Celtic Festival

I'm sorry I'm so far behind again!  This keeps happening, and I'm sorry!  The Celtic Festival was probably in May sometime.  I have been really busy, though!  I have two books that I'm waiting for the proof on . . . hopefully will arrive tomorrow, and one book waiting for the editor to make the final changes.  She was on vacation for two weeks, so I've been impatiently waiting for some time now.  Ah, well.

So, the Celtic Festival . . . was a good time, but not exactly what I expected.  For some reason, I thought it was going to have more of a Renaissance Fair bent . . . but, alas, it did not.  They had a miniature parade, and they had some Celtic events and some Celtic music, and it was all enjoyable.

Border Collie and geese.

I thought my favorite thing would be the Border Collies.  But, the dogs they used for the demonstration must have been beginners . . . either that, or the trainers were beginners!  I think Moki could have done a better job!  They used geese instead of sheep.  I first got turned on to Border Collies many years ago when I lived in Maine and went to the Blue Hill Fair.  They have this big event where a man and a Border Collie have to put several sheep through their paces.  The course is laid out . . . usually over a jump or two, around some obstacles, through a narrow chute, and finally into a pen.  Those Border Collies were smarter than some people I know!  The man used mainly whistles to tell the dog what to do and the occasional hand signal.  The man never went near the sheep--it was all the dog's doing.  Those Border Collies were amazing.  The ones at the Celtic Festival were not so impressive!

Dancers

They also had a contest where the guys had to balance this huge heavy pole . . . like a telephone pole and make it stand up straight or move it or something.  Nobody ever did it successfully, so I'm not sure what the object was.  And they had throwing contests and other stuff like that.  The music and the dancing were pretty cool.  I attached a picture of a guy with long hair and wearing kilts.  Gotta love a long-haired guy in a skirt!!  LOL!

And to keep you current for the rest of my life . . . I have met several men recently through online dating.  I'd like to know when it became okay to answer a cell phone when you're out on a date.  I mean really!  How frickin' rude!  Both of the calls . . . and it was two separate guys . . . could have been put off until later.  If guys like this are all that's out there, am I really missing anything???!!  Wow.

Arcosanti . ..

Shortly after I was "all the way" moved into my new apartment . . . I say it that way because of all the trips I made back and forth from Colorado to Arizona . . . my new neighbors invited me to go with them to a place called Arcosanti.  It is only about an hour from where we live.

Arcosanti is the brainchild of Paulo Soleri.  "Arcology is a term coined by Paulo Soleri to describe the concept of architecture and ecology working as one integral process to produce new urban habitats."  Basically, he wanted everything in one place to put an end to urban sprawl.  Arcosanti has living quarters, eating places, entertainment, and work all within one "walking distance" complex.  People come there, usually on a short term basis, to experience this kind of living.

It was a little too close to ashram living for me.  It was an interesting place, but not my cup of tea!

Angel Dog Whisperer

Finally, my angel dog whisperer, Janice, came to Colorado.  But, I had already moved to Arizona!  So, it took me a couple days to get there.  I stopped on the way in Santa Fe and stayed with my good friend, Karen.  Her Mom was visiting, so we all had a great time.  Moki was a good boy the whole time, and enjoyed being with his friend, Checkers.

I found a nicer motel this time than the last time I was in Boulder, which was good.  Last time I was right in the thick of things . . . plus I had to go down a dark staircase (dark at night, anyway) to walk Moki.  This time I was opposite a "mountain" and very close to a park.

Opposite the motel.

I met Janice for the first time on the evening that I arrived.  She invited me out to dinner with her and Jade and Janice's twelve-year-old nephew John.  I had already eaten, but I enjoyed their company and all of Janice's stories.  She's a riot.

The following day we got to work.  Moki and I and Janice took a long walk in the park.  I'm not going to go into the details of all that went on because it's all in my book!  Read it!  But, it was an extremely valuable learning experience.  The three days that I stayed in Boulder, Moki and I had so many positive experiences and I learned so much.  Moki and I were at a pet shop with people and dogs all around and there was a little episode in the parking lot of a western store and I had dinner with Temple Grandin!  It was all good.

Bad pic of me, good pic of Janice and Wyatt.

I had thought that after we saw Janice, the angel dog whisperer, that we would both be completely healed.  But, the journey goes on.  When we got home, Moki and I had a small issue.  I realized a lot that day, which I wrote about in my book.  Sorry for the teasers, but I covered so much and don't want to go over it again now!  The book is now finished and will go to my editor tonight.  Hopefully, it will be published in about a month.

