Tales from Echo Canyon: August 2006

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Things that start with "S"--Storms, Snakes....

Hi Everyone!

Monday was quite an eventful day for us country bumpkins! We went to the ‘big city’--Prescott. Wow. You have to understand we live happily in our canyon...away from mainstream life for the most part. And so a trip to the ‘big city’ really is a big event. We don’t go often. And it’s kind of a party when we do.

My mother, Ruth, who is 89, went with us. She generally doesn’t go much of anywhere due to a severe heart condition--but today she made the extra effort because she needed to get a new pair of shoes.

And, we were going to Costco! Now, for many of you, that seems like a common, every day thing everyone does. But we don’t. Living out in the middle of nowhere in the heart of Arizona, we don’t have Ikea, Sam’s Club, Costco or anything else on that scale--and you have to travel over an hour or two to get to such things, if then.

Leaving at 10:00 a.m., after wrapping Cinnamon’s leg in Unna’s boot again,we noticed the monsoon clouds were gathering early. It was going to be a great day for sky action. After eating at the Wildflower Bakery (a favorite of ours), we went to Dillard’s where Mom got her new pair of shoes--mules. She was short of breath and we have her wheelchair with us. The 5,500 feet was tough on her heart, so we wheeled her around and that took some of the strain off her.

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Here is the beginning of many photos of the huge monsoon storms building around the Verde Valley and Prescott, Arizona area

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Then, off to Costco! Wow. What a place! So many things! We stocked up on canned goods like beef and chicken. And we got some wild sockeye salmon for $7.99 a pound--a steal. I couldn’t help myself and got some King Estates Pinot Gris 2005. This is my most favorite Pinot Gris is from this particular vineyard. It’s hard to find--and Costco had an incredible array of wines to choose from. So, that was my gift to myself--great wine!

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On the way home, there was some magnificent thunder beings around. The first had a dark gray veil of rain beneath him. And then, over in the Camp Verde area where we would be going, another huge cauliflower head of a thunder being was rising fast.

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On the way home, we had our own Thunder Being in and around the canyon area. This was fascinating to me--this one long, vertical cloud that looked like the Thunder Being was putting down his hose to the land.
The sky was alive, active and ever changing as you’ll see in the photos below.

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Here's a Thunder Being with a 'gasoline' hose....I've never quite seen a cloud formation like this. Very interesting!

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On my hike tonight, the sky was surreal. I knew with the way it was shaping up, we were going to have all kinds of activity and not only a western sunset, but an eastern one as well. I was mentally rubbing my hands over that prospect!

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Then, Mark drove up in ATV--without the dogs. I asked him where they were and he said Sue, his wife, was walking with them up to where we were. Sure enough, here they all came. What made it interesting was that Sue was carrying their new gray kitty. The kitty had followed them from where they lived and was running on Sue’s heels down the dirt road to keep up. The kitty was fearless of the dogs and got along well with Prancer and Carly.

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Here is Mark and Sue, our neighbors, with their ATV. Sue is standing with the gray kitty in her arms. Prancer is nearby. And Cary is off somewhere in the bushes--but she's so tiny you can't find her among all the brush and cactus!

Then, the gray kitty got feisty with Rocky nosing around and hissed. So, Mark put her in the milk carton box behind his seat and you can see, Prancer is already in there when I took this cute photo!

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The sky then became our focus. And you can see what great shots that were available. All the while, Rocky, Prancer, Carly and the gray kitty were running around. It was a carnival like atmosphere up on Sunset Point tonight.

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Then, it was getting dark and I had to leave. Mark and Sue stayed up at Sunset Point. As I made it down to the flat of the canyon floor, I put Rocky on a leash. Usually, I don’t--but I did this time. Mark had gone ahead and taken the gray kitty home. Prancer decided to walk back with me, so we were a merry threesome coming down the hill through Jon’s vineyard with darkness falling.

As I walked past the rock wall very near to our entrance, I heard rattling. Rattlesnake! I leaped back because it was dark and I couldn’t see anything! I knew I should have carried a flashlight. I had disregarded my intuition. Quickly, I snapped on my camera and the flash popped up. I swung the camera in the direction of the stone wall and flashed it. I saw the rattlesnake. A big seven year old one about four and half feet long.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Because of the heavy monsoon rains this past month, the water has washed a lot of snake's dens out and destroyed them. So, they are all looking for new holes and 'digs' as a house to live in. Jon's "China Wall" as we call it--all made of lava rocks, is a wonderful apartment complex for snakes of all kinds, chipmunks, ground squirrels, rats and mice. And this Green Rattler has decided his new home is about a hundred feet from our road--right where we walk every night!

Mark came zooming back and I yelled at him to stop; that the rattlesnake was out and about--again. Just as Mark came up, the lights on his ATV so we could see the rattler, Prancer, who is part terrier, lunged at it! I leaned down, grabbed the dog by the back of the neck. just as I yanked Prancer back from attacking the snake, the rattler responded and struck out at the dog. YIIIII!!!! If I hadn’t gotten a hold of Prancer and yanked her back, she’d have been bitten! Mark was saying, “Stupid dog!” He was upset, too. I hauled Prancer into my arms, trying to deal with the dog and my Nikon. I put Prancer on Mark’s ATV. He then said he was going to drive up and get Sue and Carly, who were walking back.

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Snakes come out at dusk to hunt. They are night hunters. And so, at dusk around here, you always walk with a flashlight and remain alert because most snakes come out, stretch out somewhere to soak up the heat of the land, get the energy from it and then begin their nightly foray to find something to eat.

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I told him fine, do that....and that Dave and I would use our Snake Bagger equipment and try to find the snake tomorrow or the next day and remove it. We couldn’t allow this rattler to stay living in the rock wall so near to a road that was heavily traveled by foot traffic, by our dogs who would get bit, or the snake run over by a car. Mark said that would be a good idea, sounding relieved about it.

