May 8, 2011 Another perfect day in Paradise

I don't even know where to start this morning.  I had a wonderful day reconnecting with another friend from high school who, once again, gave me more to think about with regard to my book.  I may be going off in too many directions at this point, but my intention is to get things down and edit later.  We went to see a show that was being put on by some ladies she knew called "Dancing through the Decades".  The show was just adorable and the ladies and one gentleman who performed were great fun!  Driving over there showed me more of how much Sedona has changed.  Roads have been widened, two lane roads split into two parts with two lanes of their own, and rerouted so we passed much closer to Bell Rock (I only hope that the hiking trails near it weren't severely impacted).  There are roundabouts everywhere you go now, so I was very glad she was doing the driving.  We went up to a chapel that is built into the rock where the whole front is glass and overlooks the valley.  On the way up, we passed what I can only describe as a castle without the turrets.  It even has its own private observatory!  She said it's a single family home but the place is huge!  I got some pictures of it from the chapel which sits right above it.  They have a fountain in the driveway and a natural pool and a gazebo in what normal people might call a back yard.   It seems that there was a lot of flack from the city about building it, but as it's outside the city limits, the owners got to do what they wanted (and if you ask me, probably made some nice contributions in strategic places as well)  We had a late lunch at a far from ordinary pizza place sharing a pizza and a delicious greek salad.  It was the first non gluten free pizza I'd eaten in months, but combined with the hamburger bun the night before, my body very quickly and with little fuss just rejected the whole thing.  But it tasted great going down! 

I met her for Karaoke later in the evening and stayed out late enough to wear myself out.  (and no, I did NOT sing, at least not into a mic)  So I actually slept in this morning, though I woke around 5:45 with a headache again.  Do you realize that at 5:45 AM it is full daylight in Sedona??  Yikes!  Toby is bad enough when the sun is up by 6:30!  But I was able to go back to sleep until just before 9 before getting up and resuming my morning routine of wandering down to the Lookout to enjoy the view and a meditation.  This time, I sat closer to the fountain and had the water as a backdrop for a short meditation.  They very thoughtfully place chairs and benches around the patio area and leave a couple of pillows to cushion your back against the wrought iron backs.  Today, I even found a wrought iron bench to put my feet up on.  I don't go into a deep meditative state on these jaunts, but it's more of a morning quickie to just let my thoughts drift.  I do a deeper one on the balcony of my room which overlooks the gardens.  Although people occasionally pass by, crunching the gravel as they walk, if they speak at all, it's usually softly and they're moving so it doesn't last long, unlike the outlook where people will come and hold conversations. 

I hope to meet up with Jeanie and her boyfriend later today for our own Mother's Day lunch.  It was funny, she said last night "let's go somewhere none of us has ever been!"  I had to laugh as I've only been to a couple of places here.  So it will be interesting and, no doubt, great fun to see what she finds! 

As I was wandering through the gardens, taking a different route, as I always do, I realized that I was incredibly relaxed, unlike any vacation I've taken before.  I came here to write, yes, but the writing is part of the process of letting go, and sitting here in this amazing place with the wind blowing through the trees and those amazing red rock mountains off in the distance, I am struck by an incredible sense of calm and of rightness.  Of course it doesn't hurt that one of the vortexes is just down the road from the hotel. According to Jeanie, this one is masculine energy, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't be affected by its energy. 

Card of the Day:  Prince of Pentacles.  (I actually did something I don't normally do because my first pick was the same card as yesterday, but as this is a new deck, I felt that maybe having pulled the card it was a bit out of shape from the other cards)
I see An Indian brave stands next to a buffalo, wearing a small headdress and holding a large buffalo embossed coin decorated with feathers of red and white,. He wears a crown of red feathers adorned with two red, black and white feathers standing upright at slight angles,.  The man wears a collar from which dangles some sort of ornament.  He stands on a barren landscape, not unlike the mountains I see from my window, which although not completely bare, are not covered in vegetation.  One rock comes to a peak and seems to point at a pentacle hanging in the sky  behind which is a shadowy rock structure which may have a castle atop it's crest, but is more likely just the rock itself. 
I feel:  my journey will be lonely for a time, but will ultimately take me to a place of abundance where friends, family and future friends meet in harmony.  My goals will be met and I will find a new kind of financial freedom as well as a creative freedom in which to pursue my purpose.
I think:  This card is the embodiment of my weekend in Sedona where I'm finding new directions and parts of myself that have long been buried.

Love and Light