Home Sweet Home

Someone asked me to tell about my new home, so here ya are!

I LOVE Prescott.  It is just such an incredibly wonderful place with great social opportunities for me.  Right now, it is absolutely perfect for me.  AND it has a really GREAT radio station with just oldies!  Frosting on the cake!

First, it's a little ironic that I'm here because it's a much bigger city than I normally prefer.  In fact, when I went with Jennifer to Phoenix in January, I had planned on looking at a place to live in Prescott, but when I saw it on Google Earth and how big it was, it turned me off.  That was my head talking.  My heart, on the other hand, totally wanted to be here.  When Jennifer and I stayed at a hotel in town, the desk clerk said that in the "quad-city" area, it's about one hundred thousand people.  Way way WAY bigger than I prefer.  But, the quad-city area is deceptive.  Chino Valley is sixteen miles away, Prescott Valley is ten miles away, and Dewey-Humboldt is twenty miles away.  So, it's not like they're all crowded together and you don't know where one ends and the other begins.   In 2011, there were 40,000 people here.  Still too much for my preference.  But . . . Prescott has, what I think is known as, urban sprawl.  It "ain't" a good thing, let me tell you.  On the other hand, it has preserved a lot of the wild spaces, which is a good thing.  There are beautiful areas right in the city.  That is what is allowing me to live here.  It has the benefits of a city (Trader Joe's!!) and everything fairly close to hand, and it has the benefits of a beautiful place also close to hand.  For me, at least for now, it's the best of all worlds.  I love it here.

Prescott is in the mountains of central Arizona.  They call it the mile high city at 5400 feet.  So, I will not be getting the oppressive heat of Phoenix.  And I will be getting snow . . . which I love and would miss terribly if I didn't have any!  This is a very doggie city with dogs everywhere . . . but, and a big but here, they are almost all on leashes.  That is good for me and Moki!  The "Courthouse Square" is close to my house and I drive by it all the time.  There are always lots and lots of dogs walking there.  When I hike, there are lots of dogs.  Everywhere I look, there are lots of dogs.  Luckily, I LOVE doggie communities!  Oh, and there are plenty of dogs at my apartment building, as well.

Another thing I love about Prescott is produce!  Yes, produce!  When I lived in Maine, cherries were available only one month a summer . . . if I remember correctly.  In Colorado, they were available all summer.  Here in Prescott, I've already been eating them for a week or two!  Great produce here at great prices.  It's really awesome!

Prescott is not perfect.  There are things here and there that I'm not particularly happy about.  But, I prefer to think about the things that I love about it.  In fact, I prefer to look at life that way.  If everyone looked at life that way, I think the world would be a much happier place!

I've done some cool hikes here, too.  Thumb Butte has a couple trails that I've tried.  And then I did the "petroglyph trail" and couldn't find the petroglyphs!!  I had to go back home, look it up on the internet, and then drive back and find them that way.  Actually, I still couldn't find them.  Moki and I were trying to climb up to them.  We couldn't find a way up.  Luckily, we ran into a couple women who told us "ya can't get there from here!"  (Joke for my Maine friends!)  What they said was that you can see them from here, but you can't climb up to them.  I looked up, and there they were.  I took the petroglyph pic from the close to the bottom.  More adventures coming soon!  [I would have forgotten about them, but luckily I took pictures!!]

     

Thumb Butte - this is close to my house.

Petroglyph rock.

One of the trails that Moki and I hike.

Dinosaurs! (and chalk!)

Backtracking a little here.  I've driven from Colorado to Arizona several times even before my move.  Every time I give a second look to a sign just outside of Tuba City that says, "Dinosaur Tracks."  But, I've never taken the time to stop.  On the way home from my second moving trip down here, I decided it was time to stop.  It was early enough that I could leave Moki in the car.

John was the wonderful, Navajo Indian who gave me the "tour."  He was incredibly knowledgeable about the dinosaurs and the area.  He pointed to a small village close to the dinosaur tracks as his home.  Tucked into the hills, I had never noticed it before.  I asked him lots of questions, including some inappropriate ones (after an apology), and he answered them all.  I love dinosaurs and this was a great experience.

Look at the outline of rocks for the t-rex footprint.

