The Hermits' Rest

Spiritual Is a Loaded Word – I Stick with Love

How important is spirituality in your life?

It’s pretty common to hear people say, “I’m not religious, but I’m spiritual.” I don’t think it’s a way to avoid the hard stuff, or a convenient cop out. It’s true for many of us ruminating, pondering types who just don’t like rigid rules.

Eryngo (*Eryngium hookeri*) showed up here! I didn’t know it was native.

Organized religion is not my idea of a spirituality nurturing institution, probably because they’re institutions more than pathways to spiritual growth. Any group that thinks it has all the answers turns out not to have them.

Also new in the fields is Soft Goldaster (*Bradburia pilosa*)

So, I draw my spirituality from the life spirit around me, in the rocks, trees, wind, animals, and ineffable sparks of realities just beyond my perception. You know, like viruses used to be for humans. A tradition I once followed mentioned an interconnected web of life. My spiritual practice honors that.

Yes, I’m connected to the Prairie Boopie

I also try to express my connections to all around me in how I live my life. I get most of my ideas from teachers like the Buddha, Jesus, and Starhawk, but I’ve received guidance from many other teachers, some of whom didn’t end up with a religion purporting to represent them. Pay attention and you’ll find the wisdom to lead you to peace and clarity in all sorts of unexpected places from surprising messengers. Some may be horses or dogs.

Speaking of them, I do find that the presence of my animal companions fills a void I experience in even wonderful periods of travel. I’m so glad to be back to feel Goldie’s giant, rough paw on my face or Mabel’s warm, curious breath from so much higher than Dusty’s even-tempered nudges.

Home is where you ground yourself, and I have finally reached a point where the Hermits’ Rest centers me almost as much as my hometown in Florida did. My spiritual center needs that grounding. I spent half my life without it! It’s good to have a home again. Yes. Now my love for all existence can grow and be shared freely.

Scruffy but lovable house. The land is home!

Right now the ranch has been taken over by cicadas. I’m glad we only got one eruption here and that they won’t be here too long. Maybe I managed to miss two weeks of them by leaving! I can barely hear birds!

On the other hand, it’s easy to meditate around them. It’s like singing bowls, only more grating.

Self Care Begins at Home

How do you practice self-care?

Oh, there’s so much I do to maintain my tranquility. Daily meditation, yoga/stretches, my antidepressant, hanging out with horses, sleeping enough, and plenty of exercise, outdoors. With nature.

Happily, we made it home today, so I can get back to my usual routine. I did plenty of self care when we were traveling, though, including connecting with friends. We got to see my friend Steve again before we left, so I could get a picture.

I also needed to pick up two bags of plarn, yarn made from plastic bags. I sure hope I can make his cousin proud by making something for a charity out of it. I happen to know the stuff is hard to knit and crochet with. Maybe I’ll weave it? We will see.

It was great to get back to central Texas. It’s so green here (thanks to rain), and it’s nice to see creeks and ponds with water in them. I used to make fun of one of my professors who said he was moved emotionally when he first saw corn upon returning to Illinois. Well, I was moved to see my first corn growing in Texas. I should apologize to Jerry, ha ha.

It was good to pet all the the dogs and hug the heck out of Apache. Even Buttercup the chicken was glad to see me.

I was too busy hugging or petting the rest of the animals to get photos.

I’m remembering that my self care is mostly internal, but the little physical things you do for yourself matter a lot. Hmm. It may be time to take a dip in the pool, one of the best self-care things I do.

Where Do Crows Nest in Treeless Deserts?

You may already know this, but I didn’t. So I’ll share. Driving in absolute NOWHERE New Mexico (US 380 heading to Tatum), I was looking at the scrubby vegetation. I noticed many crows. Then I noticed them on telephone and electric wires. Then I looked a little more closely.

Many of the pikes had little pieces of wood jutting out. Each of them contained a crow’s nest! With mama crows in them! There were dozens and dozens of them. crows generally nest high in trees, you know like a crow’s nest on a ship. There are no trees here!

I wonder if some of the poles have the wood platform kind of deals on there for some reason, or if people put them there for the birds? I thought it was pretty cool to see a rookery stretched out along the highway.

