Tag Archives: Colorado

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 3

0
Posted by on in children, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 24, 2026- When Hana is annoyed at something, she utters a mild groan. A few times today, especially as her mother was getting ready to leave for work and again, when it took a bit longer to get the safety straps and tray attached to the high chair, her guttural expression took flight.

She has been feeding herself quite well, of late. Of course, the results are what one would expect of an infant or toddler, but she does get most of the food into herself, sometimes after a few tries. She is getting better at taking the spoon and putting food into her mouth, though it may take two tries to empty the spoon. I attribute that to her not having a full set of teeth.

Hana also was more willing to walk with me holding her hands, and walking backwards, in front of her. For the first time, today she walked a bit, inside the playpen, with my holding her by one hand and being at her side. I hope to get her to do more of both, over the next several days.

HANA’S NOTE– I was stuck on playing with the price tag on my Mexican doll. Papa and Daddy took it, and said it was plastic and they didn’t want me to eat it. I was sad to lose that tag, but a cloth book made me feel better.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Colorado- The Rocky Mountain State has been also like home to me, over the years, in many respects. One of my sisters-in-law lived in the Denver area for several years, and our niece still lives there.I have friends in several parts of the state, as well.

The turf- Mountains make up about 2/5 of the state’s terrain; the Rockies proper taking up the middle third and the San Juan Range forming something of a boot, in the southwest corner. High Desert takes up most of the western third, save the area of the San Juans. High Plains take up the eastern third. Still and all, Colorado is the only state where I have seen snow in each of the twelve months of the year. The state is well-drained: The Colorado River, Rio Grande, Animas, San Juan, Arkansas, North and South Platte and Little Snake Rivers all either begin here or flow swiftly through.

First Nations- Colorado is the ancestral home of Dineh (Navajo), Nuutsiu (Ute), Yapudttka, Pahdteeanooch, Kahpota, Mobach, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Jicarilla Apache,Yamparika and Numunuu(Comanche). Puebloan communities left their ruins at Mesa Verde and Chimney Rock, both now tended by the National Park Service. In the annals of relations between Native Americans and the U.S. Army, Sand Creek remains hallowed ground. On November 29, 1864, Colonel John Chivington led a force of 675 Cavalrymen on a slaughter of 150 Arapaho and Cheyenne villagers, 2/3 of whom were women and children. I visited Sand Creek, a few years ago, and could only stand in solemnity. There is no honour in one-sided slaughter, despite what Chivington claimed, to his dying day.

Where I feel most at home: Cortez, Walsenburg, Del Norte, Black Forest, Manitou Springs, Boulder, Glenwood Springs.

Where I feel most at peace: The Baha’i camp at Black Forest

NEXT- Utah

Day of the Dead

4
Posted by on in Community, Family, Historical, Personal Values, Spiritual

November 2, 2017, Prescott-

Hispanic families, in Mexico and elsewhere, observe this day as a way to honour their departed ancestors and strengthen the ties between this world and the hereafter.

As I looked out the window, this morning, I swear I could see Penny’s image, and that of her father, looking back at me, in a tree across the way.

Some have gone on, this past year, who had roles, large and small, in my life.

Uncle George Boivin, one of my last surviving father figures, gave me a paving stone from Boston’s old Scollay Square, which was transformed into Government Center, when I was about 12.  He was ever available, when I was in Colorado, to set me straight, in the difficult  2 1/2 years, immediately following Penny’s passing.  His mind was sharp, until the end, and those doll houses live on.

Al Tercero served our American Legion, at the post and district level, for over 30 years.  Now he is in what we call Post Everlasting.  The Honour Guard he helped establish is still the finest in Arizona.

George Marchessault, also a Past Commander and Honour Guard stalwart, stayed true to the Legion code and was ever present at our gatherings, on almost a weekly basis, until his last illness confined him to rest.

Bea Cronin, a grand-aunt’s sister-in-law, was always outside watching the Saugus High football team, from her back yard. There was an open door and welcome to the kids who knew her sons, and to us, her far extended family, when we were in the neighbourhood.