John was the wonderful, Navajo Indian who gave me the "tour."  He was incredibly knowledgeable about the dinosaurs and the area.  He pointed to a small village close to the dinosaur tracks as his home.  Tucked into the hills, I had never noticed it before.  I asked him lots of questions, including some inappropriate ones (after an apology), and he answered them all.  I love dinosaurs and this was a great experience.

And oh yeah . . . I went to a chalk fest in downtown Prescott.  Pics of a chalk artist, and me with Smokey the Bear.

A new home . . .

I think that I had mentioned in a previous post that when my friend, Jennifer, and I were in Arizona I had looked for a new place to live.  It was just kind of on a lark, and when I returned to Durango, I tried in earnest to find a new place to live.  I never mentioned this because I believe the more you focus on something the more of it you create in your life . . . so, I didn't want to talk about it.  But, last year, by April 9th, I had found thirty-two black widows in my house . . . number thirty-two was right by the control to my electric blanket . . . one of the others was in between the foot of my bed and the wall (forcing me to move my bed into the center of the room), and another a couple feet from my bed by my dresser.  For the rest of the summer, I was killing one or two every day . . . so, I think it was well over a hundred by the time they went away in late fall.  I wasn't going to go through that again.  I wanted out before March, just to be sure.

Nothing was available in Durango . . . at least nothing that suited me.  I checked the want ads and the Craigslist ads every single day.  Nothing.  I'm not even sure how it happened . . . but, it was well into my EMDR . . . and suddenly . . . well, slowly really, while I made sure it was what I wanted . . . I decided to leave Durango.  So, for awhile, I still searched the Durango ads as well as the Arizona ads.  My possible places to move were Prescott, Flagstaff, or Sedona.  Sedona is the smallest and most beautiful (beauty is important to me and so is small), but it seemed my heart wanted to go to Prescott . . . still not sure why.  I almost moved to Prescott thirty years ago, but didn't really like it that much.  But, right now, Prescott is where my heart wanted to be.

There were a lot of possible places to live in Prescott, and I finally called on one that sounded promising.  When I was sixteen years old, my mother sold our home and we moved into what back then was called a "studio apartment."  Back then, it didn't mean a one room deal with kitchenette.  It meant an apartment where the kitchen and living room were downstairs and the bedrooms were upstairs.  Mom and I loved the place.  The apartment that I called on in Prescott was that kind of studio apartment.  I called her and said that I didn't live in Prescott yet, so I'd call her later.  She offered to send an application.  I never got it.  And the more I looked at the ad and the more I looked at other places, I knew that was the place I wanted . . . plus, heat was paid!  After I called her that I never received the app . . . and then still didn't receive it, I decided the only logical thing to do was to drive down there.  And since I was convinced that if I didn't get that place that I'd get another, I loaded my car up with my stuff and Moki and I drove down to Prescott.

It went well, we got the place, unloaded my stuff, and drove back to Durango to pack.  Suffice it to say that the following three weeks were filled to brimming with packing, unpacking, driving . . . and about the only time I had to sit down was in the therapists office for my weekly EMDR session.  I think something happened in the EMDR that made me make this "abrupt" decision to leave Durango.  The truth was that Durango was not serving my needs any longer.

So . . . here we are in Prescott, Arizona . . . we made our final quick trip to Durango a couple days ago . . . and now we are living in a bright, large, comfortable apartment with no "bad girls" which is what I called the black widows!!  I don't have to worry about the freakin' neighbors dogs and I don't have to worry about the freakin' neighbors.

One thing I left out of this story was a little incentive given me by the freakin' neighbors . . . they called the sheriff on me!!  Sixty-two years old and no one has ever called the sheriff/police on me before . . . unless you count the time I got kicked out of Shakey's Pizza for laughing too much . . . but, no police were involved!  Anyway, they lied to the sheriff and there is a good chance they lied to me as well.  Believe me, that was incredible incentive, plus, they were not keeping their dogs in . . . so, every time I took Moki outside, I had to worry about Moki running into "Pete" and getting freaked out again.  Not good times.  I am so grateful we are gone from that place . . . so grateful.

I'm just getting settled now . . . still have a ton of unpacking and putting away to do.  Today, I switched my insurance over . . . tomorrow my car gets serviced . . . I still have some other switching to do, but so far we are very happy here.  When I recover from the moving, we will start hiking again.  There is a cool area real close to me and some other places not to far.  Plus there are hiking groups for me to join and lots of other groups with similar interests as mine.  I may just decide to become a social butterfly while I'm here!

Feel free to ask questions if you want to . . .

