Reflections and Celebrations

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Reflections in Pond

“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”
~ Angela Schwindt

Six months ago I got an invitation I couldn’t refuse. My younger daughter me asked if I would like to go an a destination birthday celebration. That kind of question only has one answer, as far as I’m concerned — an unqualified YES! And to double to fun, we invited her sister to meet us. And so we are celebrating — reminiscing, laughing, walking ourselves silly as we try to hit the favorites at DisneyWorld, Epcot, and Universal Studios. (10+ miles each day, so far…)

I will resume my more regular schedule of posts once we run out of energy (and vacation days) and return to our respective homes!

Until then, there’s more celebrating to do…

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is still celebrating and will return after Memorial Day.

Celebration – A Desert Wisdom Card

Celebration - A Desert Wisdom Card

Aloe Fireworks © 2013 Bo Mackison

“People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating, we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation… Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one’s actions.”  ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

I dubbed this bright coral aloe the ‘Fireworks Aloe’.

To me, it is a beautiful reminder of CELEBRATION. Not the noisy, crowded celebrations we associate with national holidays or milestone achievements — parties, large gatherings, extravagant entertainment — but the small daily achievements that deserve celebrations, too.

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. ~ Oprah Winfrey

These aloe buds are bright and beautiful. They carry a certain joie de vivre, the French phrase that conveys “an exultation of spirit.” The blossoms remind us to celebrate life frequently, passionately, reverently.

We often do the hard work, complete the frustrating assignment, then move on to our next task never pausing to acknowledge our achievement.

How wonderful to take a few moments and celebrate, with appreciation and reverence, a job well done or a task completed in a timely fashion.

“Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music.
Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music…”
~ lyrics from Three Dog Night

CELEBRATION offers questions/reflections for journal writing, art, and a call for action:

  • Celebrations do not require expensive preparations or large chunks of time. A celebration marks the completion of a project, large or small. Reflect on the projects you’ve completed in the past few days – large or small. How many of these accomplishments did you acknowledge?
  • In your journal keep a running list of your completed projects for a short period of time – perhaps a morning or a weekend. (Laundry, exercise, weeding the garden, writing a paper — they all count!) As you finish each project, celebrate. Think small Or not. Acknowledge with an “exultation of spirit”.
  • Collect a few props to use when you want to celebration. Streamers. Upbeat music. A big sheet of paper and bright markers for writing yourself congratulatory messages. A kazoo for impromptu cheers.  Add smiles and laughter. Use frequently!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  Bo is creating a deck of Desert Wisdom Cards for exploration and discovery, using the Sonoran Desert theme – its myths and stories, cultures and heritage, and the desert’s remarkable natural beauty and resources.

Crossing the Country

Car on Historic Route 66

Old Car © 2013 Bo Mackison

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”
~ Miriam Beard

Saturday:

It is sunny and 71˚ and 8:03 a.m. when I lock the door,
jam my last bag in the car.
No need to memorize the blue of the sky, it is already mine.
A red tail hawk dips into the arroyo,
I catch his wide sweep as I turn north.
Prickly pears and yucca bloom extravagantly,
Spent blossoms of the ocotillo litter the curbside.

In three hours I have detoured twice,
a little lost, I follow Arizona Scenic Highway signs
like dropped bread crumbs in a dark forest,
curve along the edges of copper mines,
open pits of rock, miners in yellow hard hats maneuver
front-loaders along the narrow ledges.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park

Boyce Thompson Arboretum © 2013 Bo Mackison

I walk the paths of the arboretum at noon,
detour through Miami’s mission district at three,
at four I descend into the Salt River Canyon.
Hawks soar high above the road, I follow their shadows on the asphalt.
Red Tails are my trip totem,
Road cuts expose the white rock of the White Mountains,
Vines and creeping flowers line the rough rock.

5:02 p.m. and I stop in Show Low,
the motel is on Deuce of Clubs Street, the main drag.
Can’t show lower than the deuce of clubs.

Scattered Petrified Wood

Scattered Petrified Wood © 2013 Bo Mackison

Sunday morning:

Gas at Safeway is 3.42 a gallon,
two fishermen lean against their truck, boat in tow,
and argue about late starts and wasted time.
The older guy draws on his cigarette while pumping gas.

