Flashes of Light that catch the eye, the mind and the heart

A few weeks ago, my mother and I did a Girl’s Road Trip to a portion of the American Southwest.  It was a magical time, full of sparkling moments and memories. 

We flew into Grand Junction, Colorado, where our first surprise of the trip was fortuitously happening upon a terrific Italian restaurant for dinner that evening.  It was pretty from the outside, cleverly designed inside, broken up into multiple rooms that each had a different flavor, and a menu to drool over (http://www.tomorrowhillfarm.com/Pantusos.html).  We were fairly near the airport, and had believed our best option would wind up being some dive, or if luck were with us, some pretty decent Mexican food.  Amusingly, from the extensive menu, we both wound up with Veal Picatta, and loved every bite.

 The next morning Mom had her first taste of the SW geography and geology, as we drove through Colorado National Monument (http://www.nps.gov/colm/).  There were many ‘oh my gosh!’s and even a few ‘oh my God!’s, and quite a bit of photo taking.  Being a veteran of the area I wasn’t exclaiming, but my heart was full of joy both at hearing my mother’s delight, and being back in the land where my soul feels most at home.  From there we zipped up the freeway to a lonesome intersection that headed us toward the Colorado River and Moab, Utah.  I took this exit because it goes through the less-than-classically-picturesque ghost town of Cisco, through cow pastures (desert style), then suddenly one is in the midst of towering red cliffs and wind-sculpted spires of rock.  It is breathtaking.  We meandered down the road, stopping every so often to take pictures, and as we approached a darling resort on the river, nestled at the base of all this beauty, I said “hey, how about we stop here?”  Mom thought I was making a deviation from our planned itinerary (as if!) as she had been thinking our hotel was IN the little town of Moab.  Not so, this was our hotel.  Gorgeous views, lovely room.  Whoooo hoooo!

So, there were lovely surprises for both of us along the way.  One delightful surprise came as we were entering Arches National Park, and had a phone call from Earthling letting us know of his engagement!  This was just about our view as we heard the news:

This is us trying to use the camera’s timer:

We also went to Monument Valley and stayed at a famous old hotel just outside park, Goulding’s Lodge.  Here are some pictures from there:

Mom & Mittens Butte

 Sunrise from Goulding’s Lodge:

After a flirtatious drive through the northern part of Arizona, we spent one night in Kanab, a small town in southern Utah.  Mariner Man, Earthling and I had been through there about 12 years ago, and will always have the marvelous story of the “Kanab Lip Curl” as we attempted to purchase Latte’s in the morning (hey, there was a machine right behind the gal!).  So I was prepared for less-than-stellar dining options.  Again, a wonderful surprise!  When I asked our innkeeper where we should eat dinner, or more specifically, where we might be able to get a drink with dinner (Utah is largely populated by the Latter Day Saints/Mormon’s, and avoid alcohol so smaller towns often don’t have restaurants that serve alcohol), and were immediately directed to the Rocking V Grill.  And it was excellent!  It opened about eight years ago by a husband and wife from New York City, and they know how to run a place right.  Tastefully decorated in SW style.  Excellent food.  Wonderful waitstaff who were pleasant and just chatty enough but not intrusive.  There’s even a little gallery up some stairs – I went up, but Mom has some difficulty maneuvering steep stairs, so when I saw the most marvelous quilt hanging on display I asked the owner if I could photo it to show Mom, as she couldn’t go up, he instead trotted up the stairs and came back down with it to show her.  How gracious!  The quilt is actually occasionally pictured on their website, to the right hand side (the pictures tend to rotate - watch for a red & deep orange quilt) (http://www.rockingvcafe.com/). Can’t wait to go back with Mariner Man! 

On to Bryce Canyon – magnificent views, unimaginable natural rock sculptures.

