Sinking into our Beautiful Wildnerness

May 13, 2023 I’m not sure if there is anything that brings me more excitement and wonder than a treasure hunt.  This is probably why my mother continued to design Easter egg hunts for me every year well into adulthood.  This week I was able to go on the most extraordinary treasure hunt in the Grand Staircase.  The day I had been waiting for had finally arrived.  I woke up with the sunrise and packed up my hiking gear including plenty of water, snacks, and PB & J for lunch.  I was sure to wear loose fitting light clothing that covered me as I…

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Sinking into our Beautiful Wildnerness

How to Make Friends with a Bear

May 7, 2023 The weeks lately have started with our little dread party at Wendy’s place.  This week we also added beads and wraps to make them snazzy.  Wendy made the most fantastic garlic bread with dinner by making a garlic confit first.  You may wonder if the time it takes to do this is worth it and I’m here to tell you it is. It is week two of my class on the Science of Well Being.  This week the lesson included the importance of mindfully savoring experiences and reflecting on things we are grateful for each day.  I thought this would be…

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How to Make Friends with a Bear

In ‘Aint Spring on the Mountain Yet

April 30, 2023 Luke and I have spent more time this past week going down dirt roads.  The weather is perfect for exploring as it is warm enough to enjoy being outside and monsoon season has not started yet.  Luke also has his new drone that he wants to fly everywhere.  The dogs are also loving playing outside.  I was planning to take a trip on Cottonwood Canyon road, but decided to postpone it after we had a decent amount of rain the day before.  I will be driving on this road eventually though.  Instead Luke and I explored Big Flats area in town…

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In ‘Aint Spring on the Mountain Yet

Exploring Nooks and Crannies

April 23, 2023 This week I didn’t take the camera out much for fun exploration.  Sometimes I find it difficult to focus on my hike and taking photos so I just leave it behind to make climbing easier and lessen my concerns about damaging the camera in the process.  I did however take some professional photos of a nearby retreat center/hotel that has put up some Mongolian yurts over the past year.  The yurts are super cool looking and the owner has several properties in Boulder, UT that I hope she also would like photographed.  It was a windy day, but photography projects are…

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Exploring Nooks and Crannies

Deeper into Bighorn Canyon

April 16, 2023 This week we hiked Bighorn canyon.  Though everyone in the group had done this one before, none of us felt we had completed it and the weather was beautiful so we all wanted to be outside.  When you hike Bighorn Canyon in Escalante, there is a fork you can take at the start of the canyon.  The left side is more commonly visited as it is very colorful and picturesque.  We had all been through the left side before, but several of us had not tried to go past some significant obstacles near the end where the canyon bottom becomes very…

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Deeper into Bighorn Canyon

Springtime Shenanigans

The glorious first real days of Spring are upon us and I celebrated in the sunshine when I could.  The week had started off a little bleak with cold weather and grey skies.  I learned that a great friend of mine is battling stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.  Despite this diagnosis she seems to be remaining hopeful and living her life.  Another friend of ours pointed out that she is an accomplished marathon runner and battling cancer is a marathon, but she knows she can do hard things.  There is always some beauty in pain and I love when someone can so artfully highlight…

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Springtime Shenanigans

My Farts

April 2, 2023 Life is grand on the ‘ol Grand Staircase.  We followed in the tracks of giants this week by visiting the 20 Mile Dinosaur Trackway on Hole in the Rock road.  I found this guy’s directions very helpful in getting to the correct spot.  I had this spot on my short list for awhile and this past week we had some days in the mid to upper 40’s which felt like glorious spring so I wanted to take advantage of it.  Six of my co-worker friends wanted to come so we took two 4x4 vehicles and headed off into the desert.  Getting…

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My Farts

How to be Happy

March 27, 2023 If you are just tuning in and don’t know how I ended up being a nomad in the Southwest, I’ll give you a little background.  We used to live in Massachusetts in a nice home on a cul-de-sac.  We had previously taken some vacation road trips around the Southwest and loved it out here.  Our lives were largely defined by our passions, goals, and relationships as is true for most.  I worked as a clinical supervisor at a non-profit helping people disabled by severe mental health conditions.  I thought that my work was important and meaningful and it took up a…

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How to be Happy

Spring is in the Air

March 19, 2023 It has been a busy week for me here in Escalante which is why I’m a bit late getting this written.  We had a work campers reunion get together at our local pub last weekend.  The band was jamming and everyone seemed to have a good time and was happy to see each other.  I couldn’t convince anyone to dance with me, but luckily I am happy to dance alone.  A group of us went to the Mystic Hot Springs in Monroe which was 2 & 1/2 hours away.  We had nice weather while we were there.  The springs were the…

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Spring is in the Air

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