Trip to Boulder to see the Dog Whisperer

I had checked the weather, many times, before we started down to Boulder (about a seven hour drive), and all was well.  It ended up spitting snow when we got close to Denver.  We were able to bypass downtown Denver, luckily, but, still, this is a city, and not my favorite of places.

When we got to Boulder, the motel/hotel/inn, whatever, is in the middle of the block on a busy intersection.  There have already been more sirens going by than I have heard in the last year, living up in the mountains.  Whew.  I took Moki walking in back of the place on a bicycle path.  I saw a man walking three dogs on leash, so we moved over.  He stopped and we chatted for a minute, and then he said, "Well, you two can go visit," and he turned them loose!  They went right toward Moki and there was no time for me to get between them.  I kept saying, "Get them!  Get them!  Get them!" and he did and apologized.  Mini nightmare averted, and I didn't even have my gloves on.

The room is fine, warm, which is my main concern(!), and if Moki lays on the bed, he can see out the window, which he appreciates.  Since I'm in a basement apt, he can't really see out the windows unless he stands on his hind legs.

Snow at the motel.

After Moki had his dinner, we went outside to talk a short walk.  It was snowing!  Not spitting this time, but really snowing!  Not hard, but still.  I didn't really come prepared for that.  It was supposed to be warm the next couple days!  Oh, well, we'll adjust!

The following day, we met Jade.  We walked Moki a couple times—Jade showing me and telling me how to handle certain situations.  I was pretty much able to do everything with Moki that she wanted me to.  The only trouble is when we were back in the room, I was afraid that Moki would bite Jade.  There was really no reason for me to be afraid . . . it was just one of my fear things that I have to work through.  Our visit with Jade was very enlightening, and we both learned lots, and I got to ask a lot of questions.  Jade is awesome.

On the way home.  Cows and mountains in background.

PS:  It is now a month or more after my meeting with Jade.  More high times ahead.  Things are going great with Moki and me, and you'll be surprised at what's happened next!

My Miracle

So, here we go, finally.  My miracle.  I'm going to make this a long synopsis, because I'm writing a book about it!  So, if you want to hear the whole story and all the excruciating details, buy the book!

I don't think any of you knew anything about this.  I didn't like to talk about it.  I felt bad about it.  Moki and I have had issues for several years now.  When he was a puppy, something came up and the vet gave me bad advice . . . or, perhaps more to the point . . . incomplete advice.  If I would have turned in the correct direction at this point, none of the rest of the story would have happened.  But, I didn't.  Was it something lacking in me or just ignorance or perhaps some of both?  I don't know.  Thoughts of it make me feel bad.  But considering the way it all turned out, I feel like this whole thing . . . mistakes and all . . . were meant to be.

Nothing got any better and I was still trying to follow the vet's bad/incomplete advice.  I was getting desperate.  A friend told me a story that equated to more bad advice.  Since I felt desperate, I decided to try it . . . nothing else had worked to fix the problem.  Another bad, really horrible mistake.  I did something bad to Moki (in trying to correct the problem) . . . only twice . . . but, twice too many.  When he growled when I tried to pet him, I knew it was a horrible, horrible mistake, but it was too late to take it back.  The damage had been done.  His trust in me was gone.

He bit me several times after that, but I felt it was my fault for the bad thing that I had done to him.  But, we didn't trust each other any more, and both of us lived in fear of the other.  We still loved each other very much, though, despite the fear.  We lived like that, afraid of each other,  for three years.

Moki had always gotten along well with other dogs.  Then, six months ago, at the parking lot of our hiking place, a dog "attacked" Moki.  It was very brief, maybe ten seconds or less, and Moki didn't get hurt, but the damage was done, again.  After this brief encounter, Moki was now wary of other dogs.

Our neighbors had two overgrown puppies who always ran up to Moki and overwhelmed him, but he always took it.  After he got attacked, the next time he saw them and they did that, he growled and snapped at them.  Bummer.  Time passed and the neighbors gave one of the puppies away and got back a dog they had before.  "Pete" was the big puppy, and he still terrified Moki.  Every time he was around, Moki was scared.  He would give me this look of wide-eyed terror and I would say, "Let's go in," and it broke the moment and everything was okay.