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Our Green Rattler is a male. He's pretty aggressive and definitely threatened by being in his coiled position. I'm sure he was happy when we all left him alone.

Quite a day!

And here’s some beautiful sunset photos. Enjoy!

Monday, August 07, 2006

Dragons, Candles and the Moon...

Hi Everyone

These are photos from my Sunday hike up and out of the canyon. It was a quiet day with not too much monsoon activity. But, as I walked down the flat of the canyon floor, I looked up and saw one of my dragons....

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Do you see the dragon in the sky?

As we came through the vineyard and half way up Cardiac Hill, on the right, I noticed Bear Grass (Nolina) shafts shooting skyward. They don’t bloom every year and only when there’s enough water. I call them the ‘candles of the desert.’ What do you think?

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Bear Grass or Nolina or what they call 'candles of the desert.' Bear Grass or Nolina will bloom with creamy white blossoms on these spires in about a week.

In the Cut, I saw a Tarantula Hawk--it’s a big dark reddish-brown wasp-looking insect. And it is BIG. You’ll see it flying around about dusk because that’s when the Tarantulas come out to do their nightly hunting and foraging. If a Tarantula Hawk finds the Tarantula, it uses it’s long legs to straddle the spider, sting it and paralyze it with its venom. Once paralyzed (but not dead), the wasp will stick her abdomen into the spider’s abdomen, deposit her eggs. She will then drag the unfortunate tarantula off, cover him with dirt, twigs and rocks, where it will live in its paralyzed state. When the wasp eggs hatch, they begin eating up the tarantula from the inside out--a meal on wheels. Not a nice or pretty death for the Tarantula.

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A Tarantula Hawk can fit in the palm of your hand--it is that big!

As I was climbing the last hill to Sunset Point, I looked around and here the the moon, three days shy of being full with some pretty pink sunset clouds in its vicinity.

Once up on Sunset Point, I delivered the various nuts to my friends, the red harvester ants. Here’s a photo showing them lifting and hefting a half a piece of a cashew nut into their hole. Amazing!

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Red Ants rely on teamwork to move these gifts of nuts into their burrow.

Here is another photo of the moon playing with the clouds.

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As the sun set, there were a set of clouds off to the left or south of us. They turned a beautiful pink color and was like a second sunset to the main one.

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Moon hidden behind pink sunset clouds

And finally, as I stood on the hill with Rocky-Docky, here is the sunset that occurred.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

A Day of Reminders....

Hi Everyone

This has been a day of change-ups. I’m currently working on my rough draft novel for Silhouette Nocturne, DARK TRUTH. And then, I received the galley proof for BEYOND THE LIMITS, HQN/Pete Trayhern’s book, today, as well.

And now, I’m socked with demands on two books--each has a time table when they have to be back to my editor, so I need to budget my time 50% more because I have two books staring at me and demanding attention.

My day started off right, however. I got to see my beautiful Cereus Night Blooming cactus, which was given to me by my good friend, Gail Carswell, many years ago. She gave me a cutting from her plant and raved about it. And I have carefully tried to raise it--and now I know why she was raving about it. Take a look at the next two photos...

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Here is our night blooming cereus cactus--she bloomed 3 in one night! What an incredible gift and surprise when I walked into the greenhouse this morning to water everyone--and there she was--strutting her stuff!

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Here is our Night Blooming Cereus--and you can see all three blooms on her. The blooms are wide open and bloom at dusk, stay open all night and by eight a.m. the next morning, are closin down. What a shame! They are such gorgeous blooms I wish they'd stay for days or weeks--but for not....just twelve hours, if that. It serves to tell me that we need to really,truly appreciate things in the moment because in the next moment, they are gone. Such is the teaching of this cactus.

The day was very muggy again--and for Zonies, we hate humidity. With monsoon, you get local humidity when the storms roll in--but when they roll out--the humidity leaves. It hasn’t been like that this time so we have Mexican jungle humidity that hangs around for days or, very recently, 2.5 weeks, nonstop. Ugh!

Anyway, our apples need to be picked before Cinnamon breaks all the branches trying to gobble them down! Dave got the big ladder and a big bucket and for a good hour and a half this morning, when it was still cool enough, we stripped most of our trees. We give the extra fruit to two HUD facilities in Cottonwood--and these are elderly on fixed income who can’t afford things like organic apples, which is what we raise. So, I packaged up a bunch in shopping bags to run them in later today. We also put half a bushel in several huge plastic bags for the local mission, as well. And, I wanted to drop some off to our friends, Mona and Dick, who run Java Dog Gallery in Old Cottonwood, as well. We love to give our delicous, organic apples to our friends, loved ones and those who are needy.

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Dave perched up on our twelve foot aluminum ladder getting the high apples and picking them.

And, here they are in our Toyota van, ready for me to drive to town and deliver the goodies to everyone!

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Here are part of the apples picked and bagged. These will go to a HUD facility known as Tuzigoot Apartments where the elderly on a fixed income live. They have a table where you can put free things out for the residents. The rest are in two huge white hefty plastic bags in the rear of the van. Those will go to the mission in Cottonwood later today.

As I did my errands on Saturday afternoon, I was able to deliver our apples to the Hud apartments. But the mission was closed until Monday, so I couldn’t drop them off.

For the hike tonight, it was delightful. I love seeing the desert when it is green--and it’s that way right now--but it won’t last long.

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Here is the desert in green...this is what it would normally look like in the Spring...but we got no water so the hills were yellow and dry. Now, with the once-a-week monsoons rolling into Echo Canyon, we're getting enough water to have the grass grow--boy,is it a welcome sight! Plus, the deer finally get to eat--and they are always starving for food around here, anyway. Now is a time of plenty.

Further up on the road, in the area I call the ‘switchback’, you can look down a thousand feet to beautiful Oak Creek below. And you see some wonderful things when you peer over the edge of the road.....

