Our Special Spot

I have been procrastinating in getting my summer adventures posted. Well, not actually procrastinating, just overwhelmingly busy!

Swede, Wyatt, Zabrina and I went to Provo, UT to visit Swede's familia. The four of us all have distinctly unique activities we like to involve ourselves in on any given day. Swede likes to run, lift weights and read. Wyatt likes to swim, fish and eat. Zabrina likes to knit, swim and go to the movies. I like to meditate, run, swim and read. So, we had to figure out a way that we could all get what we wanted out of the days we were to spend together over the next month.

We devised a special plan. In the mornings, each of us received three pieces of paper to write what we wanted to do that day. We put the pieces of paper in a bowl and drew them out one at a time. We then discussed how we could all do what we liked. Well, 95% of the days activities, we found, could be fulfilled at our special spot.


I must say, this picture is a pretty good representation of it, but not quite as pristine. I did not take any pictures of our special spot. But, there was a weeping willow on the edge of a stream with soft grass, not the grass that feels like needles under your feet like we have in Tempe. We put our blankets under the weeping willow, and everyone was able to proceed doing exactly what they wanted!


Wyatt was able to fish from the stream. Zabrina and I bought floatie toys and had our fun drifting down a more tame part of the stream.


A running trail goes for miles alongside the river. I ran my longest distance on the trail: six and a half miles!!! I met my friend, Dave, on the trail. He has popped into my blog. He is a tennis star, who runs 10 miles a day on the Provo Canyon Parkway, and he also eats 120 different foods a day!!!


During the run, I passed the Bridal Veil Falls. So tired, it was my honor to bow before them.

For nearly two weeks, Wyatt, Zabrina, Swede (how could I forget Roxi???) and I made all of our dreams come true at what we like to call "our special spot."

Thanks for the beautiful memories guys.

The Road Less Traveled

My friend Jeff is at a crossroads in his life. Swede has been teaching him Music Theory off-and-on now for a year or so, hoping that Jeff would use it to try to get into music school. Jeff has not been studying guitar for long, and his playing is exquisite.

Jeff went to Trader Joe's to get a job, because he heard they have the best benefits and get raises three times a year. Some store clerks make $18 an hour. It was all sounding really good, but during the interview, when they asked him what he was interested in, he felt a dischord that haunted him. He couldn't really think of anything, so out comes, "Wine... I like learning about wines." It is very apparent to him in that moment, that this is not the road leading to his dreams.

So, over a glass of wine, Swede, Jeff and I toasted Jeff's decision to go to music school!

Here's to you!

The Road Less Traveled—by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Dissertation Blog

I have started a new blog:

www.dizertacia.blogspot.com

It is in the usual format of writing an APA paper; i.e., I did not use the following terms: I, you, me, we. Except for at the end- one, all, any, many, some, anyone just didn't have the same impact as you! I hope Harvard will forgive.

The Flame Alphabet

Aunt Ruth directed us to Free Will Astrology in her blog, today. I am not the type of person to read a horoscope on a daily basis, but every now and then it's fun to see if it aligns with where you are at.

Cancer Horoscope for week of August 23, 2007

According to the Haggadah, an ancient Jewish text, the first thing God made, before anything else, was the Torah. This book was "written with black fire on white fire." The 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet became the raw materials out of which the Divine One forged heaven and earth. Now you, Cancerian, have a chance to get firsthand evidence of the power that language has to shape experience. In the coming days, I suggest that you formulate what you say with great precision. The words you use will have the power of the ancient magical incantation, abracadabra, which is derived from the Aramaic word meaning "I create as I speak."


Well, there are a couple of interesting things about this horoscope. For one thing, I recently met a woman who told me how to pronounce my name in Hebrew-completely out of left field. She pronounced it Roohall. Then I looked it up on line, and found it pronounced Raw Kale. I found this pronunciation pretty synchronistic. Even more so is the way the "22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet became raw materials!!!"


