No photos for this post.  I just want to write of my Plan B for this evolving year.  There is a good chance that the people with whom I am working now will want me to continue until the end of May.  If that happens, I will kick an old debt to the curb.  I would take a Friday and Monday off,in mid-May, for my niece’s college graduation.  I would  not go to Oklahoma and Texas until June, after the Colorado week.  This year’s Big Kahuna would still be on, though- South Dakota-Chicago-Toronto-Newfoundland-Boston-NYC-St. Louis-home, and many points in between, from August 1 to September 30, or thereabouts.  California would wait until late June-early July.

Life in Prescott, though, is far more satisfying and homey-feeling than it was last year, so I don’t feel so spring-loaded.

The one thing I see ahead, for certain, in the coming year is- more personal growth.  Most of the travels I undertook in 2012 were either left over plans from 2011, or set around key events, like the Centenary of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s visit to North America and my already planned trip back to my hometown for Thanksgiving and my 62nd birthday.

This year starts on a blank slate, in that there is no unfinished business.  I do have tentative travel plans, which I will mention below, but being of service- to my Faith, to the Red Cross and in the American Legion’s “Americanism Essay” program will be my main priorities, along with substitute teaching when I am called.

There is a book on the Covenant (agreement) between Baha’ullah and His followers (Including me), which I am studying along with 2-3 other Baha’is.  We will likely meet every Tuesday, except for the two weeks I’ll mention below, until the end of May.  That is Priority # 1.

The year overall looks like this, and it can always change on a dime.

January- Post-holiday clean-up of the legion hall and a prayer breakfast are scheduled for next weekend.  The following weekend, our Baha’i hiking group will go-somewhere nearby.  A Navajo culture event at the Phippen Museum will find me in attendance at the end of the month.  In between, a jaunt down to Tucson is possible and a Red Cross service weekend in the Colorado River Valley is likely during the MLK Day weekend.

February- A special musical artist will visit us on the 9-10.  President’s Day weekend will likely find me in the Las Vegas area’s Red Rock State Park and/or Valley of Fire.  The end of the month (26th- March 1) is what we Baha’is observe as Ayyam-i-Ha (Intercalary Days), and is a gift-giving period.  It falls during the week, but we still gather on at least one night to celebrate.

March- I hope to have a DVD of photos from Penny’s life done by the 5th, to mark the second anniversary of her passing.  The 2nd-20th of this month is the Baha’i Fasting period, and those of us between the ages of 15-70, who are in good health, observe the Fast from sunrise to sunset during this 19-day period.  I work and carry on a modicum of normal activity during this time, but don’t travel or hike much, if at all.  From the 22nd-25th, I will likely visit some friends in southern California, and my son if he’s still there.

April- From March 29- April 7, I will visit friends and Mother Nature in Oklahoma and Texas, by way of Albuquerque.

May- If she wants me to, I will go out to Philadelphia, where my youngest niece is graduating college, from May 10-13.  Otherwise, the month is a Home Sweet Home time.

June- Colorado beckons, from the 1st to the 9th.  This time, I want to hike in Eldorado State Park, Boulder and up Mt. Sopris, near Glenwood Springs, as well as visiting my family in the Denver area and paying my respects at Sand Creek, near La Junta.

(I will also have to plan for June & July, 2014- La Belle France, Belgium, London, Amsterdam,  northern Germany, Copenhagen and five East European cities are on my radar.)

July-My son will turn 25, so the time around his birthday on the 7th will remain open.  Otherwise, three hikes, weather-permitting, in the San Francisco Peaks will highlight the second half of the month.

August & September- If all goes well, my long jaunt for the year will start on the 9th, with an overnight camp-out near Bluff, Utah.  From there, Arches National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Devils Tower, Harney Peak, Crazy Horse Monument, Pipestone, MN, northern Wisconsin, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal,  Quebec-Ville, Atlantic Canada, Mount Desert Island, ME a family reunion in Massachusetts over Labor Day weekend, NYC, Gettysburg and a possible DC visit with my siblings (which could also happen in mid-May), Louisville, St.  Louis and Kansas City will occupy me until around October 6.