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Here is a shot of the stately Pine tree from Sunset Point. It is the only pine that I know of along the canyon at this altitude--so the tree is a real, strong, tough spirit to have survived in this desert environment because,normally, pines do not grow here at all. Again, a good lesson to me that even if I am thrown out of my comfortable, necessary environment--I can survive. Just like this Pine has--and he has flourished.

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From the canyon road you can look down about one-thousnd feet below and see Oak Creek. What is cool is there is a very tall, old, elegant Pine tree near the bank. And when the light is right, you can see the reflection of the Pine in the water on a quiet night. It's really beautiful but it always serves to remind me that "as above, so below..."

Once we get up to Sunset Point, I always feed the ants. You know what they do? They CARRY every nut down into their holes! It’s just an amazing process to watch them do this. They are strong women! Two of them can heft half a cashew between them and lift and move it. That is awesome! But, there are other miracles on Sunset Point and this is one of them:

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This cactus (prickly pear) sits up on the nob of Sunset Point which overlooks Oak Creek. Take a look at this: the cactus is growing OUT of the basalt lava rock! It started there as a seed and over time/years,it has not only grown but sent down roots that eventually has CRACKED this rock wide open! Tell me plant people aren't powerful! And, again, it just brought home to me that not all of us land in a nice environment when we incarnate--a lot of us get put into a rugged, hostile, survival-oriented environment where you never know if you are going to survive it or not. But this cactus shows us that we can. Amazing. Aho.

Rocky dearly loves his nightly hike, no matter if it is a 100F out or its raining or cold or snowy (yes, we do get a snow here sometimes....for half a day a light covering).

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Here's the golden glow of the sunset washing over Golden Retriever Rocky

And he’s a little over weight and we try to watch what he eats...but he’s an older dog and is a little chubby--but we love him anyway.

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Here is Rocky in a close up. He's seven years old and you can see the gray around his muzzle. He dearly loves his nightly two mile hike with me. As a matter of fact, he wears a watch on his paw and knows what time I'm to start getting ready to leave the house! And then, he'll grab his tail and go round and round in circles he's so happy that we'll be leaving shortly!

The monsoons have slowed down. After they have their ‘blow out’ they recede, like a tide in the sky ocean, and the sky becomes clear and quiet once more. And we get what I term ‘quiet’ sunsets as a result. But they are always intense and awe inspiring.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Magic Is In The Air...

Hi Everyone
Friday was another magical day for me. I had to go up to Flag on business again and as we drove up, there were a lot of monsoon thunder beings around. This one was so fantastic that I had to pull off I-17 and take his photo. Isn't he something??

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On the way back from Flagstaff, there was lots of rain, thunder and lighting--and plenty of flash flooding. Even green, flat pastures near I-17 were flooded, muddy and water gushing all over the place

I was glad to get home and then, near sunset, don my hiking boots,get my water for Rocky, my trusty Nikon, my hat, Rocky's leash, food for the ants, doggie bones for Mark's two dogs in case he drove up to Sunset Point on his ATV...and I was ready to go!

As we traversed through Echo Canyon vineyard, the sky was looking really pretty and I knew we were going to have some stunning sunsets tonight. I could hardly wait to see what Mother Earth was going to use from her palette of colors tonight!

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On the way through the cut, I saw a huge hawk come and land in a Juniper tree near the road and up on the hill above us. He was at the very top and it looked like he'd caught something and was going to begin to eat it. Sure enough, he had caught some game; probably a snake would be my guess. This is one of those times when I wished I had a telephoto lens (I wish this almost every night because, inevitably, a photo like this comes along and my lens just isn't strong enough to pull the photo into sharp, close detail).

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Once up on top, I noticed that we had two sunsets--one in the west and one in the east. Behind us, over Echo Canyon, it was all pink. One particular cloud fascinated me and I shot a photo of it just as I got to the top of Cardiac hill. Isn't it an interesting formation? Clear air turbulance makes these types of clouds and this is an orographic cloud.

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My next intersting cloud shot coming up to the Point was this one. What does it look like to you? I see a dove with two wings flying. But it could be....well...you decide. Anyway, it was the only abberation up there tonight and remember, the sky talks to us in cloud shapes. For me, it was a dove because at the time I had been doing my daily sunset prayers (for us, prayers are most powerful at dawn and dusk) for peace now,in the world. And I look up--and here is my dove of Peace, in the color pink, the color of the heart, no less.

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Mark was already up at Sunset Point so I gave his 'girls', Prancer and Carly, their little Milkbones. And of course, Rocky wanted his fair share, too! I went over and gave the ants their nuts. They have gotten so they all wait around their holes for me now. It used to be, when I started to gift them, they were all in the holes for the night. But now, a whole crowd gathered in anticipation! I crouched down and said hello to them and gave them the nuts. Instantly, they got busy and started hauling each of them into their three holes! Talk about team work. It was amazing to crouch there and watch them.

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This is the reverse sunset in the west over Echo Canyon at the same time this other,next photo of the western sunset was taken.

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Here is one shot of the wow-er sunset of 8.4.06

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Later, the reverse sunset turned to this

And then, we had a magnificent,eye-popping sunset! It was composed of light apricot orange, deep burnt orange, gold, yellow and even some magenta mixed in. Wow. Mark was sitting on his ATV snapping away. I turned and looked behind us and gasped. I told him to take a look behind him. He did and oohed and ahhed like I did. We were shooting one way, and then the other. Sunsets don't last long. In a minute, the colors can change so dramatically that it leaves you gasping. So, you don't wait and you shoot a lot to capture those moving swings of Mother Earth's palette brushes across her canvas, the sky.

When it was getting dark,I had to get down into the canyon. As I went into the cut, I saw a buzzard land on a dead branch of a Juniper tree very close to the road. That was highly unusual! Plus, it looked like this year's baby crop; only about half grown. I stopped, hoping it wouldn't fly off! It was so close! I held my breath and sent a message to it and told her that I wouldn't hurt her. And would she please stay put so I could try and get some really good, close photos of her? I wasn't THAT close, and the light was going. That meant my photos wouldn't be very good. I took about thirty photos of her. And as I did, I got closer and closer. She never moved. Finally, I was about twenty feet away from her and she was just looking at me, but not flying away. I figured I'd better ask her what message she had for me. And she gave me one. And I thanked her for that.