One night, about a month ago, it was too dark for me to see the wide-eyed look.  Moki growled at Bandit, a friend of his, and I told him he was bad.  But, I had missed the cue . . . the look.    From what I've learned in the past month, this is called redirected aggression:  Moki was so afraid of Pete that he attacked me.  Yes, me.  Luckily I had my heavy winter gloves on.  He lunged at me and kept biting my hands.  He backed me up about fifty feet and wouldn't stop biting.  It was incredibly scary.  When the neighbor, Pete's Dad, finally whistled for his dogs to come in, it broke the spell.  Moki stopped.

I managed to get him into the house, into his kennel, with his leash still on.  He was still growling.  It was eight o'clock, and I knew I had to take him out again before we went to sleep.  I waited an hour, started bouncing his ball, and talking in an upbeat way to him.  Then, I opened the kennel and let him out.  He immediately went to the ball, like I knew he would.  I managed to get the leash off.  We went outside without the leash, came in and I put him in his kennel for the night.  He always came to my bed at night to say good-night and in the morning to say good-morning.  I was too afraid to have him do that.

I knew that there was no way I could keep him after what he had done to me.  I didn't think I'd ever get that horrible image out of my mind.  I couldn't walk him with the leash anymore . . . didn't even have the courage to put it on him.  The first thing I did was call the breeder and ask her to take him back.  She's in Idaho and I was going to drive him up there.  She refused.  I begged her for twenty-five minutes to take this dog . . . the whole time crying hysterically . . . and she just refused and suggested that I put him down.  I was devastated.

After that, I immediately started writing to every single Border Collie Rescue in the United States and some in Canada.  I told them all that I would deliver him anywhere.  Despite what had happened, I knew what a good dog he was . . . I felt certain that he could be fixed, but not by me.  I was still very, very scared of him.  The ones that answered my emails all said the same things . . . either they were already full or they couldn't accept a dog with a history of biting.  Then, that evening, I received a call and an email from a friend of mine that I had asked if he knew anyone who would take him.  There was a chance a friend of his would take and fix the dog.  I went to sleep that night elated that Moki was saved.

The following day my friend wrote and said his friend already had two dogs and didn't want another one.  Devastation again.  But, he also said that the friend would be looking around because some dog whisperer out there would want this challenge.  Well, the challenge part didn't sound good to me, but the dog whisperer part gave me an idea.  I then searched for all the dog whisperers I could find on the internet, asking them to take Moki and what a good dog he'll be once fixed.  The responses were they couldn't take another dog, or a sales pitch, or some other no.  But, one person in NJ said that she could fix the dog, but what did I want her to do with him after he was fixed.  She said to call her.  She owned an organization that got shelter dogs, rehabilitated them, trained them to be service dogs, and then gave them to autistic children.  I went to sleep that night thinking that it was a match made in heaven . . . Moki would be fixed and would go on to helping some kid.  I was very happy at the way things were turning out.

The next day, I called the woman and she said she couldn't take him.  She couldn't put a dog with a history of biting into the program.  I was devastated.  But, she kept talking to me for the next fifteen minutes . . . basically brutalizing me.  She said that she normally doesn't do this, but she felt that I needed tough love.  She said that no one would ever love Moki as much as I do.  She said that she couldn't help me if I wouldn't help myself.  Finally, she said she needed to get off the phone because she was out of breath.  I was to call her that evening.

This woman saved my life.  Tough love, indeed.  It was EXACTLY what I needed.  I got off the phone and researched EMDR therapists in Durango.  EMDR is a therapy that they give to Viet Nam vets and others with PTSD.  My ex-husband had it, and it changed his life dramatically.  It involves rapid eye movement or other stimulus that works on both hemispheres of the brain.  I knew that this would fix me.  For someone who posts on Facebook, "Don't argue for your limitations," "You can do it," "You're stronger than you think," . . . I was totally arguing for my limitations and saying that I couldn't do it.  After the tough love . . . I knew that I had to.  I found a therapist who did EMDR for PTSD and made an appointment for that Thursday, two days away.  That would fix me (not in just one session, but definitely in a short time - - EMDR therapy is not long-term therapy).  And the dog whisperer would fix Moki.  Everything was okay again.

Me and my boy.

When I called the dog whisperer back that evening, she said I sounded like a new person.  I WAS a new person!  Once I made up my mind to do this . . . well, once SHE made up my mind, I knew that everything would be okay.  I had spent the previous three days crying all day long thinking about losing Moki.  I hugged him fifty times a day because I knew that they would be some of the last hugs I would ever give him.  This woman gave me my dog back, my life back.  WHAT AN INCREDIBLE MIRACLE!!!!

Next post . . . driving to Boulder to see the dog whisperer.