North of Show Low the topography is Illinois flat,
the soil is Utah red.
Dead River.
Querino Wash.
Four Mile Draw, Five Mile Draw, Six Mile Draw.
Godawful flat and dusty,
Telephone poles are distraction.

Past Holbrook, outcroppings jut like layers of floor sheeting.
It’s a land of rock, a many-layered fossil cake in rainbow hues.
Entrance signs greet and command:
“Welcome to Petrified Forest National Park.
Do Not Remove Rocks Under Penalty of Law.”
I take only photographs.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. A cross-country traveler by day, and an occasional poet in the evening.

Traveling in Arizona

Santa Rita Prickly Pear

Santa Rita Prickly Pear © 2013 Bo Mackison

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The neighborhood cactus, a lovely Prickly Pear named for Santa Rita Mountains where they grow abundantly, threw this goodbye party for me – a massive show of yellow blossoms amidst a multitude of purple pads. A finer sending-off gift I have never received!

It was sunny and a mild 71˚F when I left my home situated between the Sonoran Desert to the west and the Santa Rita Mountains to the east. The highest temperatures of the year were predicted for  the next few days — nearing 100˚ — and  so it was time to return to the Midwest for the summer.

Copper Country

Copper Basin Railway © 2013 Bo Mackison

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Though I love Tolkien’s writings, his words didn’t quite apply to my meanderings on my first travel day. I was wandering and I did get lost, but it was not for nought. I missed a turn and so ended up in copper country east of Phoenix instead of at my mid-day destination, the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. I did see some interesting countryside that I otherwise would never have seen – the benefits of wandering.

No worries. I did enjoy the sights on some new-to-me roads as I circled back towards Boyce Thompson Arboretum, and though my picnic lunch was delayed, the blooming gardens lived up to all expectations!

This view is of the Picket Post Mountains, one of the first Arizona sights that were etched in my psyche on my first visit to the area. Friends introduced Sherpa and I to the diversity and beauty of the desert at Boyce Thompson, and it was like coming home. Four years later, this view still evokes fond memories of my realization that I had found “my place”. And I hadn’t been aware that there was a place I needed to find!

Salt River Canyon

Salt River Canyon © 2013 Bo Mackison

One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more.
~ Thomas Jefferson

I drove from Globe to Show Low, Arizona on the last part of the day’s journey, driving on sharp turns through the mountains, dropping deep into the Salt River Canyon, and then rising into the White Mountains. The views were spectacular, and since I was following my own schedule that allowed for plenty of interruptions, I pulled off at nearly every overlook, just to take in the scenery.

Nothing like standing on the edge of a mountain cliff, studying masses of white flowers on climbing vines that cover the white rock of the White Mountains, viewing a white rapids river thousands of feet below, watching the red tail hawks soar overhead, to remind me that I am but a speck of dust in this mighty Universe.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.    She is traveling cross-country, and thinking about the Universe.

Cross Country Adventure

Cactus Flower Wreath

Cactus Flower Wreath © 2013 Bo Mackison

I locked the doors, left a note in my neighbor’s mail box, and gave the mountain view from my door a lingering look. A red-tailed hawk swooped towards the arroyo, then caught an uplifting current and soared into the deep blue sky.

Months ago, when I was pondering a solo road trip half way across the country, I questioned my sanity. But today, it feels right. I’ve crammed everything into the car — mostly boxes of books and art supplies, a couple of pieces of art I purchased for re-location to the Midwest, and a box of newly acquired book-making paraphernalia. Camera bags and my suitcase occupy the back seat. My bag of travel food – peanut butter, vegetable juice, apples, almonds, baby carrots – is in the front seat within easy reach. So is a cooler of ice, a jug of iced tea, and several cases of water. My goal is to do the trip without any fast food stops.

My other travel objective is to drive over 2,000 miles while (mostly) avoiding the interstate system and stopping at every National Park or monument within a half hour drive. That is the part of my plan that makes this travel plan sensible, doable, and sane. And the fact that I’m limiting my road travel to 350 miles a day. It’s not a lot, it will take me a week to get to Wisconsin, but it is doable. Even enjoyable. I’ve already promised myself that when I see a photo opportunity, I will take the time and stop.

What’s not to love about this kind of road trip!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.    She will report in with travel updates, as time and  internet connections allow.