May 4, 2010

May 4, 2010

Today is what it’s all about, baby! Today, I drove for miles along the winding desert backroads north of Phoenix on my way to Sedona. It’s impossible to describe the landscape without sounding like one of Ray Bradbury’s characters on a distant planet. I stopped many times along the way to wade with Jubilee in the Tonto Creek, to eat a sandwich to the sound of nothing but cool, dry breezes and intermittent birdsongs, or just take in the sight with my mouth agape, presenting a target for curious bugs. I rarely passed a car (I should say a car rarely passed ME, since I am ever timid about pushing the Motherload beyond her comfort zone of 45mph, and have NEVER, EVER passed a car anywhere!).  I loved every aching-butt minute of today because it was backroads all the way. One gorgeous turn in the road after another, each one revealing a weird twist on cactus formations, a flock of buzzards taking flight just beyond the hood, or crazy-beautifully sculptured rocks, mesas, gorges, and a 360-degree vista that stretched beyond the curve of the earth, except where the mountains cut it off like great fists grabbing at sand.

When I finally rounded the bend on Hwy 179 leading directly to Sedona, my first view of the iconic scarlet rock formations sent a chill down my spine. In that instant I really GOT IT that I am DOING this adventure. I conceived the idea, I daydreamed it, I planned it, I made it happen and now I’M IN THE MIDST OF IT. I can’t explain the thrill that ran through me: like an electric current, but oh so sweet and melty!

Gratitude lumped up in my throat, which was dry anyway, and I had to swallow hard to keep breathing, gulping the beauty and sending forth great waves of gratitude, watching the hairs on my arms rise and wriggle like miniscule charmed snakes.