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A young buzzard comes to land on a Juniper about twenty feet from the road I walk to deliver me a message. Buzzards NEVER get this close to humans.

What a night! First a hawk who flew in near me to have his dinner. And then a fabulous sunset. And finally, a near encounter with a buzzard.

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Here is another look, another view of this fantastic western sunset on 8.4.06

Wow.

In spirit....

Friday, August 04, 2006

Sunsets and Thunderstorms

Hi Everyone

Well, here's the REST of the photos from Thursday evening. It was such a 'busy' night in the sky that no matter where I shot, I had wonderful pictures. I always see the sky as Mother Earth's pallett where she mixes her colors and hues with paint brushes called clouds.

I hope you enjoy these photos and they lift your spirit.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here is that entire sunset from 8.3. It was such a busy, active sunset that no matter where you shot,you were going to get a breathtaking photo!

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Look at the beauty of this photo....the gray and white clouds rolling outward from it in a semi-circle. The pink veils of rain. Just incredible majesty. And that Thunder Being was SUCH a show off, hahaha. She was just a wow-er.

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Here was a fascinating event happening east of Echo Canyon while I was standing on Sunset Point shooting picture opposite, of the sunset. A monsoon Thunder Being roared up and just as the sun set, the veil of rain turned pink. Isn't that incredibly beautiful??

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Another photo from 8.3.06, is of the Prickly Pear cactus up at Sunset Point with the setting sun setting the many needles on'fire' so that it looks like they each have a little halo around their head! Sacred cactus. Aho.

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This is a sunset from Aug 3rd, Thursday night. I liked this because it reminds me that even in the darkest dark of our gauntlet that we all have to run by ourselves many times in our lifetime, that the LIGHT is there--even if we do not see it--we have help, support and are loved from the Other Side by our guides. This photo gives me hope.

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And even as the sunset died, the sky was still an incredible pallet of colors and hues....

In Spirit....

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Cinnamon's leg: Update

Hi Everyone

I've had a number of people ask me how Cinnamon was doing. Thank you for caring! When you work with an animal, it's worse than working with a child :-). And it is daily, grueling work. And it's particularly tough when it is so hot and muggy. We have muggy for nearly two weeks in Arizona and that is unheard of. The system causing it finally move off us--thank goodness--but it has now scourged the rest of the US.

I've taken a series of photos so you can see her leg and what is going on with it. Having owned an arabian horse farm in Ohio for nine years and we had up to nine arabians at a time, Dave and I have done a lot of doctoring on foals, broodmares and everything in between. I often used homeopathic remedies when I could--they were cheap, effective, swift and natural for the body. So, you'll see we mix and match but it is based upon a lot of experience.

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Here is Cinnamon's front legs. The right front is the one with the problem. The vet felt a small, hard round 'knot' on her flexor tendon at the back of the leg. So did I. We both feel it is a cactus spine that has been encapsulated by the body and hardned--and that is what is causing the halt of lymph drainage in her leg and making the leg swell from the knee downward. And then, the lymphy has to go somewhere, so it oozes out of the skin around the corona or hairy part just above her hoof. But, it's looking pretty good at this point. With the homeopathic remedy working to kick out foreign bodies/debris from in her leg along with Unna's boot--the poultice--her leg swelling has really receded about 75%.

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Here are Cinnamon's 'medicine.' They consist of soap and warm water, calendula ointment which not only covers and softens an area--but also keeps out flies, and her homeopathic remedy, brassica sinapsis, or Black Mustard 200C. Every morning we fill a pail with warm water and go up to the barn and put a halter on her. She's very good about standing still while I crouch down to wash her leg, lather it up, clean it and then apply the ointment.

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Here's a good shot of how the back of her leg over the flexor tendon has opened up--the homeopathic remedy, Black Mustard, is well known for sucking debris or foreign bodies/objects, out of a body--human or animal. And I've given her four doses, once a day, at 200C potency which is strong enough to promote some action. And you can see it has opened up and is widening. It is a clean wound and we do watch for infection. I wash it and then cover with calendula ointment.

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Here you can see that her right front leg has gone down a lot from the last time I took photos of it. That's a relief. Vet took x-rays--four of them--and everything looks good. He also tested her blood and the swelling above and below the knee and it all came back normal--so that's good news. We're dealing with a foreign body on the flexor tendon. And we're hoping the poultice/Unna's boot, plus the remedy, will kick that darn spine out of there and allow her leg to get back to normal. Note also, her pastern area is still gray colored and not black--which indicates that circulation is still not normal to her lower leg.

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Tonight's sunset was a real giver. This is only one of so many spectacular photos of it changing, that I'm going to have to show you the rest tomorrow night!

In Spirit....

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Lizard, deer and tarantula kind-of-day....

Hi Everyone

Linda M, my friend, came over to do the canyon walk with me tonight. We decided we were on an adventure. On the way out, she spotted a black lizard with yellow racing stripes--and had seen it driving in to our home. I said, "Well, that's for you!" Lizards are symbols of 'fire' medicine.

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Here is our lizard in full view--he didn't know to 'pose' so was dwaddling along. Lizards always symbolize 'fire' medicine and are about 'action' or 'taking action' shortly--usually within 48-72 hours.

Our friend wasn't really afraid of us. He could have dashed away--but he didn't. We wanted to get on with our walk, but we thanked him for coming and allowing us to take his photograph.

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Our friendly lizard is on his way to find some bugs for his dinner...

