An Amazing Time

I am currently in Oregon. We arrived here a few days ago and I've spent time with my daughter (Ayni) and granddaughter (Stephanie). Steph left the day after I arrived to return home to Florida and Ayni had to work the rest of the week so we moved on to stay with my friend, Nash, in Hillsboro, outside of Portland. It is a great setting. We have created a comfortable work station out back in a fancy garage-type building that is open on two sides with a koi pond and waterfall on one open side. There are hummingbirds and jays flying in and out of the enclosed back yard. The two walls are decorated with Native America art. The temperatures are in the 70's most of the time but we've had to get our jackets out a couple of times. We're planning to hang out here and catch up, edit and upload for the next two weeks.

As we crossed the country from Minneapolis en route to Portland, we took a few extra days (a total of 8 days including the driving days) and visited sights along the way. We went to the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park/Black Hills, Yellowstone, Medicine Wheel, Grand Teton, Craters of the Moon National Monument, and I stopped in Boise for a day to see my friend who moved there last year. As we came into Oregon, we stopped off at the John Day Fossil site, the most significant paleontological site for the Mammalian Age in the world, and cruised through the Columbian River Gorge. As you might imagine, it was a whirlwind tour. To do all that properly would have taken over a month but we didn't have a month so we packed our days full.

I think it was the first real vacation of my life. I was completely away from work. I hadn't really planned to be off line and out of cell range but the technology devas had other plans for me. My phone didn't work for an entire week. I discovered that it wasn't even accepting voicemails! With the exception of five minutes of using the wireless internet from the parking lot of a lodge in Wyoming, I had no internet for more than a week. I surrendered to being in the moment and letting go of work. It was very replenishing, even rejuvenating.

One night in the Badlands, we went down a back road to take photos of the gorgeous sunset. We came upon Prairie Dog Town and stopped to watch the little critters and a herd of buffalo in the distant east. A thunderstorm north of us lit the sky with flashes of lightning. It was already an amazing scene when we heard snorting and turned to see another herd of buffalo coming up the hill behind us. We sat in the car in the middle of the herd as they crossed the road. I think we spent about an hour watching buffalo, sunset and lightning, listening to the snorts and prairie dog barks with no other human beings in sight.

We stayed with some marvelous hosts and in some great hotels on this extended trip. For our western adventure, we spent most nights in well located camping spots. My favorite was a spot at 9000 feet elevation in the Big Horn National Forest. We were near the top of a peak, beside a rushing creek, next to some big rock formations. We didn't even pitch the tent so we could watch the stars and meteors. We were the only humans within half a mile. Moose grazed down the stream. The largest hummingbird I've ever seen came within inches of my face and looked at me for several moments while I was looking at him. A squirrel ran between my feet while I was sitting on a rock. It felt magical.

The next morning, we had a mystical experience when we visited the Medicine Wheel - an ancient spiritual site. See http://solar-center.stanford.edu/AO/bighorn.html We happened to arrive when an elder, the last survivor of a Cheyenne clan, was conducting a ceremony and we were asked if we wanted to be blessed. (His companions said he never had offered blessings to bystanders before so this was extraordinary.) He blessed us and the others at the wheel then we visited with the group involved in the ceremony. We were invited to choose a prayer cloth from the trees where they'd put them at the end of the ceremony. I immediately chose a red and yellow one that I knew was mine. I had to climb through the trees, got hooked on some branches, and stuck a couple of times but there was never a question that that particular cloth was mine. It turned out that it was the Doorkeeper's prayer cloth and several of the ceremonialists told me that I too am a doorkeeper for new thoughts. The elder's apprentice looked deeply into me and told me that he had known my name for a long time, that I have much work to do in bringing peace to all two-leggeds and sharing new thought with all. Very validating stuff!

We saw an amazing amount of wildlife: moose, deer, pronghorns, antelope, elk, bald eagles, golden eagles, ospreys, marmots, beavers, bison, prairie dogs, coyote, rabbits, jackrabbits, many varieties of birds, etc.

Now that vacation has passed and I've gotten back into internet range, I'll get back to work on the website.

I do want to note that I think my vacation was really good for me. I've recommended vacations to my clients and friends for years but never really had the personal experience before. I recommend it! Disconnect from technology and be with nature for a while. It can be amazing!