I begin this last day of writing a month in a minivan in a state of art-pray, thinking about snakes. As a young girl, I often caught garter snakes to play with for short times. Other than foul-smelling pee, they were harmless. You could find them under hay bales at harvest time, and every old … Continue reading Day 31: Arriving Alive (the final instalment)
Category: mental health
Day 30: Off Ramp
I laughed when I woke up this morning. How will I ever leave this place? Has it been three days or a week? Time is circular in a portal. Not straight at all. Instead of planning, which always leads me astray, I simply wait and watch. Now with earnest. The first sign comes from Kokopelli. … Continue reading Day 30: Off Ramp
Day 28: No Exit
It’s 6:50 pm and dusk is turning to darkness. I’ve come in from my art-play perch by the creek, and bring Pips inside with me. She would have preferred moving indoors just as the sun dipped below the mountain, but I try to keep us both outside until dark. I have guidelines designed to keep … Continue reading Day 28: No Exit
Day 21: An Ode to Play
I used to hate climbing things. I would literally dread a hill or long set of stairs, bargaining with the universe to do extra sit-ups if I could be spared. Today I felt joyfully compelled to climb a rock. I climb slowly and purposefully, knowing this means a physical payment plan tomorrow, but I accept … Continue reading Day 21: An Ode to Play
Day 20: A Balancing Act
Today’s cosmic performance presents the much-anticipated Spring Equinox and an emerging super-moon all in one over-stuffed celestial piñata, featuring a super-sized moon rising in the east exactly as the sun sets in the west. How is that for a sweet harmonic convergence? Splitting the day exactly in half for us, to the very minute. A … Continue reading Day 20: A Balancing Act
Day 19: Today’s Traffic
I don’t ever have to be convinced to sit in a hot spring, but there is something particularly sweet about a natural hot springs pool in the middle of the desert. The water in the two concrete pools circulates continually. It drains each night and refills each morning when sun hits the solar panels, keeping … Continue reading Day 19: Today’s Traffic
Day 12: The Sink & Tickle
It rained steadily all night. My neighbour from the valley came up to park beside me so he didn’t get stuck in the mud. It was a good move. Although mucky here too, it’s not “get-stuck” mud. Just squeeze-between-your-toes, mucky-muck. The kind a person can gently sink into, but safely get out of. During a very … Continue reading Day 12: The Sink & Tickle
Day 10: Weathering Weather
Morning rises over Picket Post, and Pippa and I bask in the growing sunshine entering through the open side door. Direct morning sunshine applied liberally to the face upon waking does a world of good. There is something psychologically powerful about rising with the sun. That’s a lot of energy, rising into the sky! I … Continue reading Day 10: Weathering Weather
Day 8: Live, from the Arboretum
Sue met me in the parking lot of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, and before we could finish proper introductions we are caught in some kind of desert-spell. My travel guide points over my shoulder mid-sentence, and we pivot to witness a large Saguaro, it’s small root ball hanging vulnerably below, in the bucket of a … Continue reading Day 8: Live, from the Arboretum
Day 5: When Lost isn’t All Lost
I searched for those keys at the crack of dawn, for as long as I could. It’s hard to intently scan the ground in a blooming desert, without falling under the spell of every wildflower and sparkling rock. You try focusing on the desert floor when every bird for a mile around is singing, and … Continue reading Day 5: When Lost isn’t All Lost