Linda and I huffed up cardiac hill. The hill is steep and your pulse goes over 200. What makes it a nice climb is Echo Canyon Vineyard and the stone walls on either side of the road. As we rounded the turn to head up to the next curve, I heard a sound to my right. I stopped and looked. There were two young deer--both bucks--out in the grape vineyard! Linda had just seen TWELVE deer as she'd driven out of Cottonwood to meet me for the walk in Echo Canyon tonight. I told her she was on a roll--here's two more!

The deer bolted and we watched them disappear down to the end of the vineyard. I saw one bound to the left out of the vineyard. "I'll bet they're going to swing back and go across the road in front of us," I told Linda. Sure enough, that's what they did--one at a time--and here they are!

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Here's the first male/buck--he was the older of the two--had longer horns. These are mule deer but they are VERY small due to lack of vegetation, so they never really attain the height or weight they would elsewhere. This buck wasn't in a terrible hurry--he just ambled across the road in front of us!

The second one, I believe, is a yearling buck or a younger buck--he has shorter horns and is smaller. He was skittish and bounded across the road.

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Here's deer/buck #2--in a hurry!

We finally reached Sunset Point but what a lovely adventure we were having so far! There were not many monsoon clouds around--just a few hovering around the western horizon but nothing to write home about. As we waited for the sun to set, Mark came up on his ATV. Prancer, his little black and white dog, rides with her hind legs on Mark's lap, her front paws on the gas tank--she looks like a hood ornament! And Carly, the little Chihauhua rides in the back, in the milk cartons.

The three of us stood silently and watched the sun go down. I caught Mark with Prancer in his lap. That dog adores him. She's always with Mark. I love to see wonderful, warm relations between human and animals--it always fills me with hope that it can be a better world.

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Here is Mark and Prancer. Mark loves taking photos of the sunset as much as I do and it's a nice thing to share with another person.

Well, with a beautiful sunset in our camera, Linda and I and Rocky headed back down to the canyon! Mark got to stay a lot later and get some extra shots. It gets dark fast and as you now know, rattlesnakes lay out on our dirt road after sunset to warm up--and if you don't have enough light returning home...well...you can step into a situation with one. So, I try to leave plenty of time to get back down and see what's on the road.

When we got to the horse corral Dave called to us. He was putting Cinnamon away for the night and said there was a tarantula on his front porch of his office. Did I want to see it? Heck yes! I ran down and around, armed with my camera and Linda hot on my heels. When I got there, I didn't see it. But then, there he was! He came out from beneath the porch where he lives and came directly over to me. He's a lovely male--older--you can see his front legs are far more developed and he's bigger. And he ran right over to me. Linda stayed back, hahahaha. She probably thought he was gonna jump six feet and land on her! Me? I knelt down and talked to him. I got my photos and then put the camera down. I reached out with my index finger and gently stroked his cinnamon abdomen. He was so soft and velvety feeling! And I told Linda that if the tarantula felt threatened he would stop, thrust his abdoment up in the air as a sign of aggression. But, my friend did not do that. Instead, he kept walking around in circles in front of me and allowing me to 'pet' him.

We had quite a walk! A beautiful black and yellow striped lizard, two deer and a tarantula--plus--a gorgeous sunset. I hope your day was filled with magic and adventure like ours was!

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Forks in the Road....

Hi Everyone

I had to drive up to Flagstaff on business today, so many of the photos are from our city at 7,000 feet. Gives 'mile high city' a whole new meaning!

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
When I saw this sign at a stoplight in Flag, I thought: we choose many roads in life. One may choose a country road. Another, a freeway. And yet another, will choose to create a trail where none existed before. Forks in the road...we all are presented with them and the opportunities that go with them....

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
As we were running around in Flag today, I discovered a beautiful flower garden on a corner. We stopped, I ran across the street and began photographing! These are gorgeous hollyhocks!

Copyright Eileen Nauman
Here's another shot of the entire flower garden on the corner--it just cheers everything and everyone up! Someone does a lot of work on it!

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here's some more hollyhocks smiling at us

On the hike tonight, I had a lot of fun. Mark came up on his ATV and camera. On the back of his ATV is a set of two hard plastic milk cartons. And in them, are his and Sue's two dogs; Prancer, the black and white one and Carly,the Chihuahua. Here, Rocky is saying hello to Carly up at Sunset Point....the giant and the midget!

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006

I just love these two little dogs. Mark and Sue care for them so well. I usually bring up little doggie Milk Bones in a ziplock sack to give to them. And of course, when they arrive, just as you see them here, they are waiting for their treats. I get them out of the back of the ATV, set them on the ground and give them their dessert. Of course, Rocky is always happy to see them too--and he gets his milkbone goody also.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
If this isn't a cute photo, nothing is! Carly is closest to us and Prancer, in the other milk carton. This is where they ride nightly with Mark as he traverses our canyon on his ATV.

As Rocky and I hurried off Sunset Point to make it home before dark, I turned and looked back one last time and this is what we saw.

Monday, July 31, 2006

Gardening with a little excitement....

Hi Everyone

Well, an interesting day to be sure! Blogspot.com has been having a lot of problems in the last two weeks--they aren't allowing me to upload my photographs. When that happens, I can't get my blog out on time as I'd like. So, here it is the morning after they got the software working again...

Never a dull moment around here at our house. About 2:00 p.m., the monsoon clouds came over and cooled it down enough for me to go work out in the main garden for an hour or two. Something was eating my beautiful tomatoes and I had to find the culprit.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here's my lovely tomatoes being eaten up.

Well, I found four of them--3 huge green tomato worms and a fourth one in a leaf and not yet out to destroy my plants. So, I went around to each tomato vine and found them. They re so hard to see--they are the perfect coloration of a tomato plant. I threw them out of the garden--they can go survive elsewhere!

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here's the culprit destroyin my tomato plants. Beautiful,isn't it?

Then, I finished off the last of my bush beans, picked them and put them on a brick outside of the enclosed garden. I had been running back and forth through that area many times in the hour. I also pulled my fennel (anise) and had it laying out on the bricks as well. And, found two ripe green peppers to boot....so I had lots of work to do this afternoon to get this stuff into our freezer for the winter time.