Ivaloo Mac Vicar was always in the hall, when I was passing to classes in seventh grade, admonishing us boys to WALK down the stairs, ONE step at a time.  She made it to the Century Mark, and a bit beyond, as did-

Evelyn Porter Anderson, who gave my mother a shot at success as a hairdresser and cosmetologist, in the uncertain days after World War II.  She never stopped doting on the five of us, until blindness and infirmity kept her confined to her last home.

Bernis Hanlon taught me, in fifth grade, to rely on my own wits and to start building  layers on my thin skin.  It took twenty more years for that lesson to really stick, yet less time for her next life lesson, appreciation of fine drama, to be absorbed, six years later, when she was the  High School Theater Advisor, who didn’t mind my being on the periphery of that club’s efforts.

Firuz Kazemzadeh was a high-level scholar of the Baha’i Faith, and one of our most accomplished mentors, serving in so many capacities, legal and educational.  His was always a bright and friendly face, at national and international gatherings, as well as at “our own” Grand Canyon Baha’i Conference, held annually in Phoenix.

So many others have come and gone- and some day a person or two will write of my time on this Earth.  There is much to do, as yet, so let it not be too soon.

 

Medicine for the Soul

4
Posted by on in Entertainment, Poetry, Social, Striving

September 17, 2017, Prescott- 

The poor man is, no doubt, sitting with his head in his hands, wondering what his beloved will conjure next.  Rebecca spoke, sympathetically, of her husband’s reaction to her doing things like writing a song a week, for a year or writing a song and a related poem, plus painting a picture, each week, for so many weeks.  I would guess that a certain number of said works are about him.

Last night, Rebecca Folsom and Sally Barris offered two hours of rapturous song, interspersed with the kind of banter indicated above.  They came to us from Boulder and Nashville, respectively, and offered “medicine for the soul”.  The repertoire ran from Rebecca’s songs of her beloved Colorado;  an homage to Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell and Carole King (see below); and a bluesy paean to what women can do, to Sally’s  impromptu “Halloween Love Song”; a tribute to those who accomplish much, with a “Little Voice”; and her signature “Let The Wind Chase You”, which earned a Grammy nomination, in 2009, when it was recorded by Trisha Yearwood and Keith Urban.

The ladies captivated the vast majority of the audience, including me in my box seat, just to the right of the stage.  We joined in, on cue, for the choruses of the Halloween Love Song and “Wilder Girl”.  Their nearly matching red dresses were a sign of the slight ache in their hearts, at not being with their sweethearts, on a Saturday night.  The loving audience at Prescott’s Elks Theater did what we could to make up for it, and like so many of us who have traveled far, in the line of work, they carry on.

There was a bit of personal resonance in the ladies’ presence.  Rebecca’s voice resembles that of my mother, in her prime.  Sally both looks and sings like my late wife did. Both  despite, and because of, that eeriness, I was all in with their performances.  Their work speaks of liberation and trusting love.  They stood, solidly, for the achievement that is in every woman’s soul and by extension, in the soul of the person she loves.

I’m sure I’d be fast friends with either one of them, should I encounter her in a more casual setting.  Perking up a visibly tired Sally, by thanking her for a lovely evening, was enough for last night.  I wish them, and all women, full progress towards that sense of attainment.  In the end, it will serve to benefit us men, as well.

Sixty Six, for 66, Part III: People, Places and Things

6
Posted by on in Family, Personal Values, Spiritual

December 23, 2016, Prescott- School is out, for two weeks.  After helping to re-arrange the classroom, I took off from work, and decided to spend the afternoon and evening around town.  I will head for Phoenix, and the Grand Canyon Baha’i Conference, tomorrow morning, after a full night’s decompression.