That bird fun made up for my disappointment when we went to Bosque Del Apache, one of the country’s best bird-watching sites, only to realize they drain the wetlands in June to plant new native plants, etc. and that of course no migratory birds were there. Duh. It’s June.

I did see this new bird: a Black-headed Grosbeak. I thought it was an oriole at first.

I managed to see or hear 20 birds, though, including tiny baby quail and a ring-necked pheasant that ran in front of us. The other new one was a Virginia Rail. I’d seen it and a pheasant before I started Merlin, but they are new to my current list. Mostly I took pictures of Black-chinned Hummingbirds, the ones we have at home but I never get this close to.

There was a bit of other fun. We briefly stopped at the River of Fire park to see the lava flows again (I love the Malpais/Badlands).

Just as we passed the very weird hamlet of Lincoln (very touristy), we came upon flashing lights. It was more law enforcement than I’ve ever seen in one place. We realized there was a big black pickup truck off the road with its door open. Officers were looking out into the distance. Our guess was someone had fled!

Eventually we made it to Hobbs, New Mexico, which is in the middle of many oil fields. Why? Because my dear friend Steve now lives there. We helped him escape from his house for the first time since knee surgery. He was really excited. First I visited with his cousin, who I hadn’t seen in a couple of decades. We both share an interest in crafts. I told her I’d take a lot of “plarn” (yarn made from plastic bags) off her hands. Long story. But I can make something useful with it.

Off we went, with Steve and his walker, which a homeless person had conveniently left at his church. We ate Mexican food and talked a lot. Then we went to see the church where he’s the pastor (liberal Lutheran). He does a lot of work with the homeless, thus the walker.

I enjoyed being with Steve so much that I forgot to take photos. When someone has been your dear friend for 44 years, you jump right back into things and catch up. We will breakfast with him tomorrow so I’ll get a photo!

The World! There’s So Much in It!

Wow, there is a lot to see between Sedona, Arizona and Socorro, New Mexico, especially on the less crowded roads. I think I got overloaded by the variety of terrain, weather, and human interest today. I’m smiling big time!

The day started out with one last neighborhood walk in Sedona. The birds and beasts all showed up to say goodbye, except those rude javelina. I even got to see the coyote, but it ran off quickly.

Even the ash-throated flycatcher showed up.

The drive down through Arizona and New Mexico was spectacular, because the scenery would change every few miles depending on elevation or proximity to water. Plus it was cloudy and we got to see rain falling around us. Don’t let people tell you the desert is boring, because I found this high desert drive to be awe-inspiring as we went from nearly bare flats to juniper-studded hills to mountain forests of huge trees.

On the way, we did stop in Winslow, Arizona, mainly for a train. It has enough Route 66 kitsch and Take It Easy references to please any pop culture junky.

We also stopped at the Petrified Forest National Park. There is really a mind boggling amount of petrified wood just laying there, like fallen logs. It’s big business in the area, too. I also found the Painted Desert worth the trip. Its chocolate and vanilla hills are subtle compared to the red rock area, but the formations mesmerized me. If it wasn’t so dang hot we’d have stayed longer.

As we were driving near the pretty town of Magdalena, I saw something that looked like those white “marshmallows” of hay we have at home, but they seemed to be all lined up. Then I said to Lee that they looked like radio telescopes, like some kind of array. Then I got all excited. That’s what it WAS! The Very Large Array! We drove right by it!

I’d read about the VLA and all this things it found for years. I have always enjoyed learning about astronomy, so to see this piece of radio telescope history really was a great experience. Too bad the visitor center was just closed when we drove by.

I did eventually calm down, but wow, it was big.

After we arrived in Socorro, we needed to eat, so I got adventurous and led us to a local bar that was supposed to have good pizza. It was mostly a bar, but really old and funky. Everyone knew each other there.

Soon we also knew someone, because yet another of my old online/real life friends happens to live in Socorro, so she joined us. I’m sure Lee thinks I know someone everywhere, just like my dad did.

My friend Jay shows her excellent photography skills.