I came out of the garden and was half way to my bricks when I heard a RATTLE.

Yep, you guessed it. ANOTHER rattlesnake!

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here's our snake. She's female by energy feeling and about 4.5 feet long with seven rattles on her tail, which makes her seven years old. And she has a beautiful skin on her!

I screeched to a halt and didn’t move. I didn’t see anything around me. Usually, when you hear a rattle and stop, a snake won’t strike--because you’re not moving. And moving, to them, is the THREAT. So, you stand very still and quiet. My gaze was darting all over the place trying to find the darn thing.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here she is slithering off at our drop off for snakes at Deadman's Corner

Finally, I looked at the Tuff Shed, a white shed opposite Dave’s office where he stores all our books. On the west side of the shed, down at the bottom, is a reinforced metal cuff about six inches wide, that runs around the base. This is metal that holds the foundation of the Tuff Shed and there are about six small one-inch rectangular holes in each panel of the four sides--to give breathing air beneath the shed.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here's a nice photo of her head--note the distinct coloration on it. Every green rattler has a unique pattern and can be identified as such. She never once struck out, hissed or got coiled up into a threatening position with Dave as he handled her. She KNEW he was not going to hurt her.

Well, half way out of one of these tiny openings is the rattlesnake! And she’s a beautiful green rattler, about 4 feet long and outstanding yellow, white, bright apple green and olive green coloration. And it appears she’s STUCK in the slot!

I yelled at Dave (the window was open, thank goodness) to get the snake bagger kit--that we had a rattler coming out from under the shed. He bailed out of the office, ran to the greenhouse where we keep the equipment and came back.

Usually, he will use the Gentle Jaws behind the snake’s head, but he wasn’t sure the snake could get out of the slot or was stuck. So, he did a pretty risky move. He firmly clamped the jaws about one third of the way behind her head in the thick part of her body. And as he clamped, he pulled carefully because he wasn’t sure if she was stuck or not. But the problem there is he can’t lean forward or get his legs too close to the jaws extender--because there’s plenty of room for the snake to lash out and bite him.

Dave had to tug a little to get the rattler out of the slot, but she finally came out. And never once, during this entire time, did she strike out, rattle or his. She seemed to realize that she wasn’t going to get killed.

Gingerly, Dave put her in the snake Bagger and I drove us up to Deadman’s Corner, about 1.5 miles from our house, parked and opened the van door for him to get out with the snake. Dave released her in our usual spot, and I took some nice photos of her. Again, she never rattled, coiled, hissed or struck. They are such savvy animals. They know who is going to harm them and who isn’t. We’ve seen this time and time again.

So, with that out of the way, I got back to finishing up my gardening chores. Then, I hurried to the kitchen to get the veggies taken care of.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here Dave is releasing the Green Rattlesnake up at Deadman's Corners.

On tonight’s walk, I met our neighbor, Mark, on his ATV. He had his doggies with him (they ride in the milk crate behind the seat). He has a nice camera too, and often, we’ll run into one another up at Sunset Point because he loves taking sunset photos too.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here's the first hint of the coming sunset up at Sunset Point with the juniper tree as a frame for the colors.

It gives us a chance to catch up on what’s going on, ect. Anyway, sunset comes and I have to walk a mile back down into the canyon. And it’s usually dark by the time I get on the flat of the canyon floor. And it’s tough to see things.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here's what was about me as I started my walk tonight. It looks like slats of sunlight through Father Sky's cathedral.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
This is what I called a 'moveable feast' sunset in that it isn't going to stay just one color or way; it continues to change.

As I drew closer to our road where I turn, I saw Mark’s ATV and he was parked in the middle of the road--which is highly unusual for him. I called out and asked if he was okay. He said he was fine, but that there was a good four foot long rattlesnake in the middle of the road and he didn’t want me or Rocky to run into it in the dark by accident.

That was so sweet of him! He turned on the ATV lights and showed me where it had crawled off the center of the dirt road and into Jon’s stone fence that he has around his vineyard. Sure enough--there was half of the snake hanging out in the road and the other half inside the stone fence!

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here is green rattlesnake #2 for the day! You can see his pattern is much darker and far less colorful than the girl who was under the Tuff Shed at our place earlier in the day.

I took some quick photos before it disappeared. It was NOT the same snake because the coloration pattern was much different and a lot more muddy looking and darker compared to the female green rattler we’d turned loose earlier in the day.

I told Mark that we’d already taken one rattler out of our area today and he said they were all out like this because of the heavy monsoon rains. And that’s true--we’ve had drenching, all night rains and this runs all snakes out of their holes so they don’t drown. Consequently, they are looking for new ‘homes’ and I suspect our female green rattler today was trying out a new home--a probably almost got stuck in that metal rectangle--she really was too big for it.

So, quite a day, and the clouds were awesome tonight! And the sunset just a jaw dropper. Enjoy!

Sunday, July 30, 2006

ASTROLOGY: Weathering life’s Storms

Hi Everyone!

As I sat here unloading my monsoon storm clouds photos for tonight’s blog I waxed reminiscent about ‘storms of life’ that we all undergo. And just as I thought: “It’s like the wind roll that precedes the storm that knocks us down and shocks us...” and my office door unexpectedly slammed shut. A micro burst of downdraft from the thunder being swept through the house (I leave windows a tad open to allow the house to ‘breathe’ in a storm) and banged it shut. And I mean BANG!

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here's a monsoon coming over the northwest wall of the canyon. What is of most interest is the 'wind roll' that you see out in front of it. As I was photographing and the wind roll came over head, it blew my straw hat off my head with a furious gust of sustained wind.

Pretty synchronistic was my response. I jumped; but I didn’t get unglued or rattled by it. Rocky, our dog did--he hides out under my right arm or as close to the office chair where I’m sitting when thunder is rolling--he’s frightened of it. The wall shook and I thought for sure some of my plates on the wall would fall off--but they did not.