Enough of that.  I wish to share 66 of my favourites- persons, places and things, in keeping with the Christmas spirit of positivity. So, in no particular order:

1. Mountain vistas

2. Posole

3.  Monty Python films

4.  The Olympic Peninsula

5.  Celtic Woman’s music

6. Fried clams

7.  The Harry Potter series (films and books)

8.  Baha’u’llah’s teachings

9.  The harbour at Vannes, Brittany

10. The presence of children

11.  Do Terra Essential Oils

12.  Honesty

13.  Pizza

14.  My biological family-wherever they are

15.  The United States Constitution

16.  Sweet potato pie

17.  Manitou Springs, Colorado

18.  Bears

19.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha

20.  Mint chip ice cream

21.  My Reno family

22. The Grand Canyon

23.  The Baha’i House of Worship, Wilmette, IL

24.  Trustworthiness

25.  Equity for women and girls

26.  San Diego

27.  The Fisher King

28.  Forthrightness

29.  Jennifer Lawrence, as an actress

30.  Denzel Washington, as an actor

31.   Gatherings at Prescott’s Courthouse Square

32. Justice

33. My mother’s love

34.  Memories of my wife

35.  Sharp cheddar cheese

36.  The Field Museum, Chicago

37.  My Tampa Bay family

38.  Jeju, South Korea

39.  Les Miserables

40.  The Sonoran Desert

41.  My son’s devotion

42.  Crispy bacon

43. Dogs

44. Thumb Butte, Prescott

45.  A job well done

46. Crystal Cove Beach, CA

47.  A Path With Heart

48.  Caramel

49.  Bluegrass music

50.  The Lord of the Rings 

51.  Consistency

52.  Sedona, AZ

53.  Hopi culture

54.  Whales

55.  Persistence in faith

56.  Boulder, CO

57.  Pumpernickel bread

58.  My southwest Missouri family

59.  Lemurs

60.  The Holy Bible

61.  Gyros

62.  Heidelberg

63.  Navajo culture

64.  Reuben sandwiches

65. Hot coffee

66. Southeast Alaska

There are so many more that I love, but I sense the reader’s flagging attention. 🙂

 

 

The Road to 65, Mile 55: Challenges

5
Posted by on in Hiking and Nature, Personal goals, Social, Travel

January 22, 2015, Prescott- I got a call at 5:38 AM, got out of bed, fumbled with the phone, hit the wrong button, and ended up with no work today. It always goes the way it is supposed to go, though. While I won’t earn money from today’s activities, I did reassure a transient friend that he has allies in this community, got him where he needed to go, and spent some time with a friend in Prescott Valley, at a restaurant on the north side of the sprawling town. The place is called The Chalk Board. It’s a breakfast and lunch spot and has an inventive, well-prepared menu- like Soldi, here on the hilltop. Several of us will probably gather there on Saturday morning, for breakfast. I want to look for the trailhead where I left off of the Black Canyon Trail, last Spring, so a hearty breakfast, en route, will be a great start.

Slow days like this are a good time to look at challenges that lie ahead. So, between now and the end of May, I have these:

Work- The full-time job will happen, if it’s meant to, by the end of February. Otherwise, I will show up at every charter school in Prescott and Chino Valley, give them each a copy of my sub certificate, focus on building my Essential Oils business (which I’ll do, anyway) and sock money away.

Service- I am with the Red Cross as a volunteer, regardless. American Legion? My continuing there, past May, will depend on the political climate. Right now, it looks iffy. Prescott Family Shelter is on my volunteer radar screen, also, unless I get full-time work.

Recreation and Travel- Colorado, next weekend, is my most immediate focus- for a Winter Summit. Texas, the Gulf Coast and central Florida follow, from Feb. 6-17. My MIL has a birthday during that time, in Leesburg. Weekend hikes will be many, from mid-February until late May: Continuing down the Black Canyon, McDowell Mountains’ Pemberton Trail(Scottsdale), Spur Cross Ranch (Cave Creek),Kendrick Peak (west of Flagstaff), Tucson’s Sahuaro National Park-West Unit, a few more places in Sedona and the rest of Tonto Natural Bridge State Park’s trails. Then, there are the hikes I will no doubt take, on the spur of the moment.

Faith- Baha’i, like random acts of service, makes up the built-in cabinets and shelving of my Life House. My growth, and that of the community, will continue in tandem with all of the above.

These may seem like trifling challenges, and they are. Then again, I’m autistic. Everything is a challenge.