And in the future . . . very possibly leaving Durango . . .

Headin' South

A good friend of mine, Jennifer, goes to Mayo Clinic in Arizona for her annual physical each year.  Last year when she told them her vertigo had "changed," they did a brain MRI and "accidentally" found a tumor on her pituitary gland.  Pituitary tumors are generally benign and fairly common . . . ten to fifteen per cent of the population have them and don't show symptoms.  So last year, she started seeing an endocrinologist in a nearby town, who put her on a couple different kinds of drugs to shrink the tumor. She had another MRI at the end of the year and neither drug worked . . . so, she had to return to Mayo Clinic for a consult about the tumor, and I offered to go with her.

We had a pleasant drive down there, although we lingered in Tuba City too long at a Native American trading post and so had to change our route slightly.  We spent the first night in Prescott, because Jennifer had been told by a psychic that she was going to move down there in a few years, so she wanted to check it out.  That first night we went square dancing in Prescott.  As in most square dance groups, there was a shortage of men, but several of the women gave up their partners and we ended up dancing almost every "tip."  It was fun.

Cactus garden outside Mayo Clinic.

The following day we got up and went to "service" in Prescott - - I can't say it was a church service, although that's close to what it was.  It was a spiritual community and the "sermon" was excellent.  In fact the whole service was excellent.  I told Jennifer that I could move to Prescott on the basis of that alone!  She agreed.  On our way out of town, we kind of got lost.  As it turned out, though, it was a blessing because we were able to see a lot more of Prescott.  It didn't take long to get back on track, though, and we were headed farther south to Scottsdale.

We met her friends in Scottsdale . . . she had edited his book and become friends.  He writes about UFOs and is somewhat of an expert.  Needless to say, it was an interesting afternoon!

The following day we went to Mayo to see her doctor.  He said the tumor had not grown at all, but he wanted her to see the brain doctor and talk to him.  She also had to take more tests.  It meant staying in Arizona longer than we had anticipated.

Since Tuesday was a free day with no tests, we decided to go to the Phoenix Zoo.  I always have mixed feelings about zoos, but this one really caters to the animals.  They have a breeding program for endangered animals and then reintroduce them into the wild.  That's pretty neat.  All in all, it was fun.  Bummer was that I didn't bring my camera, so had to buy one of those cheap throwaway kind . . . and most of the pictures turned out to be the cheap, throwaway kind, too!  Aw, well, I got a few good ones.

Can't resist a giraffe kiss!

We went to see the brain guy and Jennifer asked him about the alternative therapy she was using to shrink the tumor.  He didn't say yea or nea to that, but he said that someone had shrunk their pituitary tumor—although there was no proof that was it, he qualified—with urine therapy.  This is probably more information than you want to hear, but urine therapy is drinking your own urine!  I know it's gross, but if you look it up online, there are some really amazing stories out there.  Needless to say, however, Jennifer is REALLY hoping the alternative therapy she's using now works!!

After the last of the doctor visits, we drove to a bookstore that the UFO guy recommended to us.  Since Jennifer and I are both bookaholics, this seemed like a good idea.  Turned out it was a GREAT idea!  AFter checking out all the books, I picked out a couple of crystal necklaces, and was about ready to check out when Jennifer said she was going to have a mini-psychic reading.  Oh!  I forgot to mention that it was a New Age woo-woo book store!!  I decided that depending on how hers went, that I would have one, too.  Hers went great, so I had one, too, and it was awesome.  I can't remember where I put my notes to that session, but one thing that I remember is that she said I had to eliminate some of my criteria for a man!  What!  I didn't think I had that many criteria.  But, the really terrible part of that is . . . that my friend, Jimmy, who I call my personal Shaman, told me this same thing about a year ago!  At the time, I didn't believe what he said.  After this reading, I told Jimmy about it and apologized to him!! Serves me right not listening to my personal Shaman.

On our way home, we stopped in Sedona to have lunch with my brother and sister-in-law.  The psychic had told Jennifer to go to Sedona and walk one of the labyrinths there.  So my brother and sis took us to one.  As Jennifer walked, my brother and sis hugged me and said good-by.  I walked the labyrinth, too.  I actually love those things and walk them whenever one is around.

Jennifer walking the labyrinth.

While we were in Sedona, I had been thinking of leaving Durango for no particular reason, so I looked at a place to rent in Sedona.  It turned out to be a trailer!  The woman said, "Oh, come take a look at it, it's not really like a regular mobile home.  No, it was much worse.  Not only a mobile home, but a really crummy mobile home.  It made me sick to my stomach just looking at it.  Next!