Lately, silence has been my friend. I find myself speaking almost inaudibly, so as not to create inharmonious vibrations in the calm.

Silence is my benefactor.
Silence is the only way for me.

Using my time effectively +
efficiently to harness the
energy + resources needed
to create a great work of art.

Time is my friend.
A higher vibration my frequency.
Expansion my work.
Allow the process to begin.

Off on a Tangent

I am constantly dreaming and going off on tangents in my imagination. It's how I come up with all my brilliant ideas. I write many of them down in my journal so that I can go back to them later and figure out ways to incorporate my dreams into this physical reality.

Well, it's really hot here in Phoenix- obscenely! But our second-floor apartment stays nice and cool as the AC kicks day and night. There is a faulty sensor on it, so sometimes it just never shuts off. Swede loves it because it is freezing, and if it's over 60 degrees, Swede starts to sweat (that Swedish blood).

As I was gazing out the window, I fell into a trance as the wind picked up the leaves on the trees and shook them so. I wrote this poem:

If I am inside, looing out at the trees,
softly gazing, seeing all at once,
the wind may billow, and
suddenly, the trees are communicating to me.

They say the breeze is intoxicating,
erotic vibrations of bliss emerge
in the quaking and trembling
expressions of an ancient dance.

I am captivated, their only audience,
I am invited to share this exchange
of heat and vibration, manifested
as uncontrollable shivers.

Brrrr... it could be cold out
there, were my eyes the only
windows to this world.

Gratitude

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

This was no ordinary summer. It was indeed the blossoming of an intense vision quest.

One of the important things I have learned is that to live in gratitude is to align oneself with the authentic vibration of his or her soul source.

For this reason, I would like to shower gratitude on the friends who took Swede and I in as guests during the month of June:

Thank you so much Frank for allowing us to stay in your spacious spare room with cold AC and a powerful ceiling fan. You have a real knack for interior design. I love the bathroom cabinets!!! No, this is not Frank pictured here, but this is his world-famous album cover. If you click on it, it will send you to his website and you can hear his most popular tune: Kiss My Irish Ass. Let us know when you release your new CD, Frank!Next, thanks to Jefe, the wonderful friend who introduced Swede and I. He is showing off his arm here, because the poor chap dislocated his elbow probably landing a stunt like this from the top of his friend's shoulders during a Capoeita class. Capoeita is a beautiful Brazilian war dance. Jefe has been practicing this art for a couple of years now. He has been studying Flamenco guitar since I met him and is an amicable barista. Some day he would like to own his own cafe which would also be a cultural center where people could enjoy Capoeira, African Dancing, Flamenco, and much more. I hope your dreams come true!And finally, my beautiful friend, Delmy, invited us to stay at her tropical paradise nestled in Apache Junction. If you hear Delmy say the words: "That's something to coach about," you know you had better reassess the way you're responding to any given situation! She is one of the most positive people I have ever met, full of energy and an amazing entrepreneur involved in many altruistic endeavors.

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
- Marcel Proust

Summer Vacation

Hello my friends,

Swede and I just spent the last week moving and now we are staying at various friends' homes during the month of June while he and I teach summer school.

Then, in July, we are free birds.

I suspect I will be spending some time in Michigan to try to heal my step-Dad who has been recovering from a very rare disease called Wegeners and hopefully making it to the Hart Family 4th of July Weekend.

Also, I will be rendezvousing with Swede in Utah for some caving and hiking in the Mountains and to visit his family there, and travelling the coast of California for awhile, visiting my wonderful friend, Ingrid.

So, the summer is here in the Valley of the Sun, and luckily, it will only be 97 today and tomorrow, before it jumps back up to 107!!! It's not too bad yet, though, because the pavement has not yet soaked up so much radiation that it doesn't cool down in the evenings.

By mid-June, we'll be in the hundies night and day:)

Thanks for visiting my blog.

I'm not sure when my next post will be.

Have a wonderful summer if I don't catch up with you:)

Love, Rachel