October- After the 6th, I will be around Prescott and back to business.

November- This year, my birthday falls on Thanksgiving.  I will not make any plans, except to be the best 63-year-old the Good Lord could want.

December- Grand Canyon Baha’i Conference will probably be the 20th-23rd.  Otherwise, I have no plans.

So that’s how my friend Janus has me set for the year ahead.  As always, Penny will be around me and I will move one step at a time, with love in my heart.

2012 was several steps in the right direction for yours truly.  I viewed a video this evening about a girl who was visited by an angel, while she was in the hospital and at death’s door.  There is video footage of a bright, winged being, which cannot be explained by window light being reflected, as there are no windows or skylights in that part of the hospital.  I include this digression because, so often over the past twenty-one months, and especially this year, I have made split-second decisions based on messages which come to me instantaneously.  I have done things that I was not even remotely thinking of doing, but which redounded to my immediate benefit.  I know my beloved is right at my side, 24/7.

Let me look back at 2012:

January- New Year’s hike on Mingus Mountain; read The Third Alternative, by Stephen R. Covey, who would die later this year; worked at substituting; visited Wickenburg.

February- Bought solar oven; visited Tucson, Bisbee & Tombstone; celebrated Arizona’s Centennial; climbed Piestewa Peak and Camelback; hiked the eastern segment of White Tanks; enjoyed the music of Kevin VonderHeydt, in concert; revisited many parts of the Verde Valley; climbed Vulture Peak;  welcomed Aram back to dry land, from his first deployment; toured his ship and the USS Midway, in San Diego.

March- Visited:  San Diego Maritime Park;Julian;La Jolla; Laguna Beach andTorrance (to see friends); La Brea Tar Pits and LACMA; Los Angeles and San Diego Baha’i Centers; Ontario, CA (see more friends); Presented the video, “Education Under Fire” at Prescott Public Library and at Yavapai College; took training in First Aid and CPR at Phoenix Red Cross; attended “Oneness of Mankind Day” Music Festival at Old Tucson; visited with my brother and  sister-in-law during their Tucson trip; spent time with Aram in Phoenix; trained in Disaster Services, with the Red Cross; renewed my US passport; worked on my Phoenix property; hiked Thumb Butte; visited  Orme Farm, an organic establishment near Dewey, AZ.

April- Attended “Americanism” awards ceremonies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, in Prescott; bid farewell to Baha’i friend Bruce Von der Heydt; presented “Education Under Fire” at Chino Valley Senior Center and at Prescott  College;  visited sites in Camp Verde and Sedona; discovered the lushness of Badger Springs, northeast of Black Canyon City;  had our first Baha’i cluster meeting.

May- Paid off a huge outstanding debt; attended a Yavapai College concert; attended an Americanism awards ceremony at Prescott High School; visited family and friends in Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas; hiked around Boulder, Mt. Sunflower,KS, Black Mesa, OK, Palo Duro Canyon and Pedernales Falls, TX;  reveled in the historical sites of Fort Worth, Austin; San Antonio  and Laredo; discovered South Padre Island; presented “Education Under Fire”, one more time at Prescott Public Library; finished reading Harry Potter series.

June- Attended graduation party for John Bradley;received Medal of Valor, from Prescott-Yavapai Nation; commemorated our 30th wedding anniversary in San Diego, South Carlsbad Beach and Julian; visited Dana Point and Laguna Beach;  visited the Nixon Birthplace and Presidential Library; attended the 50th anniversary of the Pine Springs Baha’i Proclamation, near Houck, AZ; hiked Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon; attended Bellemont Baha’i Summer School.

July- Celebrated Aram’s birthday, in San Diego; visited Santa Ysabel and Palm Springs, CA; joined Cowboy breakfast at Goldwater Lake; attended first “Nights of Enlightenment”, at Phoenix Baha’i Center; finished reading Books 1-5, in “A Song of Ice and Fire” series.