It actually had snowed there overnight, and we were coming from 90degree+ weather!  Quite a shift – we even experienced some snow snifters during our sight seeing expeditions in the park. True to form, we availed ourselves of the gift shop and purchased sweatshirts and jackets!  As if we needed an excuse…(and yep, I had already purchased a cheap suitcase along the way to hold “collected items” along the way). The next morning, we had snow on the car as we headed out on our way to Zion National Park, and more,  yet completely different in nature, rock vistas.  It’s hard to believe we breathed at all during the trip, as everything was…breathtaking.  Astounding, and at times, almost unbelievable.

From there, our last destination was Cedar Breaks, where we saw more snow remnants (above 11,000 feet in elevation) and the park ranger told us that the previous day the road had been “scary to drive on.”  Phew – good timing!

A safe flight home from Salt Lake City brought us back to reality and the rain – neither of which is a bad thing, but such a shift from the eight days we had on the road. 

Magical memories of our mother-daughter excursion remain.  Thoughts of meals in cliff top restaurants, windy roads where just around the corner was a vista more beautiful that that already in front of us, “swivel head” action to catch every glimpse possible…all these become….magical Flashes of Light.

Catch them, all over the American Southwest….and with mothers and daughters everywhere.

A few weeks ago, my forward-looking and focused son (“Earthling,” to those of you following various other blogs) asked his very bright and delightful girlfriend to marry him, and she is now my future daughter-in-law!  This was not really a surprise – they are made for each other in oh-so-many ways – but the official aspect is new and exciting!  He proposed in a very romantic manner, caught her by surprise, and had a fabulous spot of bling for her finger – it’s absolutely perfect for her!

Mariner Man and I are so thrilled for them, and as parents have discovered that this also gives us much contentment.  What more could we ask for our ever-so-beloved son than having his perfect woman to build a future with.  Plus, on the practical side, we were reminiscing the other day about Intlxpatr’s son’s wedding, during which time she quipped on how fortunate she felt about her new daughter-in-law, including that “she’s the woman who’ll be selecting my nursing home someday, and I know she’ll do the right thing!” at which we all laughed.  But now we know she was RIGHT!  And we, too, are fortunate in the same way, as our son’s fiancée is thoughtful and family oriented, as well as being beautiful and intelligent.  Ahhhh, it’s a good thing.  Especially as Earthling’s point of view on his parent’s old-age has been a joking “don’t worry, I know you want to be in the southwest, and I’ll keep the heat turned way up so you can pretend!”  He is so funny.

Earthling and his fiancée (an appropriate alias has yet to gel) came to visit from California last weekend, and it was a hugely busy time!  We attended the baptism of Sporty Diamond’s firstborn son (he is incredibly cute and personable!), plus their celebration brunch.  We wandered through the local annual Arts Festival.  We chatted about wedding plans, perused websites for hotels and rehearsal dinners.  And we had a fun little engagement celebration so that family (including tBig Diamond, Sporty Diamond, and Little Diamond could meet her.  It was a marvelous weekend!

And she is organized and efficient – the ceremony and reception locations are all locked in.  We identified a great restaurant for the rehearsal dinner, which is now confirmed.  She found the perfect hotel for out-of-town guests and blocked rooms.  Wow.  All this, knowing she’s heading to her last stretch of Grad School, and will graduate the day before the wedding!  Can you tell I’m impressed?!  Plus, she is SO much fun.  And….she immediately started a blog to capture the engagingly fun experiences they are having ( Rules of Engagement).  I have always been perfectly happy to have a son, as little boys always appeared to be so much “easier” than little girls, but the prospect of now having such an amazing “daughter” makes me happy beyond words.

And so this month I have seen Flashes of Light in fireworks proportion that radiate toward the future.  Watch for them – everywhere!

This won’t always be a Flash of Light that will interest folks at large. Sometimes it will be only *my* flash of light, and such is the case today.

