Love & Light and everything bright... |
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07 Mar 2009 |
Hiking the McDowells again - updated
Nov 23, 2008 Sunset at My Camelback Altar... |
FROM SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA
Sunset at My Camelback Altar
SCOTTSDA
LE,
Nov 17, 2008 - Last week, I did my
Betty
Despacho (User ID, Password required), as the final act of the
Nint
h
Piano Concert (Nov
13 - see the photo on the right). Today, I needed to do
something else at my altar on Camelback Mtn - a ceremony that
centers around the Shaman's Mesa (see the
photo on the left).
Along the way, I took some pictures of my favorite spots and sights. Check them out...
It was a balmy 85F (30C) at around 4:30PM when I started out toward Camelback at close to sunset (left). You can see my "heart stone" at the start of the trail (middle); and the first view after gaining elevation (eastern - right).
I was pleased to see my altar intact (left - western view), just as I had left it after my last visit there back in August. Even a shell I used in my despacho was still clearly visible (the white object in the rocks). I also took pictures from that spot of the lengthening shadows toward the north, south and east (remaining photos), before settling down to do my ceremony. It was a beautifully peaceful sunset as seen from the eastern sky. :-)
And then, just as I finished, about three quarters of an hour later, I noticed that a young woman was looking at me intently. At first, I thought it was because of my shamanic work. But then she said, "is that you, Bob?"
It was someone I have not seen in three years - a physiotherapist who worked with me for several months after my shoulder surgery in 2005. Incredibly, after all this time, she recognized me from behind/profile and at dusk!? We embraced and then chatted all the way down the mountain till we reached our cars.
NOTE: Just FYI. As usual, it seems, I forgot to take my camera when I started up the mountain. So all of the above pictures were taken with my cell phone camera, and thus, are not the best quality. Sorry.
And that's all she wrote from this quick hike up and down Camelback Mtn.
"Christmas in Vienna," "Snowbirds" in Scottsdale
SCOTTSDALE, Nov 21 - On Friday evening, Elizabeth and I attended a marvelous concert by the Phoenix Symphony at the Pinnacle Peak Presbyterian church (below right).
The theme was "Christmas in Vienna." Of course, the concert included some of Mozart's concertos, as well as Strauss's waltzes. But there were other fun pieces by Austrian composers, too. Before that, however, I witnessed a firsthand evidence that "snowbirds" are back in town. The Scottsdale police had closed down one of the city's major thoroughfares in mid-afternoon (left photo). Two snowbirds apparently collided at 15 mph while looking for the sun in the Valley of the Sun. :-)
SCOTTSDALE, Nov 22 - Saturday was a beautiful day in the Valley of the Sun. With temperatures around 76F (25C), and a slight breeze from the west, it was a perfect day for a hike in the mountains. So on a spur of the moment, I decided to hit the trails again at McDowell Mountains, the nearest mountain range to my house. It was the first time in three months that I have done it. And it was a first real test of the medical procedures that I underwent in October and early November to help alleviate the problems of my bad knees, badly abused over the years of various athletic endeavors and related injuries. Check it out...
Once again, I did forgot to bring my "good" camera with me, so you will have to put up with the pictures from my cell phone camera. I had intended to go to the Gateway Saddle at 2,378 feet (middle left), where I had done my shamanic ceremonies before. But something urged me on to climb that peak that you can see behind the above sign. It wasn't that much higher (about 2,500 ft) but it was tough going without a trail and through prickly bushes and cacti in just the shorts and tennis shoes. But when it did make it eventually to the summit, the 360-degree views were very rewarding, such as those to the west (two right pictures). I also built a little altar there where I did a shamanic ceremony in solitude and a perfect communion with the mountain.
From there, you can see the views to the west, north, east and south (above - from left to right). Phoenix and Scottsdale residents may recognize in the distance in the middle left shot the Pinnacle Peak. It is a prominent mountain peak from the desert floor. But from this elevation, it look like a tiny little thimble.
And that's all she wrote from this beautiful sunny Saturday in the Valley of the Sun.