Great how synchronicity underscores pertinent thoughts!

But the storms of life....boy...they are around. Or is it me? Or maybe because I’m undergoing yet, another one (I got news for you--they NEVER stop...there’s just pauses in between them....), that we need to, with each storm try to fix our attitude and emotions to deal with it a little better each time. Or, at least, try.

The big storms of life are often predicated by progressions in a person’s astrology chart and they can last from six months to one year, usually. That’s a pretty big, grinding, intense storm.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here is an excellent shot at the 'underbelly' of a storm in action. "Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble..." kind of stirring the pot. I watched this movement (counter clockwise and circular) for about three minutes--this is the kind of cloud that tornado funnels form in, as well. Pretty exciting! And we got a 30 minute drenching here in the canyon--we're onna roll this year! This is the most sustained rain we've had--nearly once a week a Monsoon comes through our canyon to give us water. Most I've seen in the 19 years I've lived here. But, we're grateful!

Transits,on the other hand, can be a few days, weeks or even months. With some of the outer planets like Neptune...it can waffle back and forth over you for up to three years---ick.

So, we get all kinds of ‘storms’ and the trick is trying to understand it is that we’ve set up for ourselves to learn, to climb, to change with or negotiate our way through it--to get on the other side--which spells blessed RELIEF and some rest and reprieve.

We all get ‘storms’ and I look at the astrology chart and certain planets as ‘storms’ in their own right. Here are the heavy hitters--the ones that we undergo -- all of us -- at different times in our lives.

Saturn is usually the one who really gut punches us and then drags us over a mile of cut glass. Saturn takes 2.5 years through each Zodiac sign--so while you get hit for a couple of weeks with Saturn, you have 2.4 years to get over it, get through it, and struggle to make the changes more slowly. And that’s not a bad deal, really, if you gotta get dragged through sometime--give me the time to adjust, get it and then change with it. Saturn has a 28-30 year circuit around the zodiac to complete one orbit around the sun. It stays, approximately, 2.5 years in each of the twelve zodiac signs. Saturn has a 7 year cycle tied to it from age 7, 14, 21, 28-30 (this one is a huge learning curve), 35, 42, 49, 56, (the 2nd Saturn cycle kicks in here between age 58-60 and so is a huge learning curve coming our way once again), 63, 70, 77, 84 (this one coincides with Transit of Uranus coming back to it’s natal position--so this Saturn/Uranus combo can be life changing in sudden ways with the over flow of lightning bolt Uranus in the mix), 90, 97, 104. So, these are the ages when Saturn is in there giving us a ‘storm’ to look at something, change and fix ourselves.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2005
This was a fun cloud that was playing around right at sunset--and the moon was in the perfect position. It looks like a cloud animal getting up on its hind legs to 'gobble' up the moon!

Uranus usually hits like a bolt out of the blue--and can hang around as a transit for two years--and this is a toughie to deal with because even if you know the time zone of when Uranus is going to strike--you don’t have a clue as to which way it’s coming from or what it’s going to be about. Uranus, in my opinion, is a worse taskmaster than Saturn or Pluto ever will be--precisely because with these two heavy hitters you get the TIME to make the changes. With Uranus--you get hit and then it takes you weeks, months or years to recover from the shock of the event(s). Uranus has a 21 year cycle and makes on circuit around the zodiac every 84 years. So, huge, shocking changes in our lives at age 21, 42, 63 and 84. At these times and ages, life gets really explosive and a lot of people have accidents at these ages. Forewarned is forearmed.

Neptune can drive you crazy because it’s never in your face and you feel like you’re shadow-boxing and you haven’t a clue as to what is really trying to be learned here. Of course, Neptune being Neptune wants us to turn inward, meditate and listen to our gut, our intuition and our teachers/guides who are there to whisper in our ear--if only we’d listen. Neptune, of course, does not have specific years tied to it--it is so diaphanous, amphorus and impossible to quantify. Instead, astrologers look to see where the transit is at by aspect to planets in your natal chart--and that is where the action and focus on the storm will be at, instead.

Pluto can be heavy-handed and sudden like Uranus, leaving you hung out to dry for a year or so. Or, it can swing back and forth in retrograde and direct motion, forcing transformation from you in arcs of timing. And Pluto plays for keeps--you will change or else. No if’s,and’s or but’s with this planet. The best way to work with Pluto is make the changes as soon as it gets in your face. If you can do that, then good for you! The rest of your Pluto transit will leave you alone and as matter of fact, buttress the new, butterfly changed you and open a number of amazing doors for you to glide through. Pluto, of course, does not have specific years tied to it because of it’s very elongated orbit and being the furthest planet out in our solar system. Instead, astrologers look to see where the transit is at by aspect to planets in your natal chart--and that is where the action and focus on the storm will be at, instead.

HOW CAN I KNOW I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MY STORMS OF LIFE IN MY NATAL CHART?

You can hire a professional astrologer. They can plot, via the ephemeris,where Chiron is at in your natal chart. By looking at the aspects (mathematical distance) between any of these planets or positions in your chart, you can get a very good idea of what is going on--and even better--HOW to handle it in a positive manner.

I suggest the following professional astrologers:

Rosemarie Brown

Gracee Verte

Gail Carswell

You can't go wrong with any of these professional astrologers. They can help you plot your course with you ‘storms of life’ and even plan a party for it and yourself!

No sunset photos tonight--it’s raining monsoon-like and can’t get out of the canyon to get anything :-)

But..here's a pretty one just to make you smile...

Saturday, July 29, 2006

The Healing Power Around Us...