We have having a small gathering of people planned at our home this weekend (more on what that excitement is about at a later time), and I chose to take the day off to do some much-needed cleaning, etc. (But I can only take so much of that, so have intermittently checked work e:mail, blogs, flight arrival times, etc…, and now am adding to my own skimpy blog…LOL!). There are also certain things I just can’t do in the house, and one of them is to wash the living room windows. I’m lousy at it. They are big. I leave streaks. And if I try it, I get *really frustrated* after hours of back and forth checking them for missed spots. BUT – they look out onto a pretty nice view, so its best if they’re clean. Sadly, they have been rain spattered for far too long now, and yesterday on the spur of the moment I sweet talked a local window cleaning service into swinging by today at the end of their schedule to wash at least the big picture windows on the outside. They were actually booked for several weeks in advance, so I was really fortunate to have them agree! So – the wonderful window-washer guys have now come and gone, and even gave the insides a wash. The windows are clean! And so…becomes my Flash of Light for the Day. Yay!

Beads of Hope 

There are as many life stories around the globe as there are people to experience them.  There are lives of spectacular wealth, there are those of abject poverty, and then there is the entire spectrum in between.  And all of these lives come filled with the entire spectrum from complete happiness to overwhelming despair, at any given time.  Often, the most inspiring of lives are those with stories of perseverance against the overwhelming odds.  Lives that shine with hope.

Many of you are already aware of the Beads for Life operation in Uganda, but for those of you who have not yet heard about this, it involves using a local method of ornamentation, paper based beads, and selling them in an organized method to help combat poverty in the region.  For those of you unfamiliar, take a moment to read the webpage:  http://www.beadforlife.org/. 

Once again, I became aware of this program via a news clip, and was entranced by the faces of the women involved in making these beads, and their overt joy that came from experiencing even the smallest amount of stability and control in their lives.  One woman commented that she could not remember smiling for years, having fled her home, having to constantly worry about food, shelter and safety for her children.  Now, by earning money through making beads for this program, she has again learned what it is like to smile, to be happy, to have hope for the future.

Although I have only anecdotal references from the news clip and web sources to the actual success of this program, it appears to provide a turning point for the women and their families.  Although I have not yet ordered beads, I will be doing so.  (Interestingly, I believe my mother was given a necklace of this type of African paper bead, but I don’t know its provenance.  But it is lovely!) 

The other exposure this story provides is once again the relativity of life experiences.  These women consider themselves wealthy simply by having funds that allow their survival.  They are thrilled at that prospect.  They are joyous to be able to purchase food and clothes for their children.   While at the same time, I become mulish at an increase in price at Starbucks.  A difficult perspective to ponder for overly long.

And so wondrous paper beads becomes a Flash of Light.  Watch for them everywhere….

As a totally, completely, off-the-wall, deviation from the subject above….I caught a show on tv last night titled “Creature Comforts” – featuring an anthology of  animated animals (love the alliteration there) being interviewed about… Body image.  Flying.  Other completely mundane topics.   The responses were droll and hilarious.  Body language and facial expressions played a large part.  I have no idea if this was a one-time-shot or a recurring summer-fill-in show, but fervently hope that more episodes will be aired.  I was howling with laughter.  It was an unexpected Flash of Light.  Catch it if you can.

News is addictive for me.  Local, national, international, universal (hoping, hoping that any day now my subscription will arrive from the “The nuArae System Daily Post” … see: http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/08/26/new.planet/index.html).

Yes, I understand that news reporting is biased.  Some of the fun is separating the wheat from the chaff.  But there are often Flashes of Light that make me smile, and that’s what I crave.  Read on….

The news is, of course, often dark in nature.  I am not.  So I was completely enthralled last week with news video of Stephen Hawking’s zero-gravity flight.  He is one of my heroes.  Seeing the joy and wonder expressed in his face while experiencing weightlessness was powerful; this amazingly brilliant person trapped by ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in a severely marginalized body had the grin of a 10-year old boy.  It took my breath away.  To most others, the thrill of a zero-gravity flight is just that – a thrill ride.  Good fun, but with no intrinsic value (research aside).  But it was so much more to Dr. Hawking.  It was unexpectedly touching freedom. 

(http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/04/26/hawking.flight.ap/index.html)

(http://clipaday.com/videos/stephen-hawking-does-rolls-in-zero-g)

And so becomes a Flash of Light.  Ultra-brilliant, in this instance.  Watch for them everywhere….