from Desert Angst to Flagstaff Relief

DEEP SPRINGS COLLEGE - EASTERN CALIFORNIA

We made the trek from Bishop, CA to Flagstaff, AZ via Las Vegas, NV.  We left Bishop around noon.  About an hour later were in a deserted eastern California valley at a place called Deep Springs.  We were hungry and looking for a shady place for lunch.  We saw a sign for Deep Springs College.  Hmmm... Nothing remotely resemling a college was in sight, but we followed the sign.  We came to a small circle of buildings that looked like ranch homes.  We stopped a car leaving the place and asked if it was indeed a college.  The young man told us it was an all-male college for Alfalfa Growers; 26 students and 5 teachers.  We asked if we might take a picnic on the lawn.  He said he thought it would be fine.  We parked in the blessed shade and laid out our food and blanket.  As we settled into our meal we noticed the incredible calm and silence of the place.  The valley surrounded by dry rocky mountains was as still as could be.

Even the small movements of people on the "campus" were like whispers in the thick quiet of this place.  I drank in the peace of it as we munched on salad wraps, kalmata olives, and orange wedges.  As we packed up to leave we drank in the green fields around us knowing we were heading through dry hot desert.

I've heard people say that Las Vegas has a dark energy that is palpable and can bring out the worst in a person, but I had not experienced first hand until two days ago when we drove through.  There must be something about a place without trees and flowing water that is not good for the human spirit.  Suffice it to say, Dave and I were bitter boots and snarly as we passed through.  Even the strange scenes photographed here were not enough to keep us in good humor.   Dave did his best to make me laugh telling me contrived creepy stories of Sand Alligator Jerky and Cactus Spider Salve in his Australian accent.  I smirked.

On top of the desolate desert energy we had underestimated the timing of our trip (Dave calculated based on college boy going 90 mph and never stopping).  We were so tired we had to stop at 9 PM - two hours from Flagstaff and stay at a ratty hotel next to the train tracks.  The plumbing gurgled and the train passed every hour.  In retrospect it was a funny quintessential desert road trip scenario but while we were in it... it was HELL!

Here in Flagstaff we are in heaven!  Before leaving Bishop, CA we posted a request for room sharing in Flagstaff and ended up with an ideal situation.  Our new friend Todd Nelson is the volunteer coordinator for Grand Canyon National Parks.  He is a sweet 45-year old liberal nature lover who is as neat as me.  His house is immaculate! He has a big house with extra rooms and bathrooms and regularly opens his home to volunteers.  We are staying in his shady cool home and sleeping on an amazing bed!  Three miles on a bike path takes us to downtown Flagstaff.  And we are paying the same amount we would for a camp site!  We are in deep appreciation of Todd and his peaceful home.  We will make him some gourmet meals for sure.

The town of Flagstaff is a groovy college town with parks, big trees, vegetarian cafes, wine bars, farmer's markets, outdoor music and Anusara Yoga!  We bought unlimited passes.  In yesterday's class we practiced one-handed handstands!  Dave found a tattooed unemployed climbing buddy and I am taking oodles of yoga and writing for hours in lovely cafes.  We are in heaven.   We may stay here until the middle of July then head to Boulder and Colorado Springs.  If you know anyone in those places who would like to have personal chefs and gardeners stay with them for a week or so, let us know.

Although I loved Chico for its riveers, parks and trees and Flagstaff for its yoga and great restaurants... nothing comes close to the glorious nature of Maui and the high vibration of her people.  I miss all of you.

The Icy Plunge - Dave Dives into a Snowy Lake

In Bishop is has been hot, dry and windy. We escaped the heat again by driving up to Mammoth Lakes. This time we were blessed to have company. We drove up with a couple from San Diego - Rebecca and Scott. They had pulled into the campsite next to ours the night before and their vanagon needed work. They have friends in Mammoth who were willing to loan them a car while their van was worked on. It was perfect that they needed a ride there and we were headed there. Scott is a geologist and Rebbecca an interior designer - like Kim McEvoy! They are also nature-lovers and interested in sustainable living so we had rich conversation on the way up.