Hi Everyone

Sometimes, there are days when life is such trauma or craziness that all I can do on that given day is look to Nature around me for an answer. Doing this always soothes me. It helps me. It reminds me of the ephemeral beauty that surrounds us and that we should absorb it during moments of joy and shock or grief, as much as we can.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
This one is the same sunset but I focused on the light of the hills below Mingus Mountain near Cottonwood. It looks like a gorgeous Japanese kind of painting where you see the undulation and gentleness of the hills and although each is distinct and individual, the colors are similar and pull them into a oneness...

Such was my day. And I take great comfort in what I saw tonight at sunset. Truly, we live in a place of beauty regardless of the terrible things human beings do to one another. And I'm glad we have such gentle, silent reminders--just to look up, absorb and allow the colors and silence to steady us and heal us.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Soul Recovery and Extraction--A way to Heal Yourself

Hi Everyone!

Like every one else, I have many facets....or maybe you want to say I wear many hats. But, we all have this in us....and I’m not the Lone Ranger on it.

My father was one-quarter Eastern Cherokee. His great-grandmother was on the Trail of Tears, when the US Army forced most of the E. Cherokee out of their area along the Eastern Seaboard, inland, to Oklahoma. As the Trail got close to Kentucky, my great-great grandmother escaped. She eventually married Earl Gent and became part of the family.

My Aunt Elena, back in the 1970’s, who lived in West Virginia, showed me the only photo they had of her: she was a short, dark haired, dark skinned, dark brown eyed woman who wasn’t smiling in her calico dress and white apron. She was the ‘skeleton’ in my father’s family closet because being married to an Indian or carrying Indian blood wasn’t looked upon as a positive.

Nonetheless, my great-great grandmother managed to pass on what she knew; from one generation to another. Through my Aunt Elena (now deceased) we knew only two things of our E. Cherokee relative; she was a member of the Wolf Clan and from a ‘medicine’ family.

What was passed on or down to my father, was the genetic knowledge and heritage that she possessed. And then, it was passed down to me, the first born daughter of my generation. We never had a ‘name’ for our ‘medicine’ (skill or talent). At age nine, my father began to train me for the medicine. I was forty years old when I came into the medicine fully. And it wasn’t until about that time, around age 45, that I figured out what our ‘medicine’ that was being passed on through our family. One of my students, Dr. Michael Smith, who has written several academic books on worldwide shamanism, became a student of mine in the mid-1990’s. When he was done with the training, I asked him what type of shamanism was I teaching? He felt that what my family heritage was most closely aligned with from what he knew was Tibetan Shamanism.

Up until that time, I had no idea what our medicine was called. And really, it didn’t matter to me, personally. It was a healing tool and I was here to serve in that capacity; nameless or not. In the Native American way, our walk is our talk. We don’t necessarily give voice or labels to what we do. We SHOW what we can do. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

And so, over the years, I began to choose worthy candidates to pass what I knew, on, to others. There’s a lot of shamans in the world. Did you know that EVERY country has their shamans? At one time, shamans were part and parcel of every village. They were the medicine man or woman. During the day, they were just like anyone else--taking care of family, tilling the soil, finding food to winter over. Only at night, did they do something extra or different--and that was to take a journey into nonordinary reality and reclaim pieces of energy or spirit that were either lost or stole--and brought back to the rightful person.

I’m pleased with my efforts to seed the world with my nameless medicine. I have seen so many lives changed for the positive because of Soul Recovery and Extraction--which is what I named what I was taught. It is a ‘medicine’--a tool--to be used to help others become whole once more.

We can lose pieces of ourselves through many different ways--and they are covered in my book, Soul Recovery and Extraction. But one way, a very simple example, is in a car accident. Most people lose a piece of energy from themselves during such a shock or trauma. That’s why many feel ‘out of body’ or ‘spacy’ or ‘not here’ after an accident. It is because that piece is missing. A shamanic facilitator can ‘call’ back this piece or go retrieve and bring it back to you. Once the piece is brought back and placed within you, you are whole once more--and you will feel it. Just as you felt the loss of the piece, you will feel the return and integration of it back into you.

Here are some excerpts from my book that I'd like to share with you:

If you experience any of the below, this can be a warning of soul loss (energy loss). A "piece" of energy can be taken from you, stolen or you may unconsciously give it to another person or situation. There are many ways to "retrieve" such pieces back. Therapy is one way; just growing through the experience, is another, and SR/E (soul recovery and extraction) is another way to retrieve these back. Whatever way feels most comfortable for you is the way you should choose to take. SR/E is not for everyone. If you do not believe in the process; do not try it. You MUST read Soul Recovery and Extraction by Ai Gvhdi Waya before having a journey to retrieve pieces by a shamanic facilitator.

WHAT IS SOUL LOSS?

Soul loss is about losing or unconsciously giving away part of our energy (our aura), to another person or situation. This energy is seen as ‘soul’ to some, and to others, a facet of our personality. The labels are meaningless, because something is lost that was once yours. Soul loss is usually undetected at first, but over time, the individual who has suffered the loss feels it in many ways that will be covered in my book. There are several way to lose a piece of your energy/aura/self and I’ll discuss a couple here (but there are many more in my book):

Accidents--if an elderly person trips and falls, they can lose a piece. Or a baby or child. Or a car accident. Or any accident that has traumatic, sudden jolting to the person. One person’s fall may mean nothing to another. So, the accident clearly has to be traumatic to the person who experienced it. If it is not, soul loss will not occur.

Emotions: this is the main arena of soul loss for all of us. These involve the death of a loved one, child, or otherwise, the death of a beloved pet that was your entire life, a divorce, a move from one state to another, from one country to another, being in a war zone, being in a dysfunctional family and abused in some way...and the list is endless. The sharper and more clear the emotion, the strong possibility of loss. And these are unhappy events, not happy ones. For a child, it could mean the divorce f her parents, the loss of a parent, being orphaned, moving from one foster family to another, as an example. Getting fired from a job can have a huge affect on our lives. The loss of a scholarship to a school can have life-altering meaning. Much of the time when we get hit emotionally or ‘gut-punched’, by whatever it is--and that importan