The newer machine, maybe thirty years old(!), needed some repairs before I could use it, but the repairman raved about it and said that I would love it. So, when I couldn't even get it working . . . I kept struggling thinking that I was doing something wrong . . . I was. I had threaded it wrong, and as soon as I corrected it, I was flying!

Got a message from Roger . . . called him back and we are going dancing Saturday night. I don't think he's "thee one," but I'll enjoy myself.

Monday

More sewing on the feet pajamas, and then off to ballroom dance lessons. Nobody there of interest, but I had a great time and learned more. Denise, who owns it, hasn't been there in a couple weeks, but she recognized me from the first time I went and remembered my name! That always impresses me! I never remember names! I enjoy this dancing so much!

Tuesday

Almost finished with the bottoms on one of the pair of pajamas! I'm just taking it slow, and doing other stuff in between. I don't want to get burnt out on sewing, because I really enjoy it and I want to keep it that way.

I've been making juice about every other day. And I've been trying to add some vegetables into the mostly apple/pear juice. I've done a beet several times, and lately have added a small amount of broccoli. Today, I added a kale leaf. I read that kale is very bitter and not to add more than one leaf at first. I was a little concerned, but the juice was absolutely delicious! And, not to mention nutritious! I'm on a roll!

Dennis, the guy I had met on match.com was at dancing again tonight. I talked to him for a little while. There is NO connection there at all! And John, another guy who is at every lesson like I am, keeps hanging around me. I knew this was coming . . . tonight he asked if I would go with him next door for a drink. I declined. What do I say next time if he asks again? I don't even drink! I may say that . . . but, then he might suggest some place else. Oh, well. I'll play it by ear.

Adventures with Liberty

Friday

Today, I spent the day with my wonderful sister-in-law, Liberty. First, we drove up to Airport Mesa to get an awesome view of the city (with Thunder Mountain in the background). Then, a little ways down the hill to the Airport Vortex. Marv and Liberty took me to this vortex the last time I was in Sedona . . . over ten years ago . . . but this time we took a different route. I had asked Marv and Liberty about a vortex that you could hang your feet over the edge, and rumor had it that some really sensitive people actually got their feet burnt from the energy of the place. But, neither Marv nor Liberty knew of such a place by any of the vortexes. Today, as we walked to the right instead of the left, THERE it was! There was a high rocky embankment to our left, and Lib wanted me to climb up there, but I just wanted to hang my feet off the edge! I spent some time there, with my shoes on, just meditating on the place. It was quite awesome. Last time I was at this vortex . . . the following day I had an epiphany about my life.

Next, we drove out to Boynton Canyon where there is another vortex AND a huge resort. The Indians must have freaked out to see what was done to their sacred area. I didn't feel anything at this one . . . it was too crowded, too "populated." In front of the resort was a gorgeous red wall of stone. Absolutely beautiful. Mother Nature is an incredible artist.

After that, Lib took me to see different places in town, including a couple bookstores that I might be able to do book signings at. Then, we went back home, had a snack, and then went to the "club," that they belong to. I had a guest pass. First, Lib and I did some yoga and energy work. Next, Lib walked on the treadmill and I rode a stationary bicycle while watching Doctor Doolittle without sound. It was still pretty good! I'm going to have to watch it now. Then, we put our bathing suits on and Lib sat on the side and made phone calls while I swam laps. It's been years since I've done any serious swimming, but I did manage to do laps for about twenty minutes. I had to keep switching between the crawl and other strokes that were easier and more restful, though! It was a nice day.

Hiking adventures . . .

Thursday

Today, my brother and I drove over to Cathedral Rock to go hiking. Cathedral Rock is one of the famous "vortexes" of Sedona. I felt its energy as we drove up. We parked, started out on the hiking trail, and it was beautiful. We walked along a creek, listening to its song, and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings. We reached the end of the trail, had our snacks, sat awhile and then started back. The sun was lowering in the sky as we walked. And walked. And walked. Something didn't seem right. We seemed to be on the left side of Cathedral Rock and neither of us could remember starting out that far. We kept walking thinking the path to the parking lot would be just "around the next corner." It wasn't. We passed several corners and no parking lot! The sun got lower. The air felt colder. My brother had been here many times before and had never gotten lost. But, I thought it was my fault: earlier on the hike I had told him of something that had once happened to me and Don.

When we were living in the Lake Tahoe area, we went on a hike to a place called Lake Margaret in the middle of a national forest. A very primitive but beautiful place, we found a bear track on the trail as we started out. We made it to the beautiful lake, sat awhile and started back. At some point, we realized we had crossed the same area three or four times! We turned around on the trail to try to see where we went wrong. But, we actually had no idea where we were going. We ran into a couple women, and we asked them if they were going to the lake or back to the parking lot . . . because at that point, we didn't know where we were. They were going back to the parking lot. We told them our predicament and asked if we could walk along with them. Soon, the four of us passed the same spot again! Now, all four of us were lost! We ended up "bushwhacking" (blazing our own trail) through the wilderness, and somehow we got lucky and found our way out. It was a very scary day.

So, I had told my brother that story, and I think I put the "lost" vibe out into the universe. So, we kept walking and thinking "the next corner" or "the next corner," but we were getting farther away from Cathedral Rock and things just didn't seem right. We finally turned around. Again, we kept walking, but we still weren't sure where we were going. Then, we ran into some people that we had seen earlier. They described to us just where the path to the parking lot was, and what to look for when we got there. They were very nice, and even gave us an unopened water bottle because we were running low. They kept following the trail we had been on. We arrived at the path to the parking lot, and it had big forest service "cairns." They are big things, about a foot in diameter, filled with rocks and surrounded by wire fencing. We had no idea how we missed them when we went by the first time. Neither of us even remembered going by! So, we got to the car, and Marv called Liberty to let her know we were safe. We kept watching for the other people to come back, but we never saw them. And it was getting later and later, and colder and colder, and darker and darker. We thought maybe it was one of those "touched by an angel" moments, and maybe those people weren't real at all . . . except . . . we had the water bottle . . . I guess we'll never know the truth . . .

This picture shows how dark it was getting when we got back to the car . . .