We stopped for the night somewhere outside of Flagstaff.  And the following day, we finished driving home sweet home.

Sarah/Salida

I had not seen my friend, Sarah, for about seven years.  She usually comes to Colorado at Christmas, but she's in Boulder and Durango is clear across the state from there.  We've tried getting together in past years, but it hasn't worked.  Finally, this year, we got it worked out!  We met halfway.  She took a bus from Boulder to Salida, and I drove from Durango to Salida.

It was a nice drive through pretty country, but I hated leaving my work behind . . . I had been getting so much done on my upcoming books.  And I would never in a million years text while driving . . . I don't even like to use the cell phone at all when I'm driving . . . I hate the durn thing, really . . . and I'm sure I've said that before and will say it again!  They are not safe!  Beware for your brain.  Anyway, I wouldn't text, but somehow I found it perfectly acceptable to write verses for a new book while I drove.  I did not do it while I drove the mountain pass, though!  Anyway, when I reached Salida and picked up Sarah at the bus station, she thought I was crazy for writing while I drove!  Ah, well!  I did get some good verses out of it, though!

There were also some icy spots on the road . . . mostly at the beginning and end of the mountain pass . . . not so much on top.  That surprised me because it hadn't snowed in a while.  I was careful and didn't have any problems.

I should note that I arrived well before Sarah and took the opportunity to check out a neighboring town to see if they had anything to rent.  I'm going to be leaving the apartment where I live, and moving out of town wasn't out of the question.  There was nothing available, though.

The following day after breakfast, we went to a sports store to ask about a good place to go hiking.  After recommending several many mile hikes, I asked about a three mile hike . . . he said he had the perfect place . . . a waterfall!  And it was close to a ghost town, too.  So, off we went.

The hike was absolutely wonderful!  If I lived around there, it would be one of my favorite hikes!  Moki, did I mention that he went with me on this trip?  Anyway, Moki loved the hike, too, running all over in the snow.  Then, we crossed a small stream and kept climbing.  The waterfall was just ahead.  And it was BEAUTIFUL!  All frozen in place, with parts of it a light blue.  It was magnificent.  We hiked back down and were on our way to the ghost town.

Both Sarah and I were very excited about seeing the ghost town, which was good, because the road was snow-packed and a little scary, not bad, though.  I drove slow.  There was a sign about mountain goats, but unfortunately we didn't see any.

We finally got to the ghost town, but our expectations had been way too high.  It was a POPULATED ghost town, and many of the really cool old buildings had been slightly re-done or had modern things added to them.  It was a disappointment.  We thought it would be a photographic moment, but there were few things here to take pics of.  We did get a few, though.  It wasn't a total waste.

All in all it was a great day!  We drove back to Salida and had a great pizza lunch.  We got in a lot of good talks, which we had both been missing over the years.  Early next morning, I dropped Sarah off at  the bus.  Hopefully, we won't have to wait another seven years to see each other!!

Please note:  Sorry to keep apologizing, but this post is two months old.  So . . . coming up . . . another traveling adventure . . . possibly an upsetting incident . . . and, sorry you'll have to wait for this, but . . . a MIRACLE!!!  Yeah!!  And I'm not exaggerating!  It was a freakin' MIRACLE!!

Books and book activities

Once again I find myself apologizing for my lack of timeliness.  This is over a month old.  Sorry!

The local bookstore, Maria's, had an affair called The Giving Back Gang.  Nineteen local authors promised to give a portion of the proceeds of sales of their book during a particular week to a local charity.  The charity chosen needed to have some connection to the book.  The week culminated with a "party" at the bookstore, in which each author attended in order to sign books.

The book I chose was my children's book, Cooper's Smile . . . a delightful (even if I do have to say so myself!) illustrated and rhyming book about a loving and smiling dog helping a child through the trials and tribulations of life.  The charity I chose was Big Brothers, Big Sisters . . . the dog supports the kid, and Big Brothers, Big Sisters supports the kids.  Everything is perfect!

My friends, Burt and Dell, came in and purchased a book, a woman from my author's group bought a book for her grandson, and several other people bought books.  It was a fun night for a good cause.