Jay, Lee, and I talked until the live band started, then we enjoyed the unexpected pleasant temperature and sat in the town square for more chatting. We were all (not just me) distracted by a small hawk that kept flying around. She seemed to have a mission involving the building next to the bar.

We thought for sure she was a Cooper’s Hawk, but I had a suspicion she was too small. sure enough, both iNat and Merlin identified her as a Sharp-shinned Hawk. They look very similar. Who knows for sure, though? Not me.

Tomorrow I hope to see more birds AND another long-time friend.

A Last Day of Fun

I didn’t blog yesterday, because I was wiped out from all the day’s fun and adventures. Of course, then I couldn’t get to sleep. I’ll be glad to get back home where my Thursday early meeting is only at 7 am, not 5 am. Glad my next trip is only one time zone away!

I’ll miss my morning walks in this neighborhood.

The fun part of the day was that my friend Patty, who I last saw when she visited for the eclipse in April, drove up from the Phoenix area to hang out. I’d really wanted to go back to the fishery area to see if it could find some more birds. So I dragged my poor friend off to good old Page Springs and took her on two walks at different parts of the Important Birding Area, as the signs said.

The first place we went was near the hatchery and included a nice part of the trail along the beautiful creek. It was pleasant but warm.

I did hear a new bird, and even better, I later saw it. The Abert’s Towhee is all brown but has a cute black eye mask. I would have a photo but when I saw it my phone had overheated.

We left that part of the trail to go find where I’d walked earlier. The birds were extra friendly and just sat around looking at us.

Patty developed a blister and wasn’t good with the heat, so she went back to the car to sit in the air conditioning while I went “a little farther.” Sigh.

I got past where I’d been earlier and saw that the trail was turning back. I thought how nice it would be to circle back. It was indeed a beautiful walk past an interesting wetland area with cattails and such.

But it didn’t head right back to the parking lot. Oops. I’m glad I have a good sense of direction and remember landmarks, because I found my way back. I even heard a new gnatcatcher. I felt bad for making Patty sit there for so long, tough.

So I took Patty to eat at the restaurant on Airport Mesa. It was quite scenic and the food was very fun. It’s run by the same people who run Creekside, where we ate earlier. Patty had a salad that was immense. The part she took home was definitely enough for another meal. I had trout with spinach and green chile grits with spinach and a jicama garnish. The best part was the fish skin “chicharrón” on top. I like that way better than pork skin. Mmm.

We also enjoyed prickly pear lemonade, and had an appetizer of, get this, eggplant meatballs. There was no meat. They did have “Swedish cheese” in them. We were glad we tried it, because they were very flavorful. Who knew?

After Patty left we packed up, worked, and took it easy. We enjoyed a cute PBS detective drama about a glamping site with weird murders (of course). I loved the little village where it was filmed. Can I remember the name? No.

Stay tuned to see where we stop as we meander homeward.

Book Report: Prodigal Summer

Today was our day of rest, so there was no big excitement in Arizona other than a pleasant walk around Bell Rock, where I got to see and hear the beautiful desert-dwelling Scott’s Oriole. So, I’ll finally write about the most recent book I’ve read, Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver (2000).

Nice spot for a morning walk – only minutes from our condo

The reason I read this book was that Jay, one of my old online/IRL friends noticed what genre of books I’d been reading and felt strongly that if I hadn’t read it, I should. So she ordered me a copy and had it mailed to me.

I think this copy has been resold many times, judging from its stickers and velvety-soft pages.

I particularly enjoyed reading this pre-loved copy, because I felt like I wasn’t alone reading it. Some college or high-school student must have been writing a book report themselves, because there are many notations and bits of “analysis” written on the pages. It was fun to see what they were getting out of the prodigal summer.

As for my analysis, of course I enjoyed Kingsolver’s writing – she’s as great as everyone says she is – I just hadn’t gotten around to reading anything by her yet. And as my reading buddy noted, her characters are just great. I like them as much as I like Maeve Binchy, the Irish novelist. Each one of them is fully developed, and I especially like that they grow and change and admit their mistakes. I like a realistic protagonist instead of an all-knowing one.