August-  Attended Star-Gazing Party, at the Bradleys’ residence; joined GMO-Free Prescott;  attended American Legion Post Picnic, at Watson Lake; added Chino Valley USD to my substituting roll.

September- Attended Prescott Red Cross Open House; visited family and friends in Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Utah and Colorado; attended Commemorations of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s visits to San Francisco, Oakland, Salt Lake City and Glenwood Springs, CO; camped in the Coastal Redwoods and Washington’s Ozette region;  revisited San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill, Portland, Crater Lake, and Seattle; discovered Point Reyes, the Lost Coast, Point Coquille, Sea Lion Caves, Oregon Dunes, Cape Flattery, Forks, WA, Wenatchee(and its fire-ravaged areas), Goldendale, WA, Rogue River Gorge, Ashland, OR, Mt. Shasta, Lassen Volcanic NP,  and Colorado Springs .

October- Visited Wolf Creek Gorge, CO; joined Baha’i Unit Convention, in Flagstaff; drove a friend to/from Algodones, BCN; attended concert at Macy’s in Flagstaff; attended Health & Wellness Fair in Bagdad, AZ; attended Red Cross training in Phoenix; began extended Baha’i group study; joined Red Cross Make-a-Difference Day  event, in Glendale; joined Junior Youth Hike at Sabino Canyon, Tucson.

November- Attended Anti-Bullying talk at Yavapai College; joined Veteran’s Day Parade;  visited family and friends in Saugus, MA and Bedminster, NJ; revisited Salem and Boston’s Freedom Trail; turned 62.

December- Had topical skin surgery; attended Grand Opening of Scottsdale Baha’i Center; attended Willow Creek Gardens Christmas Party;  co-hosted Baha’i Cluster Meeting; visited with Aram in Prescott and Phoenix; attended Grand Canyon Baha’i Conference; joined memorial service for an area Baha’i.

Like many across the planet, I attended a screening of Les Miserables on Christmas night.  As with most theaters, our screening in Prescott Valley, AZ was nearly full.  Since high school,  this story has been on my short list of favourites.  I first read it in French, as a junior.  The message was no less clear and compelling in the film:  None of us is beyond redemption, but frequently, attaining it means casting aside ego, pride, fear.  One reviewer called the story “relentless”, in its presentation of the events leading up to the Barricades of Paris in 1832, and the aftermath of their architects’ defeat.

It is never going to be “Les Miz”, in my mind.  The human struggle can never really be trivialized, abbreviated or marginalized for convenience’s sake.  The bonds of true love, in every one of its forms, can never be broken.  The power of unconditional humaneness, towards even one’s perceived enemies, can never be broken.  In real terms, Victor Hugo was calling out for all these to become the order of his day, and of the future society.  In real time, we see the great leaders of our day putting these principles into action:  Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Inacio Lula da Silva and Liu Xiao Bo.

The most compelling strand in Les Miserables is the ultimate sense of Jean Valjean’s vindication, at least in his own heart.  Even Javert, to his great chagrin, recognizes the folly of his own life’s work, bestowing his Croix d’Honeur on the fallen child, Gavroche, then allowing Jean Valjean to carry the wounded Marius to safety.  None of these revelations reduces the power  of the story- it can only be felt by those who experience the story, whether in film, on stage or in print.

The despair of that age must have been palpable.  The message sent forth by the despondent Fantine, “But there are dreams that cannot be, and there are storms we cannot weather”, must never, though, be allowed to take root in these times of ours.  The dead Gavroches of Sandy Hook each had a feistiness, an unquenchable thirst for life of their own.  The Cosettes, and Eponines, of the world deserve their shot at bringing dream to reality.  The Javerts of our society need not self-destruct, but rather know that the unbending principles designed to safeguard wealth and privilege are not always tenable, nor should they be.

As I drove towards home this evening, a newscast informed that a light snow had fallen on Newtown today.  In the darksome night, there is hope radiating outward, attracting blessings, repelling the very evil that brought down this dark.

Love is not an easy thing, but to all who suffer- know that you are loved, at least in this corner.