After we dropped them off we headed to Lake George for some day hiking. What we found was that the trails were still covered in snow as was part of the lake. We wandered around the lake shore wondering what to do. Other hikers were wandering too. Confused by the fact that hiking was not possible in late June. We did some handstands on a small dock that jutted into the icy lake. Then Dave said to me, "I think I'll take the plunge." What? He went to put his suit on and I talked to a couple by the lake shore. When he arrived back with suit on and towel in hand, our new friends Kent and Annie looked on with surprise. In this video clip you see Dave's very quick entrance and exit from the Icy Lake.

After the plunge we headed down the mountain to find accessible hiking.  We were directed to Sherwin Lakes Trail.  We had a picnic near the creek at the trail head then headed up the mountain.  We walked up a switch back trail through sequoias, blue spruce, pine trees and aspens.  Dave carried me on his shoulders for a few hundred yards as part of his training.  I felt like a giant.  After 90 minutes of sweaty uphill hiking we arrived at a gorgeous mountain lake.  I splashed my feet in the cold water and Dave drank from the lake's overflow.  We met a couple hiking down with fishing poles.   They got no bites but the beauty of the lake made the trip worth it. 

Being the insatiable climber he is, Dave crawled up a dead tree sticking out of the lake edge and pointed like a harbinger to the peaks beyond.  That night we returned to Bishop, took a mediocre yoga class, and returned to a hot and windy campsite with noisy ATV riders next door.  Things were getting unpleasant at Millpond Camp ground...

The next day, Dave went climbing from noon to seven pm and Jen rented a blessed hotel room.  That night when Dave returned to the campsite, the wind had knocked over our table and the neighbors were already starting up with their loudness.  Dave bravely packed up camp alone and joined me in the hotel.   We slept like the dead in our king sized bed.

This morning we are at our favorite Black Sheep Cafe planning our exit strategy.  We will head to Flagstaff AZ where there is Anusara Yoga, organic food, rock climbing and evolved human beings!  We are considering staying with people who open their extra rooms to travelers from a web site called couch-surfing.org.  We are finding that paying $20 a night to camp plus the money for hot showers and laundry is adding up to about the same as subletting a furnished room and bathroom in town.  Like our favorite comedian Jim Gaffigan says, "Paying to sleep outside?... That's gotta be insulting to the homeless."

Now we are wondering if it was silly to spend so much money on camping gear.  We could be driving a fuel efficient hybrid with a bike rack and staying in a comfortable sublets on this road trip.  Ah well... live and learn.

We plan to furnish our apartment in Bed, OR with the camping furniture we bought!  The tent will set up in the living room as a meditation den.  ;-)

Early Mornin' Runnin' and Slackin'

Dave is now running with me almost every morning.  Yippee!  He wants to get even leaner so he can be more like spider man on the rock.  His friend Katie told him that running will take the pounds off fast.  Thanks Katie!  Now I have a running partner.  And he pushes me to run further and faster. Here he races through the campground on our way out to run yesterday.  We started out at 7 AM but that was too late.  It was too hot already.

This morning we hit the trail at 5:45 AM.  Much better.  We ran about 4 miles and after we got back, Dave jumped on the slack line.  Even with rubbery legs from running he managed a graceful passage and impressive ending. Click here to see the video:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBPOD9Y_3hE

Water from the Well

Dave and I were blessed to wake up to new neighbors in our campsite.  Cool neighbors!  Scott is a geologist from San Diego who manages water cleaning projects around the state.  His wife Rebbecca is an interior designer.  They were traveling in their VW van and it broke down last night.  We gave them a ride to Mammoth this morning so they could borrow a friend's car.  On the hour ride up, we became good friends.  Like all of us, they are devoted to changing the way they live to honor and enjoy the bounty of nature more fully.  We talked about what 'the good life' looks like and agreed that part of it is freeing the natural flow of water so it can make its natural journey from the sky, down the mountains, through the river valleys,  over the earth, under the earth, and back to the sea.