About a week later, my Indie author group in town here had a holiday "party."  It was a pot luck kind of deal with appetizers, and those who wanted to could read from their books.  I brought organic blue gluten-free tortilla chips and guacamole.  Another woman brought gluten-free cookies.  Still another woman brought something else that was gluten-free.  If you want to be healthy, YOU, yes, I mean YOU, should consider going gluten-free.  Read the book called Wheat Belly by William Davis and it will blow your mind and change your life.  I know it did mine.  In a group of maybe fifteen people, to have four or five of them be gluten-free was just amazing to me.

After I munched down on the chips and guacamole and the gluten-free cookies, it was time for the readings.  It was really interesting hearing all the different people . . . we had been to many meetings together in the last year, but had never heard each other's works.  I read from my book called The Unicorn Whisperer.  Then, I read another piece, as yet unpublished, from the coming sequel.  It was well-received.  Unicorn Whisperer is a book that many mistake for a children's book.  It can be . . . it is appropriate for children . . . in the same way the Little Prince is, not that I'm comparing myself to Exupery . . . but, I'd like to!  Unicorn Whisper has many "lessons from life" in it . . . according to one of my reviewers . . . and I heartily agree . . . cause I put them in there!!

Preview of coming attractions:  an adventure far from home!

Mini-adventures

I normally go hiking shortly after breakfast, and on this particular day I left later than normal.  That's the only thing I can think to attribute it to.  I walked along the usual path and something about thirty feet from the trail caught my eye . . . something glinting in the sunlight.  I left the trail and walked over to it. It was an old bottle.  Curious, I thought.  What is that doing there?  I walked a few steps up a small hill close to the bottle, and to my surprise, there was an old dump!  I LOVE old dumps!  This one was awesome . . . a lot of bottles . . . an old sink . . . a bedstead.  (At least that's how I remember it, as it's been awhile, now!)  Moki wanted to walk around to, but with all the broken glass around, I made him stay in one place, which he was not happy about at all.  I walked all around and through examining all the treasures.  There was a piece of concrete/cement (what's the difference?), about a foot and a half wide, with the date, 1953, on it!  How cool is that!?  I checked it all out, walked back to our usual trail, and we continued our walk, with me smiling ear to ear!

Snow.  So I went snowshoeing a few times.  The first time was with Bob, who was on cross country skis.  As you might imagine, I had to really push to keep up with him.  He said to go at my own pace, but then he would get miles ahead and if we can't talk, what's the use of going together.  So, I pushed.  Hard.  By the time we got to the regular trailhead (we have to park about a mile away now because they lock the gates after the first snow fall), I was already tired.  The beginning of the trail is uphill for a ways.  It's never bothered me before, because when we used to hike it, we could park right there at the trailhead.  But, now, I had already been pushing for a mile or so.  The first hill killed me so much that I yelled up to Bob to stop when he got to the top.  The top, to my perspective about ten or fifteen feet behind him, looked like it was another six feet.  But, when I got to what I thought was the top, Bob was way out in front of me, climbing yet another hill.  Meanwhile, ten minutes later, we finally got to the top.  I was wasted.  I plunged down into the snow to rest, and didn't get up until it started seeping into my jeans.  Well, Bob was disappointed when I said I was done, but he still had a long way to go and he wasn't going to turn around.  So, I somehow dragged myself back to the car . . . including the long uphill that I had to traverse to get to the car.  But, I survived . . . barely!!

So the next time, I just snowshoed out for about ten minutes and back again.  I did that twice on a trail that I didn't recognize.  After that, I wanted to find out where the trail went, so I kept following it and hoped it would lead in a circle and not out into who knows where.  After a while, I had a feeling that I knew where it was going, and thankfully, I did!  It met up with my normal hiking trail . . . so I knew exactly where I was.  Now, I have a nice little loop to walk or snowshoe.  When the snow is packed down, I can walk it without snowshoes, but with my little studs on.

So, all of the above was awhile ago . . . it hasn't snowed and I've been walking with the studs.  I can go farther that way.  It was only yesterday that I looked around to see the "diamond glints" on the snow.  I love them.  I can't tell you how much.  It's magical to me, totally magical.  And, they remind me of something else.  There was a poem that I read at my Mom's memorial service, and one of the lines was, "I am the diamond glints on snow."  So, when I see those diamond glints, it makes me think of my Mom . . . like she is there hiking with me.  Although . . . she wasn't really a hiker, so she wouldn't stay long!  Today,  I noticed some animal tracks that were cool, too.  Just little ones.  They had melted too much for me to try to identify the creature, but I like looking at them anyway.