One reason Jay wanted me to read the book is that one of the lead characters is a naturalist who likes to be by herself with nature. Who does that sound like? This woman is very protective of a family of coyotes in the mountains in Eastern US, where she lives, since they had been pretty much extirpated in modern times. When I saw my healthy suburban coyote yesterday, I recalled this book, and had to smile knowing how well coyotes are doing in Texas and Arizona today. What an adaptive animal!

However, my favorite character is an older gentleman who is really fond of his traditional farming methods as he tries to resurrect the American chestnut tree. He gets himself all worked up about tree-huggers who don’t mow or use pesticides, and is particularly suspicious of Unitarian women from the next down over. I enjoyed his internal monologues so much I kept reading them aloud to Lee.

Writing in the copy of book I read aand a tiny sample of the thought process of Garnett, my favorite character.

Prodigal Summer is worth reading just for this one character’s story, but hey, there are other main characters to enjoy, including a woman who takes over a farm and does a lot of canning while experiencing personal growth.Of course there’s an old hippie woman, as well. And you get the bonus of learning a lot about Appalachian plants and animals along with the humans.

I’m really glad I had the chance to read this book, though I must be getting old or embracing my inner Ace, because I could have done with less extra graphic sex. Still, I might even have to read it again, just to enjoy the old dude. Thanks, Jay!

Beep Beep Time

I’m into alliteration in my blog post titles. But yup, I finally saw a roadrunner in Arizona. Beep beep! It literally ran across the road in front of us, as roadrunners do. I’m sure fond of these cuckoos.

Okay, so you can barely see it. But, yay.

Today was hard, so the roadrunner and its pals were a great reward. After work we had to do our penance for a nice visit by attending yet another condo sales presentation. They just take so long, and we simply don’t want anything. We escaped, though! And off we went to the Sedona Wetlands Preserve.

This place was so cool. They take waste water and turn it into habitat for native birds. That’s so encouraging, because we need more wetlands everywhere.

We heard lots and lots of birds, mostly Great-tailed Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds. I was extra charmed to see a family of American Coots swimming around and honking away.

We enjoyed seeing the facility, where lots of ducks also congregated, plus a bonus bunny. We had a good time!

By the way, I ALSO saw that roadrunner’s nemesis, the coyote, earlier today on my walk. A beautiful one, too. We looked at each other for a while and went on our separate ways. It pleases me to see them thriving. They are important pieces of the ecosystem! Crows may disagree, though. Later in the walk I heard a crow ruckus and realized at least three crows were yelling at a young coyote and sending it out of their territory. Drama!

It’s bigger than it looks (the one the crows chased)

I got a great couple of pictures of a Scrub Jay intent on catching a bug, and a sort of recognizable Gila Woodpecker. They make a great noise!

After all the sales pitching, beep beeping, and yip yipping, we were hungry. I finally got to watch Lee enjoy a meal. It was at an out-of-the-way restaurant, bar, and local grocery called Brewha in Cornville. The food was so fresh, and everything was made there, even the pickles. I also had an Old Fashioned made properly with simple but high-quality ingredients. Heaven.

Our visit to the Sedona area is winding down, but there’s still more fun to come. Stay tuned.

Looks like June is heating up back home.

Choo Choo Time

Today’s adventure was a trip on the Verde Valley Railway. I’d really wanted to see all that greenery I’d seen in the distance on earlier drives around the area.

We were picked up at the condo place, since the trip is our award for enduring the dreaded update meeting that happens tomorrow. The length of the drive confused some of the people, who had no idea where they were going or how long it would take.

I knew. So I rested my eyes a bit, like my Bushtit buddy here.

But the trip was a lot of fun for me, with my love of trains and nature.

The train majestically lumbered away through the Verde River Valley at about 15 mph, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy a lovely charcuterie plate and champagne, followed by lunch with an open bar.

And oh yes, there was scenery! In addition to the canyon formations there were cool trestles, caves, a tunnel (perfect for kids to scream through), and mining ruins.

The railway was the one that took all the ore from the mines in Jerome to the smelters in Clarkville. We did not go all the way up to Jerome, but returned with a switch of the engines from front to back at a certain spot.

On the way back was cheesy entertainment, but we were win over by the simple charm of the magician who did two tricks, one with a dove (he’s had it 14 years) and another with a rabbit. Then everyone just played with the sweet and very tame animals while the magician made everyone balloon hats or animals. I got a horse, of course.

Then we played Bingo with a young cheesy comedian. I’m not fond of Bingo but had a great time listening to how much fun the kids and other passengers had. I even won a round.

The beautiful train cars were pleasant to ride in, and the uncovered observation cars were extra fun. You could see and smell the scenery (and engines). The children sitting near us were the perfect blend of well behaved, excited about the ride, and funny. I really enjoyed seeing them have a good time.

Other than that fun interval, I got my work done. Seems like it’s all working out. This was our last group activity, by the way.

Today Was Pretend Retirement Day

How do you want to retire?

I doubt my retirement will differ much from my working years. I’m not particularly interested in not working on something, so maybe I’ll just do something more in line with my hobbies and not 40 hours a week.

There WILL be travel. I do not tire of this view coming into the area where we are staying.

If I were retired, I’d still be active and running around looking for birds, like I did today. I’d spend even more time with the horses and go around traveling, too, long as I have a horse sitter.

Lesser Goldfinch, from a distance. Retired me will learn to use a real camera.

I’ll probably drive Lee bonkers just like today, when I disappeared into a nature preserve and didn’t realize he couldn’t track me or that I had taken the car keys. I felt awful about that.

This sign shows how many birds have been found at the Bubbling ponds preserve.

BUT I found a hidden Audubon Society trail next to a fishery and made Lee take me in there. It was really something!

The trail goes through undisturbed land covered in native vegetation, which the builders have kindly labeled. I wish I could have stayed longer. As it is, I heard or saw five new birds, on top of two I found near the condo.

*Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Northern Waterthrush
Bridled Titmouse
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Mexican Duck
Phainopepla (condo) (looks like a solid black Cardinal with red eyes)
Black-throated Sparrow (condo)

There was even a family of Mexican ducks, which do live up here.

I was so excited that I lost track of time. Plus there were squirrels and a sweet deer.

I’ll have to go back before I leave, and to the nearby wetland preserve. These are in an area called Page Creek, where there are lots of wineries. In total, today I saw or heard 38 birds!

Here’s the back of a Northern Waterthrush.

It’s no Antelope Canyon, but with all the fruit trees and native plants, I sure did better with birds today. Retired me will look for these hidden gems.

And Now for Antelope Canyon

I was too sleepy last night to do Antelope Canyon justice. After the only day I’ll get to sleep in on this whole trip, I’m much better! And yes, visiting Antelope Canyon is a highlight of my life so far.

It was really hot and sunny, but I handled it fine. It was a bit harder on Lee, yet he also had fun. It’s just a lot of climbing if you aren’t in good shape.

So, this is a slot canyon formed by flooding and wind, so there are beautiful patterns in the sandstone. There are also incredible shadows made by holes in the canyon. It’s simply breathtaking. Please enjoy and click to see the whole images. These are from both me and Lee.

Antelope Canyon, north and south chambers

We had a sweet young Navajo guide named Canyon (how convenient). I enjoyed talking to him about livestock and our traditions as we walked around.

Shadows from dust in light shafts. That’s the Holy Grail of Antelope Canyon pictures.

He did interesting demonstrations of how canyons form and of dust falling, too.

Sand falling video

Mostly, though, we all walked around holding our breaths at the surreal scenery. People keep saying my photos look fake or are a Microsoft Windows screen background. But they are real, with different colors appearing with different sun angles.

Don’t worry, I spent a lot of time just looking and not photographing. You have to sear the sights into your synapses. Here are a bunch of pictures of us looking around. Thanks, Lee.

Of course I found a lizard or two. I heard a couple of birds but didn’t see any. This part of the Navajo Nation is very stark.

However, there are other parts of the Navajo Nation I’d happily live in, even with the lack of services in some areas. I’m enthralled by areas with the dark volcanic soil and mountain views. I was surprised to see as many hogans as I did. Some have more traditional rooms attached to them.