Tag Archives: Page(AZ)

The Road to Diamond, Day 237: Amity Amid the Smoke

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, impediments, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 23, 2025, Flagstaff- I opted not to stop at Horseshoe Bend, following a fairly successful foray up to Page, meeting the school district’s Maintenance Director, for a walk-through of its shuttered Middle School, which we agreed would make an ideal shelter site, during the time when the property is up for sale. Such sales take quite a bit of time, and in the meantime, Red Cross would be able to house a couple hundred people, in the event of a major disaster in the area north of Grand Canyon and close to the northwest corner of the Navajo Nation.

The smoke from two not-too-distant fires is hard on the residents of Page and western Dinetah. Those with whom I spoke, in the school’s offices, were not even sure of how much protection they had, from being inside. Amazingly, the parking lot at Horseshoe Bend was still packed, with tourists braving the smoke and haze, for the chance to perhaps see the iconic twists and turns of the Colorado River, at this spot, which has been characterized as “the East Rim” of Grand Canyon. If that overlook is anything like the view of nearby Waterholes Canyon, the smoke is a perfect screen. A flagger for a nearby road construction project (more misery on the job) was pacing back and forth, near the Waterholes “viewpoint”.

Despite the outward environment, the Maintenance Director was glad for my visit and quite upbeat for the prospects of the Middle School being useful for us, and for the possibility that lack of disaster might obviate such use of the campus. He was also glad that his part in the tour was mostly indoors. I took the parking lots on by myself- getting a count of spaces. It was worth the drive, and the smoke, to cultivate another friend.

After leaving Page and the smoke behind, I enjoyed a lovely Navajo Taco, at Cameron Trading Post, then found my way back here-spending the night at Americana Motor Hotel, before a second Red Cross mission, tomorrow, hopefully establishing a firm connection with Native American Baha’i Institute.

The Road to Diamond, Day 231: Ahead of the Game

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 17, 2025- I decided to take an early morning breakfast at the newly-opened Gurley Girl Bakery, just up the street from HB 1. The problem was that this is a late-opening establishment (9 am), and it was 8:30. Breakfast came from across the road, at Scooters, which actually has rather good burritos, that remind me a bit of the fare at Glenn’s Bakery, Gallup.

Many times, I have found that being proactive needs to be scaled back, in the face of forces that just aren’t ready for what I have had in mind. I had been thinking that it might be useful to go to the Native American Baha’i Institute today, and conduct a survey for its use as a secondary Red Cross shelter, then return back here this evening, Prudence led to changing the game plan to combining this with a journey up to Page, for a similar effort, next Wednesday and Thursday. It is not often wise to get ahead of the game.

In the late afternoon, I spent some time listening to two men who hold slightly different views form one another, but who have become friends by hearing one another out. Their take is that the nation will do best by taking a Big Tent approach, as has been the case in the most successful years of our nation’s history-indeed of the heritage of most nations. Those who exclude people with whom they disagree are also getting ahead of the game. I have been happiest when among those who can express various points of view, so long as they do not advocate violence against those who disagree with them.

In cases of oppression, those who seem ahead of the game invariably end up finding themselves behind.