With water running freely perhaps can remember how to create lots of little ponds rather than giant dams.  Perhaps we can re-arrange or homesteads to live near streams for washing and drink from springs and wells and allow the water that purifies and nourishes us to flow - gray but unpolluted - back to the earth to nourish plants and purify itself.  In this picture to the left Dave and I pump water from a well near our campsite.  Once it is put into place, this old fashioned compression pump needs no technology and will work for years.  We plan to have one on the farm in Oregon.  I can see you there next summer, pumping water for our morning tea at our Yoga Retreat!

Jen's Back on Facebook

Okay, so connection is the most important thing, right?  To feel we belong to a family, a community, is essential for our empowerment and wholeness.  I am opening all channels... I am once again an active Facebooker...  Hope to see your pics and comments there.

In this picture you see me digging with Laurie to place irrigation for her little lawn.  Her patch of green will complete a lovely garden she has created around her sweet Chico home.  In the background you see her partner Stevo's dirt bike.  He is the guy who took me and Dave on the Archery Adventure.  We admire Steve and Laurie so much.  They are keeping the spirit of fun and adventure alive in their lives and inspiring others to do the same.

Apple Hill Farm in Bishop California

Yesterday Dave and I traveled to an organic farm just outside Bishop.  It is called Apple Hill and is known for its vast apple, peach and cherry orchards.  They also grow vegetables and invite the public to come out and harvest.  They have an honor system of payment where each harvester leaves what he or she deems appropriate payment in their cash box.  The farm is absolutely lovely.  It is a green oasis thick with trees, green pathways, ponds and wooden bridges.  There are flower beds, barns, and chickens, ducks and peacocks roaming freely.  It is completely out of place in the starkness of the high desert surrounding it.  Dave says one of the wealthy land developers in the area created it for his wife.

As we walked around the farm I thought of how magical it is that humans can take the elements of nature and arrange them so delightfully.  We each have an intuitive sense of creating sacred space.  It is one of our pleasures and points of power.  These farm owners have arranged the topography of their acreage, the trees, the plants, the run-off streams, the barns, sheds, and house - they've arranged these things to create a safe, bountiful, inspiring, soothing, beautiful space.  I wanted to stay there all day.  Heck!  I wanted to live there.

Of course the winter is harsh and the growing season short.  This year, the winter played tricks and came back with a late frost that took out all the stone fruit.  So, no cherries or peaches this year.  Ah, well the upside is the water supply is strong.  Perhaps next year the trees will produce a bumper crop.  When I imagine my farm in Oregon, I see many of the same elements I found on Apple Hill Farm - ponds large enough to boat on, a barn large enough for yoga retreats, orchards of fruit to share, acres of vegetables for creating healthy feasts that I hope to be sharing with all of you!

The Reflection Pond

I've been running early in the morning here in Bishop.  I get up at 5:30 Am and run in the cool predawn.  At the end of my run I go to the large park next to the campground and sit by the pond.  At 7 AM the light is just right to create a clear reflection of the trees and mountains on the water.  As I watch the reflection I think of that shop-worn yogic saying that goes like this: When the mind becomes still the reflection of our truth and beauty can be seen clearly in our lives.  But when the mind is turbulent, there is distortion that causes wrong thinking and suffering. 

As I sat and watched the fantastic reflection on this pond, I could feel the wisdom of that tidbit like never before.  I could feel the calm stillness that comes from releasing the turbulence of old stories, worries, judgments and fears.  The lake of the mind can be stilled with practice.  Our yoga offers us a place to do that; to repeatedly clear agitations.  I think of the serenity on your faces when you come up from savasana and I know your mind is like the calm of the pond pictured here.  And in the stillness of its surface you can see your own beauty - the fullness of your lives - more clearly.  I love you all so much